Drumming Up Business
In the spirit of Glastonbury, here is a little musical analogy.
In most orchestras and bands, the drum is one of the most important components. The drums keep time, like the heartbeat of the music, without which the other instruments could fall out of step.
The same is true in any organisation. While we all play different instruments and have our own parts to play, the drums, or the culture of the organisation, must keep time and pull everyone together.
Organisationally, culture comes from the daily activities, conversations, rituals and symbols of the members of that organisation. All of these things contribute to the outward facing identity of the brand. So while you might think that the conversations which go in the kitchen every morning, the mid-stairs meeting, or the after work drinks on a Friday, make little contribution to your bottom line, as part of an embedded culture they could be having a significant impact.
All of these details combined form the heartbeat of your business and your brand. Managed correctly the whole organisation will drum together projecting the image of a strong, cohesive brand to the outside world.
So ensuring that all the different instruments are playing together requires talented leaders, Tim Smit (sorry to keep ‘banging on’ about him…ouch), told us that at the Eden Project, everyone receives drumming lessons, and on regular occasions all 500 or so employees come together and drum. Just take a second to close your eyes and imagine that, awesome. It might sound like frivolity, but the sense of unity it creates really does make everyone feel that they are part of something special and much bigger than each of them. They all play different drums and different parts, but collectively, they make something very beautiful.
