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Peter Cook is a business school lecturer and ex-rocker who's winning plaudits for his new book, which analyses dozens of famous music stars as if they were business case studies.
Read on to find out to find out the many business lessons that can be harvested from the careers of The Beatles, Prince and even Take That! Harvey Goldsmith, legendary promoter of Sting, Madonna, the Rolling Stones and Live Aid has said he loves the book!
Cook says that up to 25 per cent of business people are frustrated rockers. Hopefully this will give 'em inspiration to rock on!
Tell us about the Music of Business in a few sentences. What is it about?
"The Music of Business” offers a carefully crafted cocktail of business intelligence, mixed with the wisdom of pop and rock’s monarchy. It is a synthesis of three passions that have fuelled my career: Science, MBA Business thinking and Music. One way into understanding what the book is about is via some of the questions it attempts to address:
What can you learn about creativity and innovation from The Beatles, David Bowie and a night at the opera?
Can Britney Spears, Take That and The Kaiser Chiefs help you become a true learning company?
Can Jazz and structured improvisation help you succeed in a complex and changing business world?
What can Lady Gaga teach you about business strategy and using social media to build a powerful, durable and sustainable brand in a complex and ever changing world?
What can hard rock groups such as Deep Purple, Led Zeppelin and Spinal Tap teach you about business strategy and project execution that the MBA cannot?
Who should buy this book?
Professor Adrian Furnham of UCL said that he could see MBA students, alumni and senior managers gaining value from this book. Alongside that I've had feedback from Johnson and Johnson, HP, Lloyds, Pfizer, PwC and Towergate that suggests the approach will appeal to younger people who are looking for a rapid tour of business strategy, creativity and innovation at work and the leadership of change.
You don't need to be musical to 'get' the ideas in the book. That said, I've been approached by a number of people who are looking to develop careers in the music business and who want to understand business without having to learn the lexicon of business jargon. Harvey Goldsmith offered me an endorsement and I'm waiting on one from Seth Godin now that he has completed his UK tour. It does not get much better than that.
Give readers a taste of what's inside
Under Strategy we compare AC / DC with Radiohead and the Kaiser Chiefs in this respect, making connections with Unilever, Apple and many other business examples. Failure is an instructive way of looking at strategy and we examine strategic mismanagement, along with a trip to the Opera to examine complex strategy execution where there is no room for error or failure.
In Creativity we look at the importance of creativity principles and techniques via articles from The Beatles with parallel lessons from Proctor and Gamble, First Direct and others. Punk rock offers a metaphor for disruptive thinking and we explore punk creativity via chapters on marketing and spontaneous thinking.
We examine principles of business innovation, using the examples of The Velvet Underground and Andy Warhol, Prince, Lady Gaga, Dyson, Innocent Drinks and more.
Finally we explore the impact of the built and psychological environment on innovation using Stax Records and the experience of my hard rock friend Bernie Tormé, guitarist to Ozzy Osbourne and Ian Gillan.
In the section on Leadership we examine questions of stability and reinvention via chameleons who have reinvented themselves and taken their audiences with them – Madonna, David Bowie, Toyota, Nokia, Stora Enso et al. We also look at personal leadership qualities with Punk folk group Chumbawumba, Britney Spears and Daniel Goleman.
Why did you decide to write it?
The book has come from my career, which seems to rotate (accidentally) in 18-year cycles. I spent 18 years in pharmaceutical research and development at the Wellcome Foundation, bring life-saving drugs to market and fixing factories around the world; 18 years working for business schools on MBA programmes and 18 years running my own business.
For me, The Music of Business is an unusual combination of deep industrial experience, supported by formal learning about business and management and less formal lessons from the school of hard rock.
What percentage of people you've met in the business world are frustrated rockers?
A good 15 to 25% of my MBA students over the years have either been musical or frustrated musicians, so that gives some idea as to the power of music. That said, I've discovered a lot of real talent amongst business people in my work around the world in companies and organisations such as Unilever, Pfizer, The United Nations, GSK and The Metropolitan Police.
Where is the book available?
It's on Amazon.com, Amazon.co.uk and worldwide. Signed copies via The Music of Business webpage. The book is also available as a Kindle download. It will be accompanied by free iPhone and Android apps in the coming weeks, covering daily business tips through the medium of music.
It's not just wannabe rockers who go to business school! Find out why dozens of people have headed back to school for an MBA in our popular Why MBA series!
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