Russell Bell: Playing in a band much like running a business

Six60 play for free at the Royal Opera House in Whanganui.

As many readers of these articles will have noted, music is a reasonably big part of my existence.

And out of more recent experiences as part of the band Vinyl, I have got to experience first-hand the challenges and rewards of creating music in a collaborative setting. In many respects it is the ultimate in team work and team building.

In fact, I had the pleasure of presenting on this topic at a recent meeting of Te Manu Atatu, the Whanganui Māori business network last Wednesday morning. At the meeting I shared how the process of forming the band and working together reflected how good teams in business operated. The topic, being something that I am passionate about, meant I had too much material for the short presentation time but it was fun to talk about the growth of the band in a team context.

It was also fun to see one of the greatest bands of our generation, U2, perform in Auckland last Friday. Interestingly, in that concert there were plenty of highs but also a few times where things didn't quite come together – at times it felt like the concert really was the first time they had played in a while and at other times the performance was so slick it was jaw dropping.

But the main thing which stood out was how the band recovered when things didn't quite hit the mark. During one of my favourite songs, Bad from The Unforgettable Fire (their best album in my view), there was a clear timing issue – probably highlighted for me because I have listened to the song hundreds of times. So, while the execution fell a bit short, the way they recovered the song was a lesson for my band and our upcoming gig and also a good takeaway for business.

Effectively, they kept playing and worked to bring the song to a successful conclusion. And this is something where, sometimes on projects or transactions, there is no opportunity to exit or start again and you just need to remember the initial vision and press on to deliver the outcome agreed to in the beginning.

In a performance you could stop the song and start again, but you'd be remembered for the fact that you stopped not that you got it right the second time.

In business, at times, you can stop and "recalibrate" (to borrow a catchy phrase from our Prime Minister), but you need to be certain that this is both the right decision and also that you can deliver. But in most situations you will need to do just what many rock bands do and that is to continue and, as best you can, deliver under the circumstances that you find yourself in.

And in closing on a somewhat related basis, I want to give a shout out to Air Chathams for their continued setting the bar high in terms of customer service. This was in spite of delays on Friday and inclement weather Sunday - yet, from their back office staff to the in-flight service on flights north and south, they were superb over the weekend.