"Best Practices" is a popular buzzword combo throughout the business these days. Answers.com defines Best Practice as a "term which refers to those practices that have produced outstanding results in another situation and that could be adapted for our situation". Unfortunately, I see too many examples in this business of organizations rushing to implement a Best Practice in hopes of immediately solving a problem, as though the implementation is more important than the quality of what is delivered. For example, the trend of conductors talking from the stage…
Hidden Competition
The Partial Observer published an article of mine today about orchestras and competition. Although I doubt we’ll ever see direct competition between orchestras, the business already has quite a few similarities to professional athletics, especially in the realm of attracting and retaining talent. It’s worth your time to give the article a read, plus you’ll get to listen to some really funny material by Peter Schickele on orchestra competition; although instead …