Tuesday, June 23, 2009

Playing in Pairs

Carrying on with the music theme. I went to a concert that my daughter was playing in on the weekend. What I found fascinating was not just the music but the way that the people in the orchestra played together.

If you have watched before you will note that there is this thing called the music sheet. It is really easy to play if the piece only takes up two pages. But what do you do as a player if the piece is a symphony ? Well if you are solo you have to stop playing, turn the page, find your place and start playing again. So in the orchestra they play in pairs. For example the 1st and 2nd violin work as a pair. The 2nd is covering the 1st and ensuring that the page is turned at the right time. It’s a nice piece of team work where the goal is beautiful music for the audience.

Again I see strong parallels between this and day to day project delivery. The essentials however are dedication, the focus on a common goal and the desire to work as a team, not just a collection of individuals.

Unfortunately not everyone wants to play in pairs. If that is the case I suggest you take up tennis singles.

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