CASE STUDY ON ROTATING LEADERS : ORPHEUS ORCHESTRA

TIME CONTEXT:

2nd week of January at Baruch High School in Manhattan

VIEWPOINT

Julian Fifer, Orpheus’s founder

CENTRAL/PROBLEM

Orpheus’s collaboration and consensus-building approach is time-consuming.

Although core groups were already established, the decision process would still require
the consensus of the majority. The problem of getting all the members’ opinion would
entail thorough discussions/deliberation which can be tedious under limited available
time.

OBJECTIVES

Must Objective:
To establish a set of guidelines/rules among the members of Orpheus Orchestra
in observing a more effective and efficient timeline

Want Objective:
For members to create an atmosphere that would adapt and support in achieving
the proposed set of guidelines.
 AREAS OF CONSIDERATION

S W O T
1. Collaboration and 1. Susceptibility to Metaphor for structural  The pressure to
Cooperation. Orpheus Miscommunication. change achieve cohesion
has developed In the absence of a quickly
collaborative process conductor, a musician’s Many companies  The time it takes to
which encourages focus during performance is actually hire Orpheus organize a
sharing and rotating directed towards a playing to demonstrate their structure
of leadership roles member to get a cue. Alert leadership strategies that works
giving equal power to audience will notice a nod of to their executives.  Divergent
all musicians in the a head or a hand gesture Company leaders gain philosophies may
orchestra from the musician to pick up an understanding of lead to conflict
a musical thought which the many benefits of among team
2. Member Involvement may be disturbing to the making everyone a members
and Empowerment. audience. The physical style leader-not just one
Each musician is of playing is usually not person, and allowing
given a chance to experienced in a standard all members to hold a
learn and participate symphony orchestra. Thus, valid opinion.
in the decision- there is a high probability of
making on matters of miscommunication among  Flexibility and
repertoire, musicians in depicting body opportunity to lead
interpretation, movements which may spoil energizing
rehearsal and the performance. and enabling new
performance by members in
becoming a member 2. Delay in Decision Making. orchestra
of the core groups. Getting all the members’  Collaboration,
opinion would entail Artistic freedom and
3. Each team shares thorough self-expression and
common values discussions/deliberation free exchange of
leading to which can be tedious under ideas
high degree of limited available time.  Each member
respect among all responsible for
members.  Core-group in Orpheus leadership training
changes regularly Leaders
are constantly dealing with
change in groups

There will be competition

within the company and
more people feel as though
they are a leader, rather than
a worker or an employee.
Recommended COURSES OF ACTION:

1. Orpheus Orchestra management to identify the barriers that causes delays

and setbacks and strategize with a new policy direction and road map.

Advantage: In this way, all the orchestra members get to voice a valid opinion that
can be incorporated into a conclusive decision acceptable to all members.

Disadvantage: Illusions of invulnerability lead members of the group to be

overly optimistic and engage in risk-taking and unanimity that may lead
members to believe that everyone is in agreement and feels the same way.

The pressure to conform is often placed on members who pose questions,

and those who question the group are often seen as disloyal.

RECOMMENDATION

Detailed Action Plan

1. Orpheus Orchestra management to formally discuss the need to come up
with a new policy to meet the group’s timeline.

2. Ensure that all members had been consulted and these changes are
accepted with consensus from the group.

3. Assign a member to collate/gather the individual availability / calendar.

4. Create a shared calendar which can be accessed via internet by all

members.

5. prepare the orchestra calendar of activities at least 1 year ahead ensuring

the availability of all members.

6. ensure that the new schedule has been disseminated to all members of the
group.
1. What would business organizations such as Kraft Foods gain from observing
Orpheus in action?

I think that any organization especially a large dynamic company watching Orpheus
can teach the leaders of those organizations a lot. The biggest key that I think they
can learn is the dynamic method of allowing the group (your team members/
employees) to evolve and change over time. This evolving allows all members
contribute to the company’s goals, and will keep a higher employee satisfaction
because everyone will feel that they had a lot of contribution to the overall success.
2. Orpheus rotates the concertmaster position among core-group members. What is
the logic of rotating the leader?

Keep in Mind
Many companies actually hire Orpheus to demonstrate their leadership strategies to
their executives. Company leaders gain an understanding of the many benefits of
making everyone a leader-not just one person, and allowing all members to hold a
valid opinion. Many companies don't want their employees to gain knowledge of how
Orpheus has perfected this strategy because they aren't in favor of this structural
change.
What are some of the substitutes for permanent leadership that exist within Orpheus?
Summary

 Students call for CEO's to re-evaluate

 "radical, ongoing experiment to find out whether grassroots democracy and
commitment to consensus can lead to transcendental performance or whether
it will alnd in organizational chaos and muddled results."

 Scenarios portrayed are valid in both music and business worlds

 Classical musicians aren't taught to work in traditional orchestras
 Often seen as egotistical and self-driven
 Most see working under a conductor as unrewarding

 Frustrated cellist makes side comments about amount of preparation for a

performance.
 Leaderless orchestra
 Self-governed body
 Metaphor for structural change

 Started as a group of independent musicians

 Now a touring concert group
 Slowly transformed and perfected themselves
 Small group discussions and elected concertmaster used
 Group is now being observed
Renegade to Pro

Rotating Leaders: Orpheus Orchestra pg.(466-469)

What would business organizations such as Kraft Foods gain from observing
Orpheus in action?
Summary
Bauch notes that changing core-group participants and the concertmaster position
has given each orchestra member an intensive course in leadership training.
Each concertmaster gets a chance to alleviate some of the pressure to try to get your
way all of the time.
Also, this method will help. In many cases, when you have a boss or manager,
employees feel like they’re under control or powerless. When working for a company
who is self-governed, it is less likely that there will be competition within the company
and more people feel as though they are a leader, rather than a worker or an
employee
At first, Orpheus tried to give every member equal leadership in decision making and
details. This type of large group discussion proved to be too chaotic and unorganized
and very few conclusive decisions were reached.
After large group discussions, they tried breaking up into smaller groups to work out
details, with each group having a leader. After trial and discussion, the small groups
come to a conclusion at which point the small group leaders meet to discuss details
of the performances. After decisions were made, a concertmaster is chosen
depending on the piece or particular performance.
Ultimately, Orpheus replaced permanent leadership with small groups, core-group
leaders and rotating concertmasters. In this way, all the orchestra members get to
voice a valid opinion and the leaders incorporate the opinions of their small group
into a conclusive decision.
Orpheus rotates the concertmaster position among core-group members. What is the
logic of rotating the leader?
Title: Leadership Ensemble Orpheus: A Conductor-less Orchestra

1
Leadership Ensemble Orpheus A Conductor-less
Orchestra
2
Introduction

 New York based orchestra established in 1974

 Founded by Julian Fifer
 Consists of 27 members
 Famous for implementing a leaderless orchestra
 Orpheus name for Greek god who created music
so powerful, stones rose and followed him

3
Agenda

 Motivation
 Decision Making
 Leadership
 Team Cohesion and Structure
 Conclusion

4
Motivation

 Success
 The Early Stages
 Job Satisfaction
 Problems
 Solution

5
Motivation

 Musicians More talent greater career options

 No matter how successful, most resort to teaching
 Members of Orpheus unsatisfied in conventional
orchestras under the control of a conductor

6
The Early Stages

 Motivation undermined by having to follow

conductors strict rules
 Success is defined as how you can follow other
orchestras members actions
  The climate in most conductor-led orchestras is
appalling

7
The Early Stages

 The aspect of making good music is relinquished

 Must be self-motivated due to steep competition
 Much time devoted to studying music individuals
invest much pride and ego in career

8
The Early Stages

 Self-expression in music more difficult if

orchestra conductor-led
 Individuality proves relatively useless in
conventional orchestras as conductor tells you
what to do
 Formal training is only required for entry into
orchestra

9
Job Satisfaction

 Widespread discontent among symphony musicians in

4 countries
 Musicians believe that their talent is
underrepresented in an orchestra
 One Orpheus member said, You must be careful not
to let symphony job conflict with making music.

10
Problems

 Conductor control leads to lack of communication

between musicians
 Overall spirit lost due to strict control of
conductor
 Members not inspired to work as a team

11
Solution
12
Solution

 No particular method was implemented to gain

ideas for pieces of music
  Every member contributes ideas for each piece of
music
 This encouraged members to use their talents and
training to determine overall success

13
Decision Making

 Unanimous Decisions
 Core Groups
 Concert Master

14
Unanimous Decision Making

 All 27 members participated

 Strong willed musicians
 Why this is a problem

15
Core Groups

 Formulate interpretations
 Same preparations as a conductor
 Each presents to ensemble
 Rotate regularly

16
Concert Master

 Team Captain vs. Coach

 Responsibilities
 Influence
 Rotation
 Executive Committee

17
Leadership

 Leadership and feedback

 Teamwork leads to trust
 Every musician is a leader

18
Leadership
  Each musician in Orpheus will sit in the
audience to hear how each piece sounds to a
concertgoer
 Without a conductor each member must play the
role of leader
 Personal feedback from colleagues is vital

19
Teamwork Leadership

 Teams in Orpheus rely on individual members

having a common objective
 Highly cohesive team with defined roles,
accountability and trust
 Stage 2 Organization

20
Teamwork Leadership

21

22

23
Team Cohesion

 Substitutes to cover for unavailable members

 The whole must be the same, in spite of the
rotating identities of the parts
 One member from each instrument section fluent in
Orpheus leadership process must perform at each
concert

24
Team Cohesion

 Orchestra has a dozen regular substitutes

 An extended family of musicians
 Substitutes must contribute their opinions
 Hearing fresh, new ideas is always good.

25
Team Cohesion

 A high degree of interaction among members

 Somewhat difficult entry
 Both in terms of skill and artistic philosophy
 A common external challenge
  Upcoming performances

26
Team Cohesion

 Longevity leads to familiarity, not only with

your job, but with your co-workers
 Familiarity leads to predictability
 You can anticipate one another’s every move.

29
Conclusion

 Motivation
 Greater involvement leads to greater job satisfaction
 Decision Making
 Dividing into core groups leads to teamwork and
trust

30
Conclusion

 Leadership
 Collaborative due to common objective and shared
values
 Team Cohesion
 Cohesion results from new ideas contributed by
rotating members
 There are benefits and drawbacks success depends
on situation

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