How to be Extraordinarily Agile

Michael Aucoin, D. Engr., PE, PMP is president of Leading Edge Management, LLC in College Station, Texas and author of Right-Brain Project Management: A Complementary Approach. He can be reached at [email protected].

  Agile   Communications Management   Talent Management  

It is the dream of many musicians, and a scene that has been repeated countless times: a new musical act auditioning for a record label executive in the hopes of signing a contract. Just as with many other acts, these particular musicians have auditioned for a number of labels--and rejected by them all. In fact, the musicians have developed a reputation as being something of a joke.

This audition is going like all the others. The executive later said, “They played me all their stuff, and I didn’t think any of it was any good.” After the audition, he asked the band members if there was anything they didn’t like. One musician answered, “Well, there’s your tie, for a start.” That wisecrack led to others, and the executive was charmed by their wit. In spite of their limited skills, he enjoyed the chemistry and signed the musicians to a contract.

These musicians would likely have remained an obscure nightclub act had it not been for the wisecrack that George Harrison made at the expense of Sir George Martin’s tie, and had it not been for the follow-on antics of John Lennon and Sir Paul McCartney. Martin would produce all but one of The Beatles’ albums. He has been called “The Fifth Beatle” because his guiding hand facilitated one of the most creative and far-reaching collaborations in recent musical history…

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