There are a lot of strong programmers who are deeply into music, and I don't think that's random. When I think about classical music and jazz, what strikes me is how we have to hold a very long abstract structure over time in our head and find our way through it. The classical composers were kind of like the first programmers. They had to put down an algorithm on paper - a score - and imagine how it would work when a group of people performed it. They had to imagine the whole thing over time, in their head, before anyone played a note. It's very similar to holding the abstract structure of a large computer system in your head. Being able to focus on it, reason about it, see how the parts connect. I think it's a very similar part of the brain. But there's a different piece too. As part of studying musicology, I had to conduct. Standing in front of a hundred-person choir, directing them through a piece of music. Way out of my comfort zone at first. Just the exposure of standing in front of that many people and having to lead them. Later I had the fortune of seeing some of the best conductors in the world up close, giving master classes to orchestras. And it's fascinating. It's an extreme ability to focus a whole group of people and get them aligned with a vision. Not just through what you say, but through gestures and nuances. Both the storytelling and the abstract storytelling of taking them through something. This translates directly to leadership. Getting both our own company and the world around us to believe in something - to see a direction before it's obvious - requires that same ability to conduct without controlling every note. We don't get to play every instrument. We set the tempo and the dynamics and the phrasing, and we trust the people around us to bring the music to life. I think that's probably the most transferable skill from music to building a company - not the technical precision, but the ability to make a group of people sound like they share one mind.
"This translates directly to leadership. Getting both our own company and the world around us to believe in something - to see a direction before it's obvious - requires that same ability to conduct without controlling every note." As a former professional classical composer, I deeply connect with this sentiment -- to the point of having previously given talks on it. The conductor analogy makes a lot of sense; my lens, though, includes the PM as composer in this ensemble. The conductor surely needs to embody the vision, but that only becomes possible after the composer has: 1) determined, either through their discovery process or some innate knowledge, that this particular piece *must* exist, and 2) followed through with the conviction needed to make it happen. Admittedly, my stance is informed by the experience of a contemporary composer working directly with the ensemble. So the lines get blurry. But your point on vision rings true, regardless.
Thank you for sharing!
As an aspiring flautist, I loved reading this. :)
Love this post, especially as someone who was in performing arts as a dancer. So many incredible points you made!!
There is also all these patterns. A lot of smaller simpler patterns combined into larger more intricate patterns. In music and in programming