The Jazz Process

The Joy of Collaboration

Humans have always collaborated, but simply adding more people to a work effort doesn’t necessarily mean higher productivity. The real goal is to create synergy, which is more likely to happen when a group is small – a five-member basketball team, a jazz trio – and members contribute at their peak. Envision your work as a collaborative artistic performance by studying the example of jazz. These musicians fashion their product on the fly by maximizing individuality, minimizing rules and listening to each other. Their pivotal skills include innovation and improvisation, which require on-the-spot composing and reacting to unexpected changes in the music. Being able to improvise is crucial in today’s business climate, and so is having the collaborative agility demonstrated by a good jazz combo.

Software code developers follow a set of rigid rules to maximize stability, but a jazz trio follows looser rules that deliberately encourage instability. Effective team building requires clear rules and a cooperative mentality that works within appropriate guidelines. Instead of enforcing a statutory code, provide axioms that embody a way of doing things...