Management Stories

A Violinist in the Metro

A man sat at a metro station in Washington DC and started to play the violin; it was a cold January morning. He played six Bach pieces for about 45 minutes. During that time, since it was rush hour, it was calculated that thousand of people went through the station, most of them on their way to work.

Three minutes went by and a middle aged man noticed there was musician playing. He slowed his pace and stopped for a few seconds and then hurried up to meet his schedule.

A minute later, the violinist received his first dollar tip: a woman threw the money in the till and without stopping continued to walk.

A few minutes later, someone leaned against the wall to listen to him, but the man looked at his watch and started to walk again. Clearly he was late for work.

The one who paid the most attention was a 3 year old boy. His mother tagged him along, hurried but the kid stopped to look at the violinist. Finally the mother pushed hard and the child continued to walk turning his head all the time. This action was repeated by several other children. All the parents, without exception, forced them to move on.

In the 45 minutes the musician played, only 6 people stopped and stayed for a while. About 20 gave him money but continued to walk their normal pace. He collected $32. When he finished playing and silence took over, no one noticed it. No one applauded, nor was there any recognition.

No one knew this but the violinist was Joshua Bell, one of the best musicians in the world. He played one of the most intricate pieces ever written with a violin worth 3.5 million dollars.

Two days before his playing in the subway, Joshua Bell sold out at a theater in Boston and the seats average $100.

This is a real story. Joshua Bell playing incognito in the metro station was organized by the Washington Post as part of an social experiment about perception, taste and priorities of people. The outlines were: in a commonplace environment at an inappropriate hour: Do we perceive beauty? Do we stop to appreciate it? Do we recognize the talent in an unexpected context?

One of the possible conclusions from this experience could be: If we do not have a moment to stop and listen to one of the best musicians in the world playing the best music ever written, how many other things are we missing?

Source: A Violinist in the Metro

4 Comments » Posted by Administrator / Miscellaneous and Organizational Behavior / HR

Positive change requires letting go of old patterns and taking a fresh approach. It demands going beyond our preconceived ideas. A story about the relationship of a teacher and student illustrates this principle. A student who thought he had it “all fgured out” would visit his teacher each day for personal lessons about life. Despite the teacher’s attempts to share her life experience, the student resisted. One day the teacher took a different approach. The teacher asked the student if he would like some tea. The teacher proceeded to set the tea table and brought in a huge pot of piping hot tea. She not only flled the student’s cup, but once the cup was full, she continued to pour. Tea overfowed, streaming onto the table and the beautiful carpet. Shocked, the student jumped up from his chair and started screaming at the teacher, “Stop! You must be crazy! You’re ruining everything! Can’t you see what you are doing?” The teacher continued her pouring as if the student weren’t present until the entire pot was empty. Only then did she look calmly at the student and respond, “If you want to receive my tea, you must keep your cup empty.”

Like a wise student, we can gain insight only if we are open to change. Change is always our teacher, pointing new directions, suggesting new options, testing our potentialities. Change challenges our current reality by forcing a new reality to rush in. If we’re open to it, if our cup is empty, new possibilities fow into our lives. If we’re not open to change, we respond to it like an enemy we have to fend off.

Source: Leading with Agility by Kevin Cashman | ChangeThis, January 2009

1 Comment » Posted by Administrator / Change Management and Organizational Behavior / HR