Imagine yourself seated in Avery Fisher Hall at Lincoln Center awaiting a concert by the New York Philharmonic. The orchestra’s musicians are on stage warming up, producing a cacophony of sound. The concertmaster raps his stand for the orchestra to tune to the principal oboist’s A. A few minutes later, music director Alan Gilbert mounts the podium, gives the downbeat, and the 100 or so musicians come together to produce a beautifully balanced and precise sound—a quality performance in every respect.

Is an orchestra really so much different than a business organization? Leaving aside the business aspects of running and administering a musical endeavor such as a symphony orchestra, the process of producing a musical product is not much different than producing a business product or service to satisfy customers. In fact, there is much that business could learn from the creative processes of musicians and artists—valuable lessons about organization, process, quality, problem solving, teamwork, and collaboration.

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