LESSONS 4 CULTURE + BUSINESS SUCCESS

THE FATE OF ‘OBSCURE DVDs’ – LESSONS for CULTURE + BUSINESS SUCCESS ?

Part 4

FIRST HAND REPORTS

MAKING AN OLD ART FORM ATTRACIVE TO YOUNG AUDIENCES

I was personally in attendance both for the celebrated SEASON'S Opening, the Season Opera Madame Butterfly , directed by the film director, Anthony Minghella.

It was a feast for the eye, as well as for the ear.

It was a dance performance (with traditional Japanese dance elements, costumes and props).

It was a theatrical performance, with the singers giving time and attention to slight facial expression changes, slight movements of head and hand, to details of voice intonation in speech, as well as in the singing.

Paradoxically, the very strong use of Japanese elements – such as kabuki theatre movements and makeup, puppets, and traditional clothing - made this production much more modern and immediate. .

I also attended the performance of Mozart’s opera, The Magic Flute, directed by the talented theatre director Julie Taymor. Who is famous, of course, for her direction of The Lion King on Broadway.
How ‘popular’ can you get ?

I love her work, by the way, and for me, ‘popular art’ is NOT a derogatory term.

Moreover, using these elements from the popular forms is part of the ingenius as well as Genius Marketing Vision of Gelb – reaching out in different ways to the Young Audience, in order to cultivate and build the future audience for the Metropolitan Opera in New York in particular, but also for Opera in general.

In a thoughtful and inventive attempt to make the opera more accessible to people who are not used to this art form, the Magic Flute was sung in English.

And it was cut to a shorter 100 minute length, as a special draw for kids ranging from 8 to 18 (from what I observed during that matinee performance on a Saturday afternoon) – the audience of the future.

Remember, we are talking about the people of the sound byte. The people of the instant messenger and text messaging. The people of Short is sweet.

It was also a colorful, delightful fiesta - a public celebration of music, dance, sight, sound, and more.

There was true magic in Taymor’s weaving together of old and new elements: incredibly modern and symbolic use of revolving sets, and old style Dancing bears, flying birds, and even a giant serpent.
The clowns of the circus of yore met and waltzed with the abstract art of today. And in that dance, they came into diverse combinations. They harmonized with each other; they counter-pointed one another; they clashed.

Above all, the sum was greater than the parts.

The adults as well as the children of all ages in the audience were focused and entranced during this almost 2-hour long carnival. The fact that they rarely moved around, and kept consistently silent, told me that they were all mesmerized.
You know how rambunctious kids can be - even in the most arresting movie.

But not during this Magic Flute. It was true magic, for us all.

I can easily see this production affecting young people of all social strata and backgrounds, due to the use of non-verbal , universal, archetypal symbols.

HERE IS A PERSONAL WISH: Mr. Gelb, extend the reach of this opera, in its magic production, to the diverse audience of kids and teens of all races, ethnicities and colors throughout the five boroughs.

How: by inviting the kids, or making tickets accessible financially and literally to kids, in all the five boroghs whose parents cannot pay for the tickets.

If you have your own wishlist here, let me know, OK?

After all, magic is in the air, isn't it ?

All Rights Reserved C 2007 Dinnah G. Pladott , Ph. D.

LESSONS 4 CULTURE + BUSINESS SUCCESS? Part 2

THE FATE OF ‘OBSCURE DVDs’ – LESSONS for CULTURE + BUSINESS SUCCESS ?

Part 2

CREATING AN OPPORTUNITY OUT OF A CRISIS

To play on a famous Chinese term, which connotes both ‘crisis’ and ‘opportunity’ – what will enable a business to turn a crisis into an opportunity ?

A little bit later, I will point to two current examples that show to what extent a successful business is built first and foremost when the driving force is Creative Thinking, or Creative Problem Solving.

For now, take a look.

The buzz words, INNOVATION, INVENTIVENESS, and their terrible step sibling, Thinking Out of the Box, do have a valid point.

If you want to discover viable, successful strategies to overcoming great business obstacles, you cannot think in a simple, linear fashion. (BTW, check ‘linear thinking’ and ‘non-linear thinking’ by Googling it online. You will be enlightened…)

One of the great things that I have learned over the years - by absorbing various forms of Far Eastern thought, philosophy, arts, and religion - was to value the ‘non-linear’ approach as an important tool for the business leader’s tool kit.

Sometimes, you have to see the value of inverting the linear into the non-linear perspective: Small is Beautiful. Less is More.. Fast is Slow, Slow is Fast.

THE NON-LINEAR APPROACH

In fact, one of my clients aced his second GMAT – after getting a very low score on the first round – by repeating my slogan at the beginning of each 2-minute segment allotted to answering a single question:

‘Go Slow, you Get there Faster.’

In ALL the past trial tests, and in the actual first GMAT round, he was constantly short of time, and his score was low.

At the end of this second GMAT go- round, he raised his score by a hugely substantial number of points. But in addition, as he screamed at me jubilantly over the phone, he also had an unexpected bonus: more than ample time to complete his replies .

“ I raised the score to XYZ” he yelled , laughing and crying; “And you are not going to believe this: I had time left over in each question, at least 20, sometimes 30 seconds. I had time to review, to regroup. Unbelievable.”

In the first GMAT round, no Business School would look at his application.

After the second GMAT round, he had his pick of Business Schools.

And he chose The London School of Economics.

Who ever said that non-linear solutions do not bring good business results ?

It becomes especially handy when the odds seem very unfavorable to ‘our side.’
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Want to hear how some current organizations are implementing non-linera solutions to turn

<>a crisis into an opprotunity ?

Come back for the next segment.

Have a glorious day !

All Rights Reserved C 2007 Dinnah G. Pladott , Ph. D.