Random Riffs
The Sceptical Muse: “What Is The Question For Which This Is The Answer?”
August
17
2009
I left off the July Random Riff referring to a comment made by a Charlie Rose guest who said that while he didn’t believe that leadership could be taught, he did believe it could be learned. It was a notion that resonated nicely with the process of imitation – assimilation - innovation by means of which musicians find and develop their …
My Muse and Me: Getting to Know Her
July
22
2009
A few years ago a friend who repatriates British art saw this painting hanging on my living room wall. "That's 25, 000," she said. "What's 25,000?” I asked. "The Cooper cows," she replied. "25,000 dollars?” I croaked. "No, 25,000 pounds!" But when we looked more closely, where we expected to see …
Improvising Isn’t Winging It
June
18
2009
The “cognitive dissonance” Random Riffs generated some interesting responses. One in particular raises a matter germane to the performance of both jazz ensembles and organizations. I’ll let my friend Peter Brown speak for himself.
A sequel suggestion -- on "risk". As you seek out the Kevins and Chrises in your organization, how do you think about …
I Never Thought Of It That Way Before ... or Cognitive Dissonance Ain’t An Illness
May
31
2009
A couple of weeks ago, the musicians of Getting in the Groove and I had a 9:30 AM downbeat in Bracebridge to do a workshop for the management team of a client organization. Because Bracebridge is a 2-plus hour drive north of Toronto and we had to allow for pits stops for coffee, loading in, sound checks, and, of course, the …
Broken Images: The Sequel
April
21
2009
"We can't solve problems by using the same kind of thinking we used when we created them."
Albert Einstein
"A fanatic is one who can't change his mind and won't change the subject."
Winston Churchill
"Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results."
Albert Einstein
THE MAN WITH THE BLUE …
