Organizational Rhapsody

Organizational Rhapsody immerses participants in a unique design thinking experience — the writing, performing and production of an original song. This song is created from scratch by the participants, and the song’s theme represents their organization — either as it exists today, or as the participants would like to see it in the future.

What do your people learn from an Organizational Rhapsody session?

They learn how to work together and communicate effectively. They try new ideas, move quickly, make mistakes, and learn that those mistakes lead to interesting solutions. They tap into the inherent creativity that we all have within us, and experience the exhilaration of making something from nothing. They blend voices — literally and figuratively — and learn that the whole is more powerful than the sum of its parts.

Organizational Rhapsody lets your team meet a challenge head on and innovate in ways they previously didn’t know were possible. As they rise together and create something amazing, they gain a memorable experience that serves as both an artifact and tangible reference point for innovation and future success.

Benefits of Organizational Rhapsody include:

  • Real-time, fast-paced collaboration between participants to achieve a common goal
  • A safe environment and opportunity for individuals to step into vulnerability and take risks
  • Showcasing of individual skills and talents that may not be previously known to the group
  • Shifting of traditional top-down power and leadership hierarchy to one based on the unique talents of each contributor
  • Developing a process of working through creative differences
  • Relating of musical concepts and metaphors to strengthen understanding of organizational dynamics
  • Tangible outcome of creative collaboration
  • Rapid prototyping and decision making on a tight deadline
  • Pride in ownership and creation of shareable content with the rest of organization

Organizational Rhapsody gives your people proof that they can work together as a team, creatively and collaboratively problem solve, and produce a tangible solution in a short period of time.

Watch examples of Organizational Rhapsody in action: 

“Bands” Will:

  • Choose the genre of music they would like to create — from jazz to rock to country to hip hop — or any combination thereof.
  • Critically listen and decide the musical tone for the song: major vs. minor, lyrical content, etc.
  • Learn musical terms and concepts and how they apply to organizational effectiveness
  • Create song structure (verse/chorus/bridge etc.)
  • Make group decisions on instrumentation and overall sound
  • Compose lyrics individually and collectively
  • Learn how to work together as a group with each member contributing
  • Discern and make critical choices regarding song and production
  • Practice leadership skills as they direct musicians and sound engineers

Frequently Asked Questions

Why make a song?

The Organizational Rhapsody experience tangibly demonstrates how seemingly disparate ideas and directions can quickly come together to form a beautiful whole.  Additionally, the power of play has been scientifically proven to unlock creativity and positively aid in problem solving.

Do participants need a musical background?

Not at all! In fact, Organizational Rhapsody works best when it blends participants that have no musical background with those that do. The program illustrates how creativity and idea generation is possible for everyone! And don’t worry — if there is no one in the group with a musical background, that’s just fine! Organizational Rhapsody is facilitated by professional musicians and engineers who are skilled in translating rough ideas into music. Your group will be the star of the show, no matter your experience level.

Are we making a real song?

Yep! A real song, with real instruments like guitar, bass, keyboards, synths, drums and percussion. Lyrics are written and vocals arranged and performed by your group.

Do we need to go to a recording studio?

That is entirely up to you. Many organizations value time off-site and enjoy the experience of being in a recording studio. However, if desired, we can facilitate the entire Organizational Rhapsody experience on-site via our mobile studio.

How can we do this in a matter of hours?

It is certainly a challenge, but that’s part of the fun! It’s a fast-paced, intense experience, but the smile on everyone’s face during playback of the final mix is priceless.

Who should participate?

Organizational Rhapsody benefits from a wide range of voices — both literally and figuratively. Ideally, participants would represent multiple departments in the organization, including the C-suite.

We are not a creative organization, why would we do this program?

Everyone is creative in some capacity, and one of the outcomes of this program is the freeing of that creativity. Organizational Rhapsody requires the participation of all individuals and leverages each persons unique strengths to solve specific challenges.