Louis ("Satchmo") Armstrong was no accident. His genius inspired generations of musicians and made jazz a great American export and an industry that thrives today. But one accident in Chicago a long time ago set the stage for a chain of events that could not have been predicted.
 During the recording of the jazz standard, Heebie Jeebies,* Armstrong's music sheet, which had all of the words to the 1925 version of the song, fell to the floor. In those days, long before digital recording or unlimited budgets for musicians, studio time was liked gold and struggling record companies were necessarily cheap. With the music sheet face-down on the floor and the other musicians playing away - and with the head of the record company in the control booth signaling Armstrong to continue playing - Louie did what most people would be terrified of doing. He improvised. Allowing his creative energies to take over, the young trumpet player began to play the "words" with his voice, as he would notes on his instrument. He started to hum like a trumpet in non-sensical, but perfectly rhythmic sounds. It sounded weird. It sounded fresh. It sounded great! In a flash, according to jazz historians, "scat" was born.
Following the release of his version of Heebie Jeebies, young people on the streets of Chicago and other American cities passed each other and began to greet each other in scat! Not wanting to be left out, people who hadn't heard the record, or the song (which had been recorded by another musician as a banjo piece one year earlier to no acclaim) went out and snapped it up just to see what this hip exchange was all about. Armstrong had made the song - and himself - famous.
This new musical innovation, miming the sound of an instrument with the human voice, became a new genre for jazz. Scat was perfected by Ella Fitzgerald, most notably, and today is in the repertory (or "product suite") of many jazz vocalists, from Canada to Denmark to Taipei, where jazz has spread like the great product it is. Scat, like jazz, is recognized as one of the great innovations in the history of 20th century popular music. And it all started by accident - or did it?
This momentary event in a music studio was transformed into a great innovation. The reason? Someone made himself available to the opportunity, rather than getting trapped in the terror of the problem that was before him. Armstrong shook off the uncertainty and trusted his instincts.
Most companies have one part of the scat analogy down pat: they know how to manage costs. But no company ever grew the top line by cost-cutting. That takes innovation - or more precisely, it means creating an environment that fosters innovation and prepares people to respond to challenges with new ideas. Here are five ways that you and your company can get to a more innovative place without giving yourself the heebie jeebies:
1. Relax. It's hard to sort through any problem or resolve any crisis if you are tense. Neurological studies continue to reveal that the "creative" side of the brain is stimulated during moments of calm.
2. Turn the moment over. Do not try to control every event. Leave room for spontaneous possibilities. There is nothing more harmful to an idea than trying to control it or saying "no" two seconds after an idea is presented.
3. Have confidence in everyone's ability to function creatively in a crisis. All people manage crises. Most do it away from the office, where they have more responsibility and less stress, and usually do it admirably. Often this skill is underutilized by management inside a company.
4. Take good notes - and revisit them. Being spontaneous and relaxing in the moment does not mean abandoning what works. Take notes - if not in the heat of crisis, then afterward - and review them a few days later. Typically, you'll find ideas hidden in asides or bursts of energetic thought - sometimes after a round of doodling on the pad or PDA! Look again at those notes, you could find a gem.
5. Move on and keep on moving. If you are truly in a tunnel, then there will eventually be light. But to get to it, you need to keep moving. IF the music sheet falls to the ground, be like Satchmo and improvise. It worked in Chicago in 1925! It has worked for thousands of businesses since. It will work for you too, either by design or accident, the next time you are taking your products or services to the next level.
* Heebie Jeebies was produced by OKeh Records
Senior Partner Louis Zacharilla -
- Moderated a panel session titled "Meeting the Rising Demand for End-to-End Network Management" at SATELLITE 2006 on February 7 in Washington, DC. The panel included CEOs and senior managers from companies including Intelsat, Loral Skynet, New Skies Satellites, Caprock and ILC.
Senior Partner Robert Bell -
- Led a workshop titled "Accessing the Next Billion Eyeballs" at the SMPTE/VidTrans joint 2006 conference in Hollywood, California on January 31. Among others, the workshop featured Mark Rosenbaum, CEO of SmartJog; Brian Skimmons, Vice President, Global IP Services for Loral Skynet; and Jeff van Cura, Senior Director, Strategic Solutions, Alcatel.
- Led a session titled "Preparing the Workforce for the New Economy" at the National Association of Workforce Boards Forum 2006 annual conference in Washington DC on February 27. The session featured workforce development experts from China, Germany and Canada.
Work in Progress
In February, End II End Communications, which provides network security and optimization software for terrestrial and satellite Wide Area Networks (WANs) to enterprise customers worldwide, retained Alan/Anthony to help expand the company's brand awareness and competitive position.
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