The power of music - Sing it loud… this holiday season

"....music is the universal language of mankind”, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow.

It might sound over the top, but the fact is that music is one of the most fundamental aspects of human culture and researchers even think music may have pre-dated language itself.  Music can transcend cultural, geographical and language barriers and, as we know, can unite people.

Whenever humans come together, the chances are that music is there... Significant life events, like weddings or funerals, religious ceremonies, entertainment, even company conferences and events. So, what makes music so compelling to us?

Leonard Bernstein in his Harvard Lectures suggested music may have come about from… The universal word, “mama...”… If you sing it a little faster and a little louder, mama will hear you and come and feed you. In this sense, music had a survival necessity. Beyond survival though, music is about play, storytelling, communication and bringing people together. Not only does it help us to connect and make meaning of things, but it helps us release endorphins and feel pleasure.

For this holiday season blog, I thought it would be appropriate to focus on the significance of music and singing as a medium to overcome cultural or geographical differences.

“Music transcends the limits of language…” Moby.

I guess many of us will have experienced big company events that use music, at some stage, to hype up the audience!? But, there is much more potential than just that. I’ve experienced music used in quite innovative ways at multi-nation events, to communicate a point and get alignment and buy-in. Depending on how it is used; it can be a great motivator and can really help get teams of people engaged together behind a particular message. It can work really well across boundaries and with teams that are not used to working together. I have seen it used very effectively as the ‘glue’ at team working sessions, where language could have been a barrier to communications.

I was reflecting on the power of music the other day after watching a YouTube video forwarded to me by a work colleague… It was of a flash mob event at an airport.  I noticed that I couldn’t tell what nationality the singers were. They seemed to have lost any accent when they sang – and frankly not that it mattered, as what was really interesting was the message!

I’ve included a link to the video.  If you have the time to listen, I encourage you to do so twice.  Hit play the first time and simply listen with your eyes closed.  It will be silent for a few moments as a message (which you will be able to read the second time) is played in text only.  You will then hear the lovely sounds of a traditional holiday carol.   Then watch it the second time.  Not only will the context of the flash mob become clear, but I think you’ll be amazed that the singers aren’t what you would have pictured at all.   What was particularly fascinating to me is that I understood every word they said, whereas had this same group been speaking I would have likely struggled to understand a stronger accent.

Music is a social communication mechanism that has a powerful influence on human feelings and on the interpretation of events. We simply cannot ignore the profoundly deep emotional connection we have to music.

So, why not give some thought to how you might use music in an innovative way to engage your team? Plus, this holiday season make sure you take time to enjoy some music and maybe even join in… 

"...To create and perform music is a human instinct. It is one of the true universals of our species.” Biologist and author E. O. Wilson, essay in Harvard Magazine.

In pursuit of happiness

So here goes with my first blog entry... On a theme of ‘keep learning'.

The US Declaration of Independence cites ‘life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness’ as unalienable human rights. But what is it that really makes us happy?

A friend showed me a great ‘TED talks’ presentation last night – UK Statistician Nic Marks argues that happiness is a natural human aspiration - we all want happiness for ourselves, our families and our communities - yet ironically statisticians don’t measure happiness. Our dominant measures of ‘progress’ are built around what we can produce. Nic outlines the Happy Planet Index, which tracks national well-being against resource use. He suggests that in the same way that we should eat five portions of fruit and vegetables a day, there are five ways to wellbeing (that don’t have to cost the earth) and guess what... one of the 5 is keep learning. They are:

• Connect: invest time in your social relationships 
• Be active: it’s the fastest way out of a bad mood 
• Take notice: be aware of what’s going on around you 
• Keep learning: it doesn’t have to be formal learning, stay curious 
• Give: altruism makes us feel good 

Employee engagement is often seen as a key benefit of learning. But perhaps we should be thinking of learning as a way of making employees happier?

I passionately believe that we are all happier when we keep learning.