Forums: Discussions for entrepreneurs and small business.

I`d argue that the composer is the entrepreneur. The conductor is an executive manager, the CEO if you will, charged with directing the manufacture of the music product---the symphony.

Craig ... do you ever sleep? I note your ceaseless contribution to debates here at Startupnation.com. Thanks again for visiting and contribution to this post.

 

Your argument that the composer is the entrepreneur and the conductor is the CEO brings up the unresolved debate about what it means to be an entrepreneur. It is a debate that has raged for the past 50 years and one that does not appear to being resolved any time soon.

 

I think that a composer is more the creative inventor where the conductor is the one who must marshal and co-ordinate the resources to successfully take the composers work to market where it can find a ready acceptance. Whilst both attributes are found in entrepreneurs, my bet is that the conductor is displaying the most entrepreneurial skills in this process.

 

Either way, the article I wrote was simply to point out the similarities in entrepreneurial behaviours and skill sets that exist outside of just the commercial world.

 

Thanks again for your comment.

When we look at any set of skills, we`ll find them in principle across the spectrum of almost all human activity. Using a conductor and symphony is basically just using a metaphor or an analogy.

The problem I see with these kinds of books, articles, or discussions, is that people seem less and less able to understand, translate, and break apart a metaphor these days. They fasten on the metaphor itself, in this case the conductor, and without any concept of what a conductor does, they think they understand how to translate the idea to their own situation.

A composer could be an inventor, or could be the entrepreneur. The conductor might be the producer, but more often has a board of directors to answer to. The concert hall likely would bring in the players, and the conductor might or might not have a say-so in their being hired.

Additionally, the composer includes with the score the desired interpretation of the music (that`s the things like legato, andante, adagio, etc.). It`s the job of the conductor to put a "spin" on the music, presumably to interpret what the inventor had in mind.

All in all, the metaphor begins to quickly break down, excepting in the area that individual musicians must blend well with the surrounding orchestra. That works for a team or corporate structure, but not very well in a 1-owner microbusiness.

We could also say that the musicians are symbolic of the many component tasks of running a business. In that case, the conductor (entrepreneur) must balance each task into a concerted effort, joined to a single strategy.

I don`t argue that having a discussion about conductors and entrepreneurs isn`t helpful and useful. But that`s how I see these forums and posts; they`re discussions about an idea. If there`s an article someone else wrote, who cares? I`d rather hear what the person posting about that article thinks, and how they connect it all up with the business of starting a new company. :-)

I blogged about this topic a while back: Small Business Owners are Like an Orchestra Conductor

I fell on the side of the CEO running the business as the analogy that most closely resembles a conductor. In many small businesses the original idea entrepreneur & CEO are 1 in the same. But for those businesses who have have a CEO who is not the original founder ...