Speaking to HR magazine at a string quartet experience morning, Parker said taking senior employees out of their comfort zone is critical to building “tolerance of ambiguity” and encouraging staff to bring their personalities to work.
The quartet experience was held in conjunction with the London Business School as part of the global management consulting firm’s Expanding Horizons senior partner development programme.
Now in its third year as part of this programme, the experience involves attendees standing among Quatuor Annesci quartet players to see how they communicate, instructing players on how to better co-operate when deliberately not playing as an ensemble, and forming a choir-come-orchestra for a final musical performance at the end of the morning.
On why such an experience is valuable, Parker said: “This experience forces people to drop their expertise because the majority of them don’t have any in music. We have assumptions and expertise that can get in the way of learning and taking risks. And when you have no expertise in something you have to engage more emotionally with a task, so this kind of activity forces you to bring more humanity to a work setting.”
He added: “Over the last 15 to 20 years more companies have started to think about these issues. Now more are having those conversations. But too few do anything about it.”
This particular activity also encourages employees to think more carefully about shared leadership, continually changing the leadership dynamic, and the way that – as with a musical ensemble – the harmony created internally within a team is wasted if not communicated to an audience or customer base effectively, added Parker.
“This experience really does teach people how to connect well with people and listen,” he said.
François Jacquet, violinist in the Quatuor Annesci quartet, added that companies they work with approach them for help with a number of HR challenges, including team building, leadership with emotion, and authenticity and people management.
He reported increased interest from businesses over recent years, with the quartet now working with firms around 60 to 80 times a year.
“Music is a valuable tool because it’s immediate – everyone can tell whether something’s being played well, and so it’s an immediate way of communicating ideas about collaboration and leadership,” added Hélène Dupont, quartet violinist.
“Music is something that appeals to many, it’s great if you’re looking for something that gives you the opportunity to draw in the majority,” said Parker.
