Supergroups Always Break Up

This post marks a change in the blog. I'm going to lend this analogy to collaboration instead of just education and teaching. I'm finding myself thinking more and more about collaborating lately and how it is vital to survival.

The title of this blog is Supergroups always break up. What I mean by this is when collaborating it is important to remember that all collaborations have an expiration date. Collaborations come together for a common purpose. Various members with various talents and experiences join up to create, or make decisions. Often when the job is done the collaborative group stays around, to make more decisions. Sooner or later the decisions and actions get worse and worse. The group has passed it's expiration date.

If you follow a band, and if it has some success, and it breaks up millions of fans are disappointed. They don't understand, the collaboration has passed it's expiration date. Other times rock creates a supergroup. An outstanding guitarist will hook up with a bassist, drummer and singer from other successful groups. They create a great collaboration, then poof, they call it quits.

What a great example for the workplace. Managers, leaders will bring together their supergroup. Give them a fixed action or decision. They are successful, but soon falter. Again the expiration date is due.

If you look at the workings of the group, and dissect it you can see it's successes and failures. With a supergroup, each member brings its experience from their past bands. It gives new perspective to the new collaboration. They create, celebrate and move on. At the first sign this experienced group is out of there. They break up and move on to the next project. Often times you'll find certain members of the group hit it off and become part of the next collaborative group. New members add new blood to the new project.

Once it is recognized, the cycle repeats. Sometimes new relationships with old members are made when the time is right.

I've found this to be true even with the crappy cover bands I've played in. The members are ever changing. They collaborate for the gig and move on, play with other bands. They may come back with those experiences and make the next collaboration better.

Often we yearn for the original line up. We think the first genesis of the band was it. Time does not stand still. Learn to appreciate the changes in collaborative group, if you lucky it will change, you'll recognize the expiration dates, and move on.

Build a repertoire, practice it and build on it.

Learning is building a set of skills, and continuously adding to it.

A musician's goal is to be entertaining. He does this by playing songs. Whole songs. You have to start by learning one song. When you have that one down, learn another. Slowly you will build a repertoire. You will build a set. You will build what the old school big bands used to call a book. You'll have enough to be entertaining for an evening.

That is your goal. Everyone knows lots of people that can play first 25 seconds of the intro to stairway to heaven, or the opening riff to smoke on the water. That is not skill. You need more than that. That is a start. Many never get past that point.

Learning is the same. Build a worthy skill, then add to it. You will eventually have an orchestra of skills you can use.

A band must often revisit, and practice the old songs. They use the skill they learned from the old songs to conquer the new ones. This is a great example of spiral learning. Humans can't be expected to retain new knowledge if it's not reviewed.

Woodshed

Woodshed is an old school music term. It means to go off by yourself and practice. One musician will tell another you need to do some Woodshedding. That means go off, lock yourself in the woodshed, away from others and learn your craft. This is a time to make mistakes, push yourself, try something new away from the glare of others.

It is valuable time. It is time well spent. Yes, it can be painful. Woodshedding can be equivalent to solitary confinement. Just you and your instrument spending quality time with each other.

But, if woodshedding is done correctly the hours will pass like seconds. You will appreciate it. Time will fly and you will have to be pulled out of the woodshed by your loved ones. They will bang on the door and flick the lights to get you to knock it off. You are in the zone.

When it's bad, hours pass like year. It is like torture.

A learner must be ready for both. Woodshedding is a practiced skill like any. It gets better with time. It gets better with a challenge. When it comes right down to it is the perfect way to learn.

After a good time woodshedding you are prepared to share your learned skill with the world. And have it evaluated.

This could send you, once again, happily or unhappily to the woodshed.