What leaders can learn from great playwrights

I’m always looking for leadership wisdom found outside of the boardroom.

I love the arts. For the creativity, the inspiration, the storytelling and the way they can make us see the world differently.

It feeds the soul.

Recently, I was reading about David Amram, the American composer, conductor and musician.

He makes an interesting observation about composition.

If a piece is structured well enough, with a clear beginning, middle and end, the performers are able to express themselves and put their own feeling into it. 

The result is something that can reach and move an audience.

He says this is what the great playwrights do.

They focus on the structure. They create the architecture of the work, and then allow the actors to take that architecture and make it their own. The result can be something terrific.

It got me thinking. Could leaders do the same? Could leaders operate more like composers or playwrights?

In my experience, there are two extremes.

The micromanaging leader goes well beyond creating the architecture. They prescribe the detail: what needs to be done, how it should be done and often even what the outcome should look like.

The result may be good. But is it terrific?

At the other end is the leader who provides the vision, mission and values and then essentially says, "Over to you."

I have found that this can be just as problematic. Vision, mission and values provide a sense of direction, but I think they often provide a fuzzy view of where an organisation needs to head or be.

A few people may be comfortable with that ambiguity. Most aren't.

For me, organisational architecture sits somewhere between the two.

It provides clarity about the what, why, when, where and who.

It clearly explains the gap between where we are and where we need to be.

It establishes the boundaries, the expectations and what matters.

But it doesn't necessarily prescribe the how.

That's where the performers come in.

The playwright creates the structure.

The actors create the performance.

And perhaps that's the leadership lesson.

The leader's job isn't to perform the work. It's to create enough clarity and structure for others to exercise their judgement, bring their skills and creativity, and make the work their own.

Too much structure and you get compliance. Too little and you get confusion. Get the architecture right, and you create the possibility of something terrific.

Maybe there is something the boardroom can learn from the theatre and the great playwrights.