Archive for Writing
Road Band or Session Players: A Leadership Challenge
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Alison Brown
I recently had the chance to interview Alison Brown and Garry West, the husband-and-wife team who run Compass Records in Nashville. I’ve known Alison since I recruited her to speak at a Harvard Business Publishing Burning Questions conference in 2003 — who could resist the story of an investment banker-turned Grammy Award-winning banjo player-turned record label founder? It was a tale of a passion for music that would not be denied and that turned not into a lark but into an ultimately more rewarding career.
I also interviewed her for Worthwhile magazine (Worthwhile A Brown interview).
I was in touch again recently because I am working on a book on leadership and wanted to get Alison and Garry’s insights into what it is like to lead people over whom you have little authority — musicians certainly fit the bill. While I have to save most of the leadership insights for the book, I did want to share part of the conversation that I found fascinating: the decision on whether to use an artist’s road band or session players when recording an album. Read More→
Happy 100th, Johnny Mercer
Posted by: | CommentsAs a writer, I’ve always been a fan of the Great American Songbook. The lyrics are simply amazing: so beautifully worked, alternately passionate and playful, clever and crafted.
Johnny Mercer is among the most prolific and inspired of the contributors to this canon. On what would have been his 100th birthday yesterday, Terry Gross put together a great centennial tribute, including an in-studio concert, on her program, “Fresh Air.” Enjoy.
Short Fiction…The Money Cat
Posted by: | CommentsOver the years I’ve written a bit of short fiction. I have to say that is has been on the back burner as the effort/reward ratio isn’t great these days: it takes lots of work and a fair amount of money to submit work that winds up in small circulation journals for which you get paid in copies.
I’ve thought that short stories would make something of a comeback given the decreasing attention span of the reading public but perhaps no one quite knows how to bring them forward. A collection asks for almost the same commitment as a novel, magazines are much more interested in “service features” about seven ways to a flat belly, and online channels have had a flirtation with even shorter pieces — micro-fiction — that I’ve yet to try. The Kindle app for the iPhone seems to have a lot of fans although I don’t know how easy it is to buy an individual story.
Here’s one of mine that I hope you’ll enjoy: THE MONEY CAT. It is available for publication and there are many others. I’ll post them from time to time in hopes of rekindling the short fiction audience. I welcome your comments.
P.S. I know that the cat in the photo isn’t technically a “money cat” but I love this shot of my cat, Bailey.
Latest Case for HBR
Posted by: | CommentsHow do you decide how much of your company’s resources to bring forth in a disaster? This is the issue addressed in my latest case for Harvard Business Review. It will also appear in the March 2010 issue along with expert commentary.
