There’s a piano art installation in New York City — Sing for Hope – where 60 pianos are on street corners and in city parks, inviting people to sit and play. The stories of how people are lured to the possibility of the pianos, and then sitting down and playing their favorite piece, some basics like “Chopsticks,” some Broadway hits, and some serious classical works.
Imagine if companies were to do a similar installation. Maybe around strategic planning time? Or the end of the fiscal year when the tension is stultifying? The image of what might be possible in a different approach to employee engagement makes me smile thinking about the possibilities.
I shared this thought over at The Employee Engagement Community and one of the community members from London shared this story about a similar piano installation and how the public piano was for a employee motivation and determination lesson.
Funnily enough, I was on an away-day last week with a great ‘facilitator’, and we learned to sing a song (in three groups) that worked in the round. Once we had come together and sang it once, the facilitator said, “right, that’s good enough. Now let’s go to Liverpool Street station, and do it in public”. Argh!
All but two of us went with it, and we found one of these pianos tethered to the station entrance (there’s a similar installation in London, currently). So we struck up an impromptu performance, caused a lot of smiles, and went back to the session, 30 minutes after we were first shown the music, realising what we can accomplish together in a very small space of time, with the right spirit of commitment. Very strong experience, despite the ‘happy clappy’ factor.