Song Writing and Team Building

The Song Team

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 Jeff@TheSongTeam.com

The Song Team - Team Building Blog

Where does collaboration come from?

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Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow, The Loco-motion, Don’t Bring Me Down, Take Good Care of my Baby, Some Kind of Wonderful…and on and on. The duo responsible for these hits, Carole King and Gerry Goffin were a pair in every sense of the word. Their partnership produced a generation’s worth of Pop, Motown, and Rock hits. The norm of the day for a songwriting duo was for one person to provide the words and one the music. That’s how the complimentary skill-sets were assembled by the music publishers of the day. This was the formula.

Jeff Jacob is the Founder and Lead Facilitator of THE Song Team www.thesongteam.com He is also a Non-profit Director, Songwriter, TEDx Speaker, and Animal Rescuer.

Today that same hit song often comes to life differently.

Sometimes a writer contributing to a hit doesn’t even get credit. In the pop world, often unknown writers land in a situation through a relationship they have, to walk into a writing session, and contribute to a monster hit. That writer will often be paid a flat fee for their part, without being named as a writer on the “record.”

In 2010, a young girl named Alex was sitting in a studio with Adele and her primary co-writer Dan Wilson, from the band Semi-sonic. Alex was a genius with words and a prodigy on Fiddle. She had been close to the late Amy Winehouse but didn’t have much a resume as a songwriter, at least not yet.

That day in the studio she contributed two lines to a little song called “Someone Like You.” You may have heard this song a couple of hundred times. That song won LOTS of gold at the Grammys in 2011. Alexis wasn’t called up on stage.

As leaders at work or in the community, we never know where collaboration is going to come from. But, the end result is nearly always an enhanced, optimized version of it’s prior…earlier self.
Finding fun ways to network and collaborate while “doing good” is definitely trending these days. In the workplace, and in the community. Ample opportunities exist in our communities to have fun, while actually doing “good work.”

And, there are many companies out there, who have corporate social responsibility programs that make real impacts on those who reside in their communities. The very paper you read right now is filled with them, as well as opportunities on every page for every reader to get out there and make a difference.

Putting all of this in a pot, stirring and cooking it into a hearty stew, is the concept behind this year’s Hollywood Scavenger Hunt, which we’re calling “The Hunt for Good.”

The Hollywood Scavenger Hunt weaves together participants looking to have a great time with local businesses and non-profits on a collaborative three-day adventure from December 7-9. In the end, everyone who participates will discover Hollywood’s hidden gems and make new some new friends to boot.

“We met lots of new people and got to experience many new things Hollywood has to offer” said past participant Dana Baker. “We were born and raised here and never realized some of the fun events and shows constantly going on.”

If you go it alone, you WILL make new friends! Rock it as a team, and the memories you will make together will last a lifetime.

Participants are tasked with fun and challenging missions that are still being planned and coordinated. And local non-profits will benefit! How? Because some of the missions are sponsored by local companies who in turn…adopt a local non-profit! And unlike Alexis, all will be acknowledged and appreciated for their contributions.

This year’s kick-off party will be held at the Hollywood Jaycee Hall on Thursday, Dec. 6. Mark your calendar, I can’t tell you why but I can tell you I’ll be there and you won’t want to miss it.
Have fun, do good! Sign up soon, as the clock is ticking. (Pssst…..check out the app Scavify, you’ll need it for the hunt.) All together now, get out there and do it.

Find the orignal article at https://hollywoodscavengerhunt.com/29869-2/.

All together Now: The Art & Science of Collaboration

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John Lennon was 16 when he met Paul McCartney.  John’s band, “The Quarrymen” was playing at a church fair in Liverpool. The story goes that at the gig, a mutual friend introduced Paul to John and the two both played music later in the day with John’s band.

The pair was mutually impressed with each other. Their desires were similar, as was their love of music. Their styles and abilities were different. Complimentary.  In short order, it was apparent to John, just how talented Paul was.  And John, as angst-ridden and ego-centric a teen as any, still had the self-awareness, the insight to invite Paul to join him in the band. To share the stage, share their future glory, do the work and equally share ALL writing credit moving forward.  A new band was in the works, and soon “The Quarrymen” would be nothing more than an answer to a trivia question.

You know the story here, and it won’t be complicated for you to figure out the thrust of this column.

Nearly every culture-shifting product introduced to the marketplace, nearly every cure created to defeat a major illness, nearly every innovative service that becomes available to address a community malady, and yes…the vast majority of #1 songs, spanning popular music from Motown, to Rock, to Broadway and Country… have been the result of collaboration.

In Hollywood, a town bursting with creativity, and a community very enthusiastic about finally busting out from under the shadows of big brother and sister cities, Miami and Ft. Lauderdale, collaboration between individuals, between non-profits, and between the public and private sectors is the secret ingredient to sustainably, and finally pushing our community forward to where it needs and deserves to be.

When you look at the growth of The Yellow Green Market, or the condos rising up in the downtown areas you can see, taste and touch, the tangibility of collaboration.
When you see the worlds largest guitar-shaped building taking form right here in Hollywood…you’ll see a common thread. Collaboration.

Here, state and local governments, the Seminole Tribe, and The Hard Rock Company, all game (oops came) together. Equally, if not more impressive is the cooperative formed by the eight architectural firms sharing their resources, experiences and designs to bring this project to fruition. These firms might typically be competitors.

This project will create jobs, grow tourism, and increase local tax revenue. Some of these dollars will become increased contributions to benefit our schools.

The point of this column will be to remind each one of you of that which you already know. As thinkers, doers and community leaders you understand that collaboration and strategic planning lead to success, whatever one’s definition of that word is. Let’s call it “measurable community improvement.”

Remember all boats rise, when players get together on any project. More voices at the table. Good ideas becoming great.

Every month, we’ll end with a call to action in this space. So read to the end and collaborate with us!

In the coming months you’ll learn more about this year’s Hollywood Scavenger Hunt, which begins on December 7th. We’re calling this year’s search “The Hunt for Good,” and it will weave together our community, businesses, and non-profits in truly harmonious fashion.

Every year the hunt gets better and this year there will definitely be some cool surprises. Mark your calendar for the free, family-friendly kick-off event Dec. 6 at the Hollywood Jaycee Hall. The BEST part, is that simply by getting together to have some fun, the local community will benefit in multiple ways, on a multitude of projects. Imagine that!

The Hollywood Scavenger Hunt is designed to inspire participants to learn about Hollywood, Florida while having fun, meeting new people and making lifelong memories.

So, as soon as you’re done reading, and I mean…now, take a minute to download the free app “SCAVIFY” from the iOs app store or the Google Play store, search for the Hollywood Scavenger Hunt and create a team name for yourself so you’re ready to hit the ground running.

Find the orignal article at https://hollywoodscavengerhunt.com/all-together-now-the-art-science-of-collaboration/.

Visit www.hollywoodscavengerhunt.com for more information. You can also follow the hunt on facebook.com/hollywoodscavengerhunt/.

All together now, get to it.

Food Poisoning! And the team that healed me.

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The doctor came in for the 2nd time in as many hours. “How are you feeling Jeff?” “Well, I haven’ t felt the urge to dry heave in over an hour Doctor, thanks for asking.” “ I can’t allow you to be discharged until you can keep something down”, she said. “Do you feel up to a little juice?” “Yes please.” I was at Memorial Hospital in Hollywood, Florida. Ironically, tomorrow I’ll be there again at their conference center for TEDx rehearsal. A more “fun” visit. But, for today’s visit, I had made a grand entrance by hobbling into the ER doubled-over, with a bucket in my hand just in case, and promptly lay down on the floor blocking the entrance as effectively as I could. “Sir, your drivers license please”

A few minutes later in my “room”, Alex, a tall… very cool RN/dude who was my primary ER caretaker, came by with a tiny Apple Juice, and a matching container of Apple Sauce. ( I don’t like apple sauce, but oh well.)

An hour or so earlier, Alex had done a fairly good job of inserting the needle to insert anti-nausea medicine, and then a bag of fluids. (I’ve had better, but I’ve had worse as well.) I was quite in need of these mind you, as I had been throwing up since 2am and was parched and exhausted. Alex was both friendly and efficient..at the same time.

A bit earlier than that even, Zetta my admittance counselor from up front, had come back to see me and ask a few contact questions. Then we talked about her upcoming vacation to the Smoky Mountains in Tennessee. We had a great talk, and it was so nice to get to know her a little bit. She exuded positive vibes. I needed that smile almost as I needed those fluids.

As I lay in that hospital bed for hours, surrounded with the hustle and pain, the fear and coughing, I became truly aware of all the sounds and smells that permeate the atmosphere in an emergency room. There are people here in much worse shape then I, I told myself. The ER team made me feel cared for. That was a relief. When I facilitate our music team building programs in Florida, Nashville or anywhere for that matter… before I step on stage, I always try to channel a positive experience I’ve personally had with a team somewhere in my past. At a restaurant, a doctors office, a non-profit…

Every time a team works well together, it becomes more than the sum of the individual parts. It becomes the strength and potential of “the collective.” A force that can bend rivers, build dams, and change cultures. That potential, is awesome. So, before speaking at TEDx this weekend, (www.Tedxyoungcirclepark.org)  I want to say thank you to the team at Memorial Hospital for healing me. You have a very tough job, and experiencing your drive help, your collaborative spirit, and your smiles was inspiring. I hope that I don’t see you again for a long, long time! Now, let the music carry you forward.

Assemble that couch! Not what I had in mind for team-building.

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Sometimes it all just goes so wrong. Like tonight for example. I was at a casual, family BBQ. After awhile, when everyone had eaten enough to feel compelled to loosen their pants, a friend and I were told (as two of the younger adults there) that we needed to help the hostess move the furniture back into place. Mostly that meant moving pieces of a large, hefty L-shaped couch back where they belonged. This alone would have been fine. Truly. However, the big fun here, was that we had to latch each individual piece of couch, to the one next to it. Blindly, and by somehow lifting bulky components onto the little, proper male/female metal parts at the very bottom of the couch.

Now, he and I were game mind you, to do most of these. We were making good progress. The engine was going up the hill. The nail was almost into that wood. The runners were almost at the finish line! (catch my drift here?) But, a few of the pieces were tricky to latch on to one another. THANKFULLY, there was however, no shortage of supervision from about 9-10 other people standing around. They were pointing, gesturing, making wonderful suggestions, and generally telling us what to do. AND…as a bonus, asking us why we “did it that way?” etc. All of this couch seat driving, was NOT very helpful. But it did remind me of one too many meetings attended over the years, that had felt this way. One too many events over the years…that had gone this way…one to0 many projects, over the years that had crashed and burned this way. TOO many cooks in the kitchen, too many chiefs. Not enough warriors. Not enough doers. Not a culture of let’s all pitch in, you know…like the AMISH do when raising a barn for a neighbor.

So, what am I getting at here? So what about the couch? Identify your mission. Find your crew. Find the 5-6 notes in your chord at work, at church, at the rescue shelter, in your community. Plot the course. Re-focus on your purpose. Assemble your pieces in harmony, and go do good work.  Now if we can only finish getting this recliner to latch on correctly! See you at TEDxyoungcirclepark.org !

At Bernie Berlin’s amazing rescue compound, “A Place 2 Bark.”