The Beatles is a symbol of the success of four great individuals. Lennon, McCartney, Harrison, and Starr formed a thriving and successful group. Thanks to excellent cooperation, they appeared together as a team. It turns out that the rules of The Beatles can serve as inspiration for managers who want to lead a harmonious and successful team.
How is a harmonious team formed?
By the time the first song by The Beatles reached the top of the British charts, the band had already spent thousands of hours getting to know each other and working together.
So it's worth taking the time to get to know each other's team members and reach out on common, simpler tasks - before they have to work together on really important projects. Many managers forget that in order for the team to function effectively, they need time to integrate. In my opinion, this mistake is often made at the beginning of projects carried out using the Agile method, which is so popular today, and with various variations of this type of activity (eg Design Thinking).
Appreciating and showing off all team members
Despite the fact that the strong leaders of The Beatles were John Lennon and Paul McCartney, the other members of the band also enjoyed great popularity. Moreover, in order for all members of the group to be recognized by the audience, the two leaders used different procedures. Including they wrote a special song for Ringo Starr, "With a Little Help from My Friends”, and were the first to put his drums on a platform during concerts.
And by the way: on July 7, 2020, Ringo Starr celebrates his 80th birthday and will perform with Paul again on this occasion. Looking at him it's hard to believe that he is in such great physical shape!
Likewise, in a company, it is important that all team members feel valued and aware of the role they play in it. And highlighting individual employees usually benefits the entire team. For example, well-known employees are better recognized by customers and at the same time feel appreciated for their work, while an anonymous team usually means less effectiveness and less satisfaction of its members. So let's let the team members shine in front of the whole team. Every time they deserve it, of course.
Accepting diversity and complementarity
The most famous duo in the history of music - John Lennon and Paul McCartney - is a duo of contradictions and sparkling opposites at the same time. However, despite these differences, they collaborated wisely, and their work resulted in over a billion albums sold.
In an effective team, differences between its employees are a prerequisite for creative solutions. In addition to optimistic creators about life, people must keep both feet on the ground. It is also worth selecting both experts and less experienced people for the team, taking care of their cooperation in creative problem-solving. The ideal solution would be if specialists in specific fields (depth of expertise) could work with people with broader horizons (width of expertise), who can ask difficult or so-called "Stupid questions.
Understanding the power of innovation - back in the 1960s
The Beatles avoided playing only one kind of music. They perfectly watched the world and changed the nature of their songs from album to album. They used other musical trends, invented new melodic lines, and introduced new arrangements and previously unused instruments. They also started turning their album covers into small pieces of art (please see Revolver album cover)
Today, business is also dominated by the principle of adapting the product to the needs of customers, and in order to be able to develop its business (or even survive), it must constantly monitor the needs of its customers. But ... The Beatles were already doing it in the 1960s 😏
Based on The Beatles' Principles by Andrew Sobel
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