In the 3-day meeting, there were plenty of pep talks and the new vision was laid out–the stuff that had to be done, yes? But my sense was that Face The Music was able to add a different element to augment the proceedings, the catalyst that enabled and accelerated a powerful reaction.

My hypothesis after doing this work for more than 12 years (using music and songwriting as part of an organizational change or learning process), is that the value brought by the creative musical expression comes from unlocking some of the dammed up energy held back by the cultural bias toward reasonableness, risk aversion, discounting of emotions, and the fragmentation of the individual self (business self, family self, spiritual self, etc.). The creative and emotional energy that has been held in abeyance comes flowing out in the invitation to write and perform a song in which you “speak your truth, and how you’re feeling about it.” It feels good to do that, and it has other benefits.

Some of things we learned:
— There are some funny rhymes for “recall”
— “My Way” is harder to sing than we thought
— We can do something we thought was impossible
— The metaphors we choose tell so much…
— Identity is changeable
— Intention, attitude, and context beat out talent

The connection that doesn’t always seem evident is that this is directly applicable to the task at hand. The reinvention, innovation, and moving forward piece is a creative act that needs to engage the “spirit” of the people making it happen. There is a release from the past, but honoring the learning and the path. There is a presence-ing that brings us to Now-the forge where the future is created. And there is a clear intention with propulsion behind it, to express and re-create in the successive Now’s going forward.

They’re on their way.

“The event was amazing!
Paul and the team did such a great work!!!” –The Client–

“The work you and your team did with the Cytec participants added so much value to the program. The positive energy and sense of accomplishment they gained from it is making our leadership development work with them much easier. Thank you and congratulations! You guys rock!”

As we go into the holidays, I’m feeling gratitude for the people that we collaborated with this year, and the time making music, looking at what’s really going on, and reframing to go forward more powerfully.

Thanks to all friends, clients, band, and support folks from us at Face The Music

Here’s what I’m committing to: to gather my sparks of inspiration, collect them together from the various bushel baskets that they are hiding under (metaphor is a paraphrased reference to Matthew 5:15…) and bring them into the light of now as part of my year end/year beginning evaluation/vision/strategy process.

I’ll look over the ideas, and without judgement, give ‘em the old LCS. Likes, concerns, and suggestions (process developed by FTM co-founder, Mitch Ditkoff of Idea Champions to ward off the evil Idea Killers). Obviously (I think), when I took the time to write or record all of these ideas, the implication was that I would return to harvest these seeds of promise.

So, I’ll bring them into the light of day, see what the LCS does to reveal their true colors, and decide on a couple of things to take action on. I’m betting there are some good ideas among the rubble. Probably some that have already been done by people that also had that station tuned in, and jumped on them sooner. But we shall see, we shall see.

“The work you and your team did with the Cytec participants added so much value to the program. The positive energy and sense of accomplishment they gained from it is making our leadership development work with them much easier. Thank you and congratulations! You guys rock!”

“The whole FTM gang was really wonderful! We were so pleased with both days and the great outcomes! I really felt that the participants truly enjoyed themselves, especially when we broke into dance mode toward the end of the evening on Friday.”

“Thanks for all you did to make last week so successful. I loved your committed presence, your clear intention to have fun and contribute and your band’s way of making it easy to invite ourselves into the process. It made for a GREAT ending.”

For our part, it was a great group, a culture of commitment to do good work, listen to and include each other, and have a good time while working hard on their development.

Here’s the exchange:

Question… What is “Beyond the Blues” and how does it get incorporated?

Beyond The Blues is the uber-folder that contains our designs for using the FTM songwriting process as an experiential learning tool. We custom design BTB sessions to your needs and objectives.

What does that look like?

A typical session would include active debrief, identification of themes and issues, brainstorming, action planing, and followup plan. That being said, it has taken many forms, including morphing into a full-blown strategic planning session.

How much time?

We’ve done from 20 minutes to 2 days. Typically, 30-90 minutes on the morning after the performances.

Is it facilitated by you or us?

By us, or, depending on the situation, I often work with our clients to design some version of their own.

Does the attached proposal include a price for this?

It does not, as each session is customized, and we would need to get some particulars in order to establish a fee.

I look forward to speaking with you about your interest and coming up with a design that will serve your objectives. Whatever you do, I feel the followup is a key piece if you are looking to get the most value out of the experience.

Paul

The time that an organization takes to step back and evaluate and work on the system almost always seems to be too short. We propose a program to address identified issues and 3 days becomes a day and a quarter. A series of meetings becomes one meeting; or the people we want in the room get called off to put out a fire. I feel that EL helps here because it has the capacity to provide a intensive learning experience that is rich and complex and can get more into/out of a short time frame.

One of my favorite feedback statements from a client went something like this: “This was the most efficient and effective team building exercise I have ever experienced. You get people aligned and accomplish in three hours or less what I have seen take weeks.” What he was talking about was the intensity of what happened in the room. It was a post-merger meeting of a large pharmaceutical company, with the top leadership worldwide and board—about 75 people.

If you been in a merger or part of one, maybe you know that a lot is going on with change uncertainty, vying for control, losing friends and coworkers. We did the FTM songwriting and performing program, and this multi-cultural group of leaders with diverse backgrounds, from two different companies created an experience where they spoke the truth, laughed about it, collaborated with their new colleagues, and came out in a different place. The energy at the planning session the next morning was noticeably different. I remember overhearing one of the board members, a big German guy, after the program talking to the CEO, “This wasn’t as trivial as I imagined it was going to be. I realize now that it was very meaningful. I really learned some important things about our people.”

There’s a lot at stake in results and job satisfaction, and there’s a way to go about it.

Future blog promise: Dive into this a bit.

In the mean time, check out our Culture Song: http://www.box.net/shared/bnomyj40d2olh33m25de

Sparks can’t ignite the large pieces of firewood–they need dry straw, small kindling, and a nice piece of birch bark is always good.

There’s no mistaking the surge of satisfaction when you know the fire is going to make it, especially in tough conditions–rain, cold, power out, and you’re up against it.

The metaphorical fire is the manifestation of the sparks of inspiration–life, breath, heat, and energy.

What is your straw and kindling?

Often things will pop up during work or a meeting, or while driving, or in the shower, and the classic altered state experienced while going to sleep or waking. It seems like it’s just letting water run through my hands to let them go—they are requesting airtime, they are auditioning for a life on this planet, and I am their preoccupied portal to creation and manifestation, or at least one of them.

Long ago I decided to collect these and use as the building blocks for my life. “I will act on the good ones!” Well, to be fair, some good ones have come about. It seems for me that it is usually a result of the collaboration of someone that I happened to share the idea with that then added their own insights and value to it, and we marched off together to make it happen.

But there are mothball smelling collections of these things lying around. The now cliché napkins with scribbles, pieces of paper, notes in journals, and since the advent of smartphones—lists generated in whatever note app that phone provides. These also include a strange subgroup entitled “band names” (these generally seem to represent some insight at the time of generation that is less than inspiring upon the next reading). I also have a jar someone gave me with “Brainstorms” molded into the clay that has a good selection of pieces.

Really need to go now, but will share some of these, and talk about how we can make fire out of our sparks, which is where I intend to go eventually with this….

Teaser beginnings in the Notes list….