Kind of Innovative
Robert D. Austin and Carl Størmer draw business lessons from Miles’ “Kind of Blue” record, on how to escape the plateau of success and innovate once more, a feat very difficult for both musicians and companies: just think how many groups are worth following past their third record. In order to innovate you have to take some risks:
Also, Miles was on a trajectory, pushing the boundaries of bebop toward greater complexity in the music. He had a fantastic band, so nobody could take this trajectory where he and his band could. But when he jumped to the next S-curve, he actually turned around 180 degrees and went the opposite direction, toward simplicity—simplicity that empowered and freed his players to improvise and create, rather than pushing them to the limits of their technical mastery. He gave them some slack to work with, and asked them to do unusual things with it. It’s interesting to think about and look at examples of companies that have the will to turn 180 degrees, of course, but also there are probably business benefits in relying on radical simplicity to free and empower employees in a similar way.
