Do it your way

Quite a while ago, I watched an amazing television programme about a very unusual musician. He was profoundly deaf and could experience the music he played and conducted through the vibrations felt within his fingers, hands and body.

This musical sense was very advanced. He could feel the subtly undulating waves of sound that marked out differing timbres, textures, dynamics and interpretations.

He gained a great deal of satisfaction from the music he performed. Those that performed with him also benefited from the unique insights his personal way of perceiving music gave him: he was able to suggest approaches and interpretations never even dreamt of by other musicians.

When asked if he would like to be able to hear music the way that most others did he replied that he would not. He said that he gained so much pleasure from the way he currently appreciated music that he did not want to change it for the world. Perhaps he was also aware that his unique musical sense gave him a special insight into music that others would find very difficult to emulate.

 

What is your personal preference for exploring issues and problems? Do you prefer to look at them, hear about them or feel your way through them? Or is it a specific mix of these senses? If you use your personal preferences for problem solving, rather than merely following a set system or house style, you will be more effective and enhance your enjoyment of the process. It will also help you uncover perspectives and solutions that others might miss.

Go back to the original

In 1874 Modest Mussorgsky composed a suite of piano pieces called ‘Pictures at an Exhibition’, each piece depicting the pictures viewed by a visitor to an art gallery. In 1922 Maurice Ravel rearranged the suite for full orchestra. Today, it is this latter version that is best known.

Ravel’s arrangement is extremely imaginative, showing off his genius for orchestration and making explicit those things that could only be implied in the original piano work.

The brilliance, colour and imagination of the orchestration, however, obscure some of the valuable characteristics of the original.

The piano version is very virtuosic. You can see and hear the pianist struggling with some of the passages. This makes watching and listening to a performance of it a very physical, visceral experience. The seemingly effortless brilliance of the orchestral version loses this aspect.

Also, the suite was written in memory of a recently deceased friend of Mussorgsky’s, the architect Viktor Hartmann. Arguably, the personal nature of Mussorgsky's grief is expressed best through the intimate medium of the solo piano rather than the very public arena of an orchestral performance.

Sometimes clearing away the rearrangements and modifications that have been made and added to something over time can reveal original features of forgotten value.

When you next want to improve a process, or find yourself having to address a problem that has arisen in a previously trouble free area, peel back the changes that have occurred to it over time and have a good, detailed look at the original.

Have various rearrangements and modifications obscured valuable aspects? Could a refocusing of attention upon the original foundations of a tottering process help to stabilise, strengthen and even improve it?

Apply transformation

The person credited with creating the musical technique ‘Thematic Transformation’ is the innovative, risk-taking composer Franz Liszt (1811-1886). 

His technique entailed taking musical ideas and changing them, sometimes radically, in order to explore different emotional, psychological and philosophical perspectives. 

Liszt’s Faust Symphonie (based on Goethe’s famous work) makes extensive use of thematic transformation. Liszt introduces us to Faust and the other characters (Gretchen and Mephistopheles), giving them their own musical themes. He then gradually transforms each of them through music, depicting the physical, psychological and emotional experiences and traumas of each protagonist. 

Interestingly, it is inaccurate to say that all the characters are given their own musical themes. Mephistopheles, the Devil, does not have any musical themes of his own but distorted, disfigured versions of Faust’s own musical themes, suggesting strongly that we all have our own devils within us.

Applying the above principle of transformation can help us to better understand and address many of the problems that we face in our lives and work. When next considering a problem ask the following types of questions: 

•          How is the problem viewed through the eyes of others?
•          How does exploring and appreciating these differing perspectives transform the problem?
•          How do the views of staff, managers and board members transform the problem?
•          How do the views of customers and stakeholders transform the problem?
•          How do the views of your children transform the problem?
•          How do the views of your partner transform the problem?
•          How do the views of your parents transform the problem?
•          How do the views of your friends and enemies transform the problem?
•          How do the views of others not directly involved transform the problem?
•          How does simply discussing the problem transform its nature?
•          How does the passing of time transform the problem?
•          How could the problem be transformed into the foundations of a solution?
•          How could the perfect solution be distorted into new problems and difficulties?
•          How does context and environment transform the problem?
•          How does distancing yourself from the problem transform it?
•          How does placing yourself within the problem transform it?

Transforming a problem by exploring and appreciating it from differing perspectives can help us discover innovative, mould breaking solutions.

 

Slow it down

I play the piano, badly now and averagely when I was a young music student. For some reason a got through quite a number of piano teachers and each of them implored me to ‘slow down!’ They strongly encouraged me to practise pieces at a much slower tempo than that indicated for performance. This especially related to the fast and intricate passages.

As you can imagine, for a teenager full of hormones and eager to show off during the fast and loud bits this was something of a frustration. As a result I found this type of slow practice very difficult to do, but when I did manage it my playing benefited immensely.

Now, as I struggle to regain some of my technique, I continue to find the rewards of slow practice to be great. This is particularly so when I am grappling with the intricacies of Bach fugues. When I play this music in slow motion I notice harmonies and subtleties that I would not have noticed otherwise, and as I gradually speed up my playing my mastery of the music (and its tricky passages!) is that much more assured.

Sometimes we can be so keen to attain our goals or find solutions that we rush headlong towards them, barely noticing the subtleties and complexities of the problems we are trying to address. Unexpected difficulties can then spring up before us, causing us to falter in our progress.   

Consciously and systematically slowing down and experiencing our problems in slow motion can help us better appreciate not only their nature but also the full extent of their challenges.

Develop the habit of dividing a problem into short segments or parts. Take your time as you look over them. Notice their intricacies and interrelations and how they develop and grow towards the overall problem. Pause and reflect before coming to any conclusions about what you have found. You will then be able to identify, develop and execute your approach to solving your problem that much more effectively than otherwise.

 

Turn your problem into a song

The song is one of the oldest and most enduring of musical structures. It has a simple form: verses narrate the song’s story and a chorus encapsulates its key message. As the verse carries the burden of the narrative, its tune is usually less memorable than that of the chorus. The chorus needs a memorable, catchy tune in order to highlight the key message and help people sing along.

When thinking about issues and problems apply the principles of the song. What are the verses of the problem? What is its narrative? What are its various components or differing aspects? When analysing the verses of the problem what chorus emerges? What is consistently emphasised as each verse passes by? This aspect may well be the major, underlying issue that needs to be addressed.

 

Time shift

One of the most famous musical examples of time shifting is Prokofiev’s Classical Symphony. In the words of Prokofiev, his Classical Symphony is ‘as Haydn (one of the greatest composers of the 18th century) might have written it had he lived in our day’.

Listening to this symphony can be likened to the experience of meeting an old friend after a long time apart. They will have moved on with their life and updated their image and wardrobe but their essential character and what originally made them attractive still shines through (perhaps even more brightly than before). As a result, we are reminded of the worth of the person and how our friendship with them enhances us.

Prokofiev’s symphony is written in his own modern style but Haydn’s spirit pervades it. Formality and correctness of structure where very important in Haydn’s time, so great care and attention is given to the overall form and balance of the symphony. Additionally, and more specifically, the piece is brim full with the spirit of fun, wit and invention that was so characteristic of Haydn’s personal style.

By time shifting the spirit of Haydn’s music to within his own modern musical style, Prokofiev creates an innovative symphony that not only stimulates the ear but also invites the listener to revisit and perhaps more greatly appreciate the principles at the heart of Haydn’s classical approach.

We too can use time shifting. Like Prokofiev we can adapt a past approach to a current challenge or problem. We can also gain new perspectives on problems and additional ideas about how to address them by placing them in the future or the past.

Ask yourself the following questions:

·      How does the problem look when placed in the future? What would it look like in a few weeks, 1 year, 10 or more years from now? How does the way you view it change and what are the implications of this? What insights have you gained and how could they help you deal with the problem now?

·       How does the problem look when placed in the past? What would it have looked like a few weeks, 1 year, 10 or more years ago? How does the way you view it change and what are the implications of this? What insights have you gained and how could they help you deal with the problem now?

·       How would you have solved the problem a few weeks, 1 year, 10 or more years ago? Can the approach be adapted to your current situation? How can you do this successfully?

·       How would you solve the problem in a few weeks, 1 year, 10 or more years from now? Can the approach be adapted to your current situation? How can you do this successfully?

     

Show people what you mean

There is a passage in Rimsky Korsakov’s orchestral piece Capriccio Espagnol that is pure musical theatre. One of the movements is in the style of a Spanish gypsy song and during one memorable passage the violin and viola players remove their instruments from under the chin and begin to strum them like guitars (quasi guitara). The effect of seeing so many people playing their instruments in this novel way is stunningly memorable and it enhances the Spanish flavour of the music greatly, really conjuring up the image of Spanish guitar players strumming away in the village streets and cafes of Asturian Northern Spain.

Visually demonstrating something can be a very powerful way of making meanings, consequences and intentions clear. How can you most graphically demonstrate the nature and consequences of your problems and/or the appropriateness and effectiveness of your ideas for dealing with them? What will really grab people’s attention, keep their gaze and help them clearly see what you mean?

Try some of the following:

• Create a picture, diagram or cartoon strip of your problems and/or your ideas for dealing with them. 
• Create a colourful and memorable story that describes the background to your problems and how your ideas for dealing with them were thought of and developed.
• Let people see your problems at first hand and show them your suggested solutions in action.
• Encourage people to physically experience the problems and/or the possible solutions by acting them out.