I grew up in the aural shadow of The Beatles. Even though they’d split by the time I started school in 1971, my Grade 1 teacher had us belt out joyful songs like ‘ObLaDi ObLaDa’ and ‘Yellow Submarine’. My teen years were then wallpapered with what today we’d call ‘classic rock’, featuring hefty slabs of Lennon-McCartney compositions.
Today, I help organisations formulate strategy, which is BOTH a creative and conceptual process, although nothing like music production. Or, so I thought, until I watched ‘Get Back’.
Get Back is a documentary that reveals, blow-by-blow, precisely how The Beatles generated genius-level musical content and made creative decisions about what to keep (very little) and what to discard (most of it). I was surprised to see that their starting premise was essentially identical to mine when I work with clients on strategy:
“How do we turn bursts of inspiration from talented people into an end-product that is polished, but ‘real’?”
The Beatles had, by 1969, stopped performing live, and their most iconic records (Sergeant Pepper, Revolver, White Album) were produced in multi-track recording studios. This meant they hadn’t actually played songs live ‘in the moment’ for years. They all wanted to, and agreed to have music film-maker Michael Lindsay-Hogg film them create an entire album, from nothing. That’s one story that ‘Get Back’ reveals.
(It’s then another ‘story within the story’ to understand how, 50 years later, director Peter Jackson resuscitated and reduced the 60 hours of 1960s-quality film and audio to the 8 hours we see today. He deliberately chose to include both wonder and boredom, joy and irritation, fracture and resolution).
What emerges is a gripping mix of complex relationships, incompatible objectives, and massive creative genius — and shows the nuance of the myriad factors behind the group’s ultimate implosion over the subsequent year.
But, what can The Beatles teach me — or you — about strategy?
Here are just four ‘a-ha’ realisations and, whether you choose to watch Get Back or not, I hope they prod some useful questions in your strategic thinking during 2022.
1. No start, no finish
When these sessions began in January 1969, the intent was simple: capture the ‘live’ feel of the band as they developed a whole album of new material. Had they rehearsed anything together? No. Did any of them bring songs ‘in a back pocket’ into the sessions? No (except for George - see sources of tension below). Were they clear on what the end-product, or ‘deliverable’ would look like? No way.
They debate whether the project’s product should be a live concert (in a Roman amphitheatre — in Libya of all places!), or a studio concert, or a film, or a vinyl record (or all of the above). History tells us that they created three of these: a single and an album (“Let It Be”), a film and, for a few hundred lucky people who happened to be walking by on January 30th 1969, hearing or seeing the last ever Beatles performance on a London rooftop.
This same ‘no start, no finish’ approach also was how songs were developed. At the outset, there is no score, no lyrics or song title. McCartney or Lennon usually start noodling around with an idea, a riff, or a verse, and it shapeshifts as the different band members add their bit. Over the eight hours, we hear some songs played dozens of times, never the same.
I frequently talk with my clients about ‘loose vs tight’ processes, and I strongly advocate divergent thinking first, with convergent thinking later.
Question: How can you ‘unstructure’ the start and end of creative strategic processes?
2. Play is part of any serious undertaking
Among many magical moments in “Get Back”, there are two that stand out for me.
I’ve replayed at least ten times the ten minutes of McCartney developing the iconic song, “Get Back”, literally from scratch. Initially, he’s hunched over his guitar, strumming furiously, humming what will become words, watched intently by George and Ringo. As Paul falters, Ringo claps the rhythm track, and regains momentum. George then joins in on his guitar, the chorus call ‘Get Back’ emerges as a three-part harmony, and Ringo then grabs his drumsticks and pounds out a drumline. Finally, Lennon walks in (late as always) and improvises another guitar line.
It’s a rare case where you can see collective genius building up right in front of your eyes.
The other moment of ‘serious play’ that touched me was the way they involved Heather Eastman, the six-year-old daughter of McCartney’s partner, Linda. She’s on Paul’s lap as he’s at the piano, performing early versions of “Let It Be”, then dancing around, on and off singing into microphones. It’s no coincidence that we use the verb ‘to play music’: all the Beatles welcomed this free-form play as part of the creative process.
Question: What ‘play’ can you introduce into your ideas generation?
3. Painful resets are (sometimes) necessary
Apologies if this is a plot spoiler, but a week in, George Harrison abruptly leaves the band. For good. His parting words: “See you around the clubs”.
He left because he felt his contributions were sidelined.
And, it was McCartney doing the sidelining. Why? It wasn’t through bad intent, but my reading is that (a) there was no obvious leader since their manager, Brian Epstein, died two years earlier, and someone had to lead process; (b) Paul had people-facilitation skills that the self-focussed Lennon, the introverted Ringo and the increasingly disenchanted Harrison lacked and, if we’re honest, (c) McCartney’s songwriting versatility meant he was comfortable co-creating songs, whereas George wanted to bring ‘ready made’ songs to the group.
That could have been the end.
But it wasn’t, as the other three met with Harrison and brokered a peace deal. Indeed, McCartney and Lennon’s planning for this is covertly captured by Linsday-Hogg’s team who installed hidden microphones in the studio tea rooms. We’re hearing this dialogue for the first time and it shows how, in order for a reset to occur at all, those involved need insight into the need for it, and then the ability to gain buy-in to make it happen.
The end result: Harrison — warily — rejoined the band a couple of days later. The sessions continue, with greater involvement by all and even overt recognition of George’s contribution by John and Paul.
Question: How do you know when a strategic reset is needed?
4. Fresh perspectives add a lot
The band now relax, joyfully improvising new songs, interspersed with jamming on rock and blues standards, and even former Beatle’s material. They’re laughing, there are moments of brilliance, but there’s still a palpable tension.
Unsurprisingly, it’s Harrison who solves this, perhaps unconsciously, by inviting a ‘fifth Beatle’ to join in. He’s Billy Preston, an American keyboardist, who had known The Beatles from their Hamburg days in the early 60s and ‘happened to be in town’. He is the only person additionally credited on a Beatles album, and went on to collaborate with Harrison post the Beatles’ dissolution.
Preston doesn’t ever dominate, none of the songs are his, but his contributions on organ and electric piano are energetic, hugely creative, and an integral part of the sound. For me, a minor highlight was seeing Preston’s ability to improvise a keyboard line for a Beatles song with his left hand, while holding a newspaper he’s reading in his right.
Question: What ‘outside’ genius can add to your own peoples’ genius?
I’ll be back with you on Friday with my last Summer Edition of 5 Minute Strategic Mindset, and ‘regular programming’ with new content begins again from Friday 28th January.
If you’ve enjoyed reading, it means a lot if you’d click the ‘heart’ or share with someone else. And, if you’ve seen “Get Back”, let me know in the comments what your thoughts were!
See you next Friday,
Andrew
I have not had the opportunity to view Get Back but I will certainly make time now - I did watch the Paul McCartney recordings and they were also incredibly enlightening - worth a watch.
This is a lovely piece that extracts nuggets from the documentary without ever seeming forced. Great stuff, Andrew.
My client David Hodes and I were talking about this before the holidays (I've not been able to see 'Get Back' over here in Prague) and I encouraged him to do a piece on it. He and you picked up on a couple of the same things: https://ensembleconsultinggroup.com/get-back/