Smart Teams Know How to Adapt: Inspiration from Jazz Bands
Flirting with mistakes and uncertainty
“If you have to ask what jazz is, you’ll never know.” — Louis Armstrong
The ability to deal with uncertainty can make or break a team.
Famous jazz singer Ella Fitzgerald made her biggest career mistake on a German stage back in the 60’s. That performance earned her two Grammy Awards though.
Ella started singing “Mack the knife.” Her decision was risky: she had never performed it live before. Everything began well, but it went south faster than the public realized. The legendary singer suddenly blanked and forgot the lyrics. Instead of panicking, Lady Ella started improvising and singing new verses. The band followed along. The mistake turned the performance into a magic one.
The Queen of Jazz said: “Just don’t give up trying to do what you really want to do. Where there is love and inspiration, I don’t think you can go wrong.”
Even the most perfect teams make errors. How you deal with them is what matters. No one could tell if Ella’s mistake was planned or merely perfect improvisation.
Successful teams — like jazz players — flirt with disaster every day.
