The Art of Possibility 10 of 15: It’s All Invented
February 3, 2010 by dr. lam · 3 Comments
Zander recalls a Taiwanese student who came to attend his class and was given an A (as explained in the previous blog the way that Zander does for all students.) The student expressed profound confusion since he was told in Taiwan that he was no. 68 of 70 students, the real bottom of the barrel. He could not reconcile how he could be no.68 but at the same time Zander’s A student. Then one day he realized he was much happier being an A student than no.68 so began to see himself as an A.
Zander’s expression “It’s All Invented” refers to the idea that we literally invent our life as we choose to see it. Like the two British salesmen sent out to Africa to find out about business opportunities, one coming back saying no Africans wear shoes and the situation is hopeless versus the other coming back and saying no Africans wear shoes and glorious opportunities abound, we can choose in every life circumstance a downward spiral or a land of unbridled opportunity.
How are you going to invent yourself? If we remember the catchphrase, “It’s All Invented” we can begin to assume a much cheerier outlook on life, one in which “glorious opportunities abound” rather than one in which we face the dismal prospect of a hopeless future because it truly is all invented.
The Art of Possibility 9 of 15: Partnership in the Pit
February 2, 2010 by dr. lam · 6 Comments
Zander recounts when he went down to Cuba to conduct with the local maestro a combined orchestra of American and Cuban players. The Cuban maestro began the orchestra trying to play a difficult piece that highlighted the Cuban rhythm. None of the Americans could get the swing of it. In frustration, the Cuban maestro screamed out, “Enough. They can’t do it.” Zander lept to the stage and asked each Cuban orchestral player to teach his/her adjacent American counterpart how to play the piece. With a lot of pride on their faces, the Cuban players zealously taught the Americans, and in a short while to the amazement of Zander and the Cuban conductor, the Americans and the Cubans played together flawlessly. The Cuban conductor nodded in assent.
Then it was time for Zander to lead the orchestra. He had picked a very complex piece by Bernstein, “the Overture to Candide”, of which the score he had sent 3 months earlier to give the Cubans plenty of time to practice to get it right. Startled to find that the score had languished at the Cuban post office, Zander turned ashen at the prospect that the orchestra would not be able to master such a complicated arrangement so quickly. However, he thought brilliantly that now the Americans could instruct each of their Cuban counterparts on how to play this difficult piece, and again the playing went forward without a hitch.
I like the saying leaders lead leaders. I try not to create followers but leaders who can lead even better than I can. That is my passion and my undying vision for my practice, my building, and for all of you faithful blog readers!
The Art of Possibility 8 of 15: Mahler’s 9th
January 29, 2010 by dr. lam · 4 Comments
One of Zander’s violinists, Anne Hooper, brought back on her vacation a tape of Mahler’s 9th symphony to be played for her enjoyment on a boom box. Her little 5-year-old niece, Katrine, asked her aunt what the music was about. Anne spun an elaborate tale as the music played about a princess who was captured by a fearsome dragon and who was eventually saved by a handsome prince. With that invention, Katrine imagined this storyline and asked to listen to the music again and again, enraptured by the musical passion of it all.
The niece then asked her aunt, “Auntie Anne, is that really what the composer intended when he wrote this piece of lovely music?” Anne truthfully replied, “No, actually Mahler grew up in a household where sickness ruled and his seven siblings all died from illness during their childhood. His father was an angry drunk who terrorized the house, including his invalid mother. Mahler’s four-year-old daughter also died, and he never quite got over it. He lost his beloved job at the Vienna Opera House because he was Jewish. Shortly before writing his piece, he was diagnosed with a heart condition, for which he was told he had only a short time to live. This symphony was an expression of how Mahler imagined himself dying and that is why it ends in a whisper. Mahler was also a happy man in his life who laughed loud and loved long swims! Let’s not forget that.” Katrine went on to listen to Mahler’s 9th over 100 hundred times that summer.
Later that fall, Katrine and her family made the four-hour drive from upstate New York to Boston to hear Mahler’s 9th at Jordan Hall and was mesmerized throughout the performance. Katrine scrawled a thank you to Zander on a small notecard: “Ben Zander, Love Katrine. Thank you for Mahler Ninth. I loved it.” This note, Zander carries with him wherever he goes, as a reminder to how often we don’t give children an A, who deserve it. We too often give failing grades to everyone around us because that is what we are accustomed to do.
The Art of Possibility 7 of 15: Lessons in Leadership
January 28, 2010 by dr. lam · 2 Comments
Zander was going to conduct a world-class violinist in Israel that night at a sold-out concert. That morning, he exhorted his students for whom he saved 30 seats to attend this performance. That night, on the podium, he saw that up in the balcony all 30 seats had remained vacant. He was blisteringly angry and bitter.
The next morning, he called his wife and declared how angry he was. His wife’s first response was “You better apologize.” Zander replied, “Better apologize? For what? Did you not understand that these 30 kids stood me up? For a concert that has been sold out for months now!” His wife explained, “You did not inspire them enough to come to a concert to hear a world-class violinist that they will probably never again get a chance to hear that could literally have changed their DNA.” Zander humbly acknowledged his failings as a leader.
How often do we fail to inspire others to greatness? How often do we expect someone to see our vision when we never captivate their imagination?
The Art of Possibility 6 of 15: Last Words
January 27, 2010 by dr. lam · 4 Comments
Zander recounts the story of a fifteen-year-old girl who accompanied her 8-year-old brother on the train ride to Auschwitz. On the way, the boy accidentally dropped one of his shoes through onto the train tracks never to see it again. The sister reflexively screams at her younger sibling, “This is so like you to lose a shoe. You are so irresponsible. We will never get that shoe back!” Those were the last words that she uttered to her brother, as her brother never survived the concentration camp and she never saw him again after they arrived. When she left the concentration camp, she made a vow never to say words that could not stand as your last to someone. That is a beautiful goal to aspire to for all of us.