Best of Multimedia: Benjamin Zander on Choosing Possibility Thinking
It takes discipline to empower others to awaken their creativity, energy, and spontaneity.
A few years ago, I heard the brilliant Boston philharmonic orchestra conductor Benjamin Zander speak on The Art of Possibility at a WOBI event in New York. It was one of the few conference speeches that I remember—and certainly the only one I’ve witnessed where thousands of executives rose to their feet and sang Ode to Joy in German. Zander used the famous Beethoven piece to illustrate how leaders can ignite passion and creativity—encouraging employees to think about the possible to uncover solutions in a new way.
There’s another valuable lesson from Zander in this short clip, which was produced by Satheesh Gopalan during the making of the documentary Innovation: Where Creativity and Technology Meet. Zander notes that we need to make a conscious choice to adopt the kind of “possibility thinking” that drives change. And that has a snowball effect—fostering in others “excitement, shining eyes, and energy to do something themselves.”
I hope you find his pearls of wisdom inspiring.
