I believe in the power of music to become a great social resource. I feel a sense of mission to share ways of incorporating music in our individual lives and in our society to bring out the best in all of us. I want to share and deliver various ways of maximizing the potential benefits of music through all of my musical activities: concertizing, lecturing, writing, etc. to reach as many people as possible. (The Japanese translation of this article is here.)
One of my attempts became my “Team Building and Leadership Workshop with Music!” The overall program prototype can be read by clicking the title above, or this link here:
https://musicalmakiko.com/en/on-call-musical-doctor-music-heals/785
In the past few months, I was given various opportunities to lead this workshop for wide variety of groups to very happy results. The degree of the positive impact and feedback has exceeded even my own expectations. It has been inspiring, and encouraging. My faith in the power of music has been further strengthened, and I will expand on my ideas for this workshop. This blog will recap some of my encounters and discoveries through the workshop in this last few months, and my plans on reaching a wider client base.
First of all, let’s define the term “workshop.”
As opposed to the mainstream “teaching,” where an authority imparts his wisdom to passive students, workshop is more active a way of learning. The hands-on learning can be done in the form of exchanging ideas among participants, physically experiencing the subject through various levels of experiments trails and errors, etc. Using your own words, body and senses, the subject matter becomes deeply rooted in each participant’s experience and memory, more readily applicable to his/her unique situations, current and future. The collaborative style of learning has the added benefit of enhancing the bond between the participants.
According to Dr. Toshifumi Kariyado, an authority on workshop design, there are four elements to successful workshops.
- Collaborative = It requires each participant to actively collaborate with the rest of the team.
- Improvisational = It requires spontaneity and flexibility.
- Physicality = It requires physical involvement
- Personal Causation = The recognition that what you put into the workshop will not only effect your own learning from the workshop, but every other participant’s.
Before I was a teen, I was already on stage, playing to silent audiences. I started teaching the piano and music, privately and in classrooms to equally passive and quiet students since I was a teenager. Especially when I was younger, I must confess to having mistaken teaching as “sharing everything I know at each given point” regardless of the level of the students, their needs, or curiosity. I thought not knowing so meant that I was lazy as a teacher.
Now I know better. The experience of learning is much more effective when shared. It takes the facilitator’s humility and willingness to trust the students. Also, it takes a keen eye to know exactly what little ideas to give the participants to work on, and when to switch to the next material, reading the room. In a way, it is more difficult than the traditional method of “imparting wisdom.”
However, people are eager to give more, when trusted. Every message about music I imply, creates a great ripple that sometimes even grow to an unexpected wave. They become seeds to ideas, alive inside each participant, that will keep on growing. It is obvious from the changing facial expressions and body languages, widening vocal inflections and increasing passions in their laughter and breathless exchange of ideas, as the workshop progresses.
I designed the workshop with the shiest and the most reserved in mind. Hearing to listening, understanding to feeling to moving, the workshop’s requires the participants to increase their active participation, only gradually. However, from the very workshop I conducted, I realized that the impact is proportional to the degree of active participation. Since then, I’ve been trusting the participant to actively participate from earlier stages in each workshop. So far, each workshop has been increasing their impact, successfully. The participants always responded eagerly to my request for active participation so far, never too shy, or reserved.
With their permission, I am sharing some of their feedback.
The conducting workshop was excellent…it changes one’s sense of hearing, physical realization of leadership…it goes beyond intellectual understanding, involving physical participation. To stand in front of your peers is a good practice in building one’s confidence. …It opened me up to new sensation. (指揮のワークショップは．．．音に対する感覚、リーダーシップに関する体感、実感ができて、頭の中だけの理解でなくて感覚を使うので良い。人前でやるので自信を持つ体感の練習になる。自分がしきる！と言う気構えの練習になる。感覚をオープンにする機会になった。)
The conducting workshop taught me that unless my movements (and instructions) are decisive, my followers cannot become together as a unit. I always felt I was not good at music, and avoided it, but the workshop made me want to explore music I like and explore its benefits. (指揮のワークショップから、指示（動作）が明確でないとみんなの心を一つにできない、ついてこれない事が分かりました。「音楽」と聴くと苦手意識が先行してしまい、これまでさけてきたけど、今回のワークショップをきっかけに自分の好きな音楽をみつけて探求していこうと思いました.。)
This workshop made me realize how much music relates to our brain and body. It was so much more than I could ever imagine. I renewed my appreciation of music and its effects. (音楽と脳、からだの関連を身をもって体験できた時間でした。自分が思っている以上に音楽とからだは連携していて、音学の素晴らしさを改めて感じました。)
The workshop can be flexible in catering to the needs and goals of each group. Here are some examples of the companies and topics I conducted this workshop on.
Webrain Think Tank LLC. “Conducting your Leadership!” （7 participants, 2 hours and 30 minutes）Reevaluating the power of aurality → Effective vocal inflections to improve your communication skills → Musical rhythm as a reflection of our biological rhythm → Conducting as an embodiment of your unique leadership style.
Terumo BCT, Inc. “The Science behind ‘Music as a Universal Language'”（ca. 45 participants, 1 hour）Examining some of the latest neurological findings, we considered how music makes us closer to each other, and how we can use it in our workplace to enhance our communication and teamwork.
Terumo “Sound Marketing and Sound Logo Design”（8 participants, 90 minutes）Why sound appeals to us emotionally, and what musical gestures creates what affects? We explored different ways of using sounds to market products and brand image, and created some sample sound logos.
Cheerio Corporation Part I. “A Better Team and Better Cheerio with Music” Part II. “The Power of Aurality and Sound Marketing” Part III. “Conducting to Find your Leadership Style”（22 participants from managmeent level. 5 hours) Using music and music theory as metaphors, we considers ways to improve communications with team members under their leaderships, and to increase teamwork productivity. For example, use of music during production, and sound cues to team identity were considered. Each participant got to conduct the other participants to consider their own leadership styles appropriate to their persona.
Cheerio Corporation New Hire Training. ”Using Music to Create a Better Team, and Better Cheerio” （15 participants, 4 hours）Using music and music theory as metaphors and tools, we considered how these fresh-out-of-College new hires were to identify each other as colleagues, and themselves as teammates at Cheerio. How music can become a part of their becoming the best team mate for Cheerio and their colleagues, and how it can help them manage their stress and phobias.
As the managing director of a soft drink company, I was used to thinking about all senses, like taste, aroma, visual appeal, feel of the packaging, etc. Doctor Pianist’s workshop gave me new ideas about how important sound design is, for any community, and product. It opened my eyes to new possibilities. The workshop seemed to awaken the participants to the realizations of new possibilities, under her leadership, exchanging ideas and not afraid to incorporate ideas different from their own. I plan to regularly engage my employees with her workshop. （飲料事業の経営をしていると、五感の中の聴覚以外についてたくさん考えます。味、デザイン、香り、商品を持った感じなど。平田さんのワークショップを通じて、聴くという動作を、飲み物、そして人間が集まって活動する事業の中でどう設計していくのか、新しい視点をいただきました。受講した社員たちの眼差しも、平田さんのリーダーシップに触れて一層輝きを増し、またチームとしてお互い発信してぶつかりながらも協業し推進力を持って取り組む姿勢が見えました。是非定期的に実施していきたいと思います。）
To book a workshop, or for any other questions, please write to Musicalmakiko@gmail.com
