Sense making and learning in complex organisations: the string quartet revisited

Abstract

We are performing a masterpiece-something by Beethoven, Schubert, Brahms, perhaps Mozart. The quartet mechanism is functioning smoothly-tightly and solidly. A symbiosis emerges between the ethereal power of the music and the expressiveness of each of the quartet's members, lubricated by the sweat of a decade of hard work. The power of the resulting eloquence is more than the sum of its parts." 1 Why do musicians consistently succeed in achieving a degree of organizational perfection that many business leaders can only dream of? What makes some music ensembles function so seemingly flawlessly? What roles do learning and sense-making play in this? How do learning and sense-making occur in organizational settings that are characteristically transient, varying, ephemeral, and ambiguous-in other words, organizational settings typically experienced by ensembles? The authors explore the notions of learning and sense-making in a string quartet. The string quartet is viewed as a complex learning organization characterized by a dual dichotomy comprising individual-collective interactions and tacit-explicit knowledge processes. A construct describing the string quartet's field of interaction in terms of learning and sense-making is derived and deployed to analyze learning and sense-making in complex organizations such as the string quartet. The construct and analysis developed in this paper are based on a case study of the Carmina Quartet of Zürich, Switzerland.

String quartets as self-managed teams: An interdisciplinary perspective

“…Although the first violinist was usually referred to as the leader, there were many instances in which democratic decisions were made. Tovstiga, Odenthal, & Goerner (2005) argued that leadership can be flexible; players might assume leadership on an 'as needed basis'. Similarly, Blum (1986) and Butterworth (1990) highlighted the constant 'working-out' process in which the roles of SQ players change over time as the tasks demand.…”

In pursuit of harmony: The social and organisational factors in a professional vocal ensemble

“…This is further augmented by the transient and immediate nature of live performance. Simultaneously a process and a product, performances are subject to the risks of irreversible mistakes and slip-ups in front of real and critical audiences (Butterworth, Friedman, Kahn, & Wood, 1990; Tovstiga, Odenthal, & Goerner, 2005).…”

Ensemble practices in the arts: A reflective matrix to enhance team work and collaborative learning in higher education

“…Nevertheless, in practice, leadership is also distributed in both smaller and larger ensembles (Lehmann et al., 2007; Tovstiga et al., 2004). Within and across the sections of an orchestra, for example, distributed musical and social leadership has been found to be highly developed and present in every rehearsal and concert (Gaunt and Dobson, 2014).…”