How to Collaborate – Lessons From Jazz – Lesson #1 : Respect

This is the first of a series of new posts that explain how you can apply the lessons of jazz to collaborate successfully.

Respect

“Music is my mistress and she plays second fiddle to no one.”
Duke Ellington

Jazz – like any collaborative process – is rooted in respect.  Respect for oneself. Respect for others. And above all, respect for the collaborative process itself.

Jazz musicians talk about the music. They understand that the music as a whole is more important, more powerful, more meaningful than their own particular expression of it. Their job is to serve the music, to stay true to the ethos of the music, to its values, its essence.

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In any collaboration, remember that you are serving the muse of collaboration, and that the key to a successful result is a successful process. That, in many ways, they are one and the same. In any collaboration the success of the whole is what matters and all of your energy should serve that end.

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