Hearing the music of leadership.

This issue reintroduces you to one of our favorite thinkers, John Izzo, who has a wonderful way of framing a discussion about becoming fully alive at work. "Creating an Inspiring Workplace" is a captivating read in part because Izzo conveys a sense of being thoughtful, spiritual, and caring while simultaneously being practical and relevant.

The tone of Izzo's thinking style brings to mind another interesting observer of human and organizational behavior, Judson Green, whom participants in ASAE's recent Strategic Leadership Forum met one afternoon at the Disney Institute. Would it surprise you to learn that this president of Disney theme parks and resorts is an accomplished jazz pianist and composer? Green and his accompanying players sparked our spirits with a short concert, using the music to give us a fresh metaphor for thinking about creative leadership.

The insights Green so generously shared were many; here are just a handful:

* A framework of agreements must be in place before improvisation is possible. In jazz, those agreements include chord structure, key, time, time signature, and a vision for a tune. In organizations, we need agreement on values, behavior (e.g., listening and partnering), and goals (i.e., performance and leadership excellence).

* Through risk-taking, new ideas can emerge. In organizations as in jazz, says Green, we need to create environments in which mistakes can be made. It's often through mistakes that useful ideas are discovered.

* Recognition is essential. In jazz, solos are recognized through spontaneous applause. We need to do a better job of recognizing employees for their achievements - on the spot.

* We must accept the concept of flexible roles. The capacity to blend strengths and weaknesses with those of other performers or employees is a powerful tool.

* Communication is key. Musicians continually communicate as they play, explains Green. So, too, must organizations.

* People must be in the right jobs. Green, for instance, can't play sax, so putting him on that instrument would be counterproductive. Same goes for staff - if you don't get people in the right jobs, you'll introduce friction, he says, and the organization won't get the results it wants.

Green recalls a jazz teacher's analysis of the parts of John Coltrane's famous solo on "Giant Steps": The complex things can be made simple, and the overwhelming things can be made approachable.

I find this a useful and even liberating perspective in an environment that appears more complex daily. Two articles in this issue that may be helpful as you give thought to the many dimensions of creative change and leadership are "The Big Think" and "Technology and Mission: Making the Most of Both."