What U2 and The Who can teach us about Coming together for the Greater Good

As I learned from starting my drumming career- the best way to begin is to start with your strengths and your limitations to serve as a guide as you define your approach. When U2 got together, they were so bad; they COULDN’T copy anybody else’s songs. As a result, they were forced to follow their unconventional talent that they had to a place where it would start to make sense sonically. The advantage U2 had was that this approach had its origins in absolute necessity. When they stayed true to what they believed in- their strength of purpose, the approach yielded results, thus keeping the process moving forward. All of the progression they managed to achieve was based on their confidence in somehow knowing that what they had was enough to start with. The rest would come as they worked toward their goal of becoming a cohesive, melodic band that used spiritual passages as inspiration for a comprehensive study of the human soul. Being able to execute a single roll, or doing the fastest scale would have to wait. Once you commit to the fact that you (by nature of your appointment) are qualified for the job, it is up to you to realized that with that qualification comes with the responsibility to use that as an invitation to take that talent as far as you possibly can.

Even with that ability to play together, the next step in putting yourself out there is a belief that the other people in the band are on your side. This is what I call the concept of “Implied Reciprocity.” This approach basically says that in order for a team to work well together, they have to have the faith that if they sacrifice for the good of the team, then the other teammates will sacrifice when their time comes. That there is an implied contract between the members to sublimate their contributions to the project at various times during the production process. The payoff for this behavior comes when each member is allowed to contribute, and that their contributions are acknowledged and recognized.

In musicspeak, the best way to describe this phenomenon is the relationship between the melodic and rhythmic sides of the band. In all songs, each member of the band can not go all out at all points of the song. The arrangement mandates that each instrument “stays in their lane” and learns to hold back. Most often, it is the rhythm section that is asked to hold back and keep the engine moving, propelling the song down the proverbial tracks. One notable exception to this rule is The Who, who had a drums/bass combo that was wholly unpredictable and wild. You never knew what you were going to hear out of the manic flailings of Keith Moon and the acrobatic artistry of John Entwhistle. Suffice to say, if they had four Keith’s (perish the thought), or even four Johns, the songs would have suffered.

However, that wasn’t the case because of the contributions of the other two main characters, Pete Townshend and Roger Daltrey. Luckily for The Who, Townshend wrote the songs. By that happening, he was able to assume ownership of the song while Moon and Entwhistle unleashed their bombastic assaults on his products. He may have (and at various points in their career he did) a complete repulsion towards what they were doing. However, for the bulk of their career, they learned to work together as they learned that if you let Moon and Entwhistle go, you could provide a wonderfully chaotic, beautifully contructed canvass to work from. As a guitarist, Townshend was able to realize this and hang back, really coming to the forefront when a strong singular power chord was necessary. This lead to his trademark windmill technique. He realized he didn’t have a lot of room for chords, so he devised a way to have his presence in the song filled by this singular note. When he did this note, miracously, the rhythm section was able to take a break in their activities and support the simple, powerful output of the guitar. To top it off, this allowed the singer to use is strength of the passionate scream to complete the song. So, as most Who songs go, it was a combination of the steady powerful guitar player in the traditional rhythm while the hyperactive, explosive drums and bass propelled the song along its natural course. Add in the soaring vocals to breathe life into the groups songs about alienation and spiritual rebellion, and we have a great team.

How great would it be if your team at work could work this way? How great would it be if each member looked at themselves in the context of what they can contribute to the overall product? In music, that product is the song, in the business world; it is what the company produces for income. It may be a widget, a service, or a less concrete object, but the aim is the same- to get people to use your product (hear your song) so that they can get brand recognition (attract fans), to ultimately drive them to invest financially (buy a record, buy a concert ticket) in your business.