Oppenheimer - Die Philharmoniker

During our recent visit to Eastern Europe, Diane and I went from one great Imperial architecture example to another. One that was particularly beautiful was in Vienna, where we visited the Belvedere Palace on a sunny summer afternoon. The Belvedere is now being used as an art gallery and it is truly one of the most beautiful palaces of Europe. While the palace was wonderful, there was a surprise neither of us anticipated.

Walking through the galleries without knowing what we would see, I was overwhelmed when I walked into the room where Max Oppenheimer's "Die Philharmoniker" hung against a far wall - the full wall as the painting is a monumental 298 X 432 cm in dimension. Die Philharmoniker is Oppenheimer's life work, although he produced many other pieces. He began the piece in 1926 and finished it in 1952, after shipping it from one studio to another as he sought to escape the persecution of the Nazis in central Europe. Die Philharmoniker includes images of several prominent musicians of the early 20th century, but most important to me, Oppenheimer included Gustav Mahler as the conductor. Although there are several artistic depictions of Mahler, including Rodin's bust, Die Philharmoniker captures the essence of Mahler more than any other. Mahler is at the center of the composition, yet strangely detached from his surroundings. He seems to rise above the orchestra in ways that draw only the best from the musicians but oddly leave him isolated and disconnected from his fellow artists.

Oppenheimer and Mahler were both Jews during very difficult times in Europe and America. Both were tortured and unfulfilled in many ways. And both are drawn together in Oppenheimer's greatest work of art and in a depiction of Mahler at his best - bringing life to music as few conductors have every done before or after his tempestuous years as director of the Vienna Opera Orchestra and Philharmonic.

The day we saw Die Philharmoniker was yet to reach another climactic point when we took the street car to Grinsing, a village on the outskirts of Vienna, to visit Mahler's gravesite at dusk. I was worried that we wouldn't make it before dark because I sensed the coming of dusk; luckily, it was only the result of late summer afternoons beginning early and lingering for several hours, as if summer days were meant for relaxation. We arrived in plenty of time and after searching rows and rows of gravesites we ultimately found both Gustav Mahler and Alma Mahler's gravestones. I don't know what I expected in being at the last resting place of a musician who has given me so much joy throughout my life. Although slightly melancholy, it felt more like the fulfillment of a relationship that, although lost in the moment, can be assumed to last forever. Sometimes I feel that I should have been born in the late 19th century so that I could have had a personal relationship with the artists, musicians, and architects of this time. To be able to study, visit, and appreciate Mahler's profound contribution to art was especially meaningful during this trip and I will never forget it.

Hsieh - Delivering Happiness

Tony Hsieh’s reflections (Delivering happiness: a pathway to profits, passion, and purpose, 2010) on the story of zappos.com as an international e-business phenomenon are both realistic and inspirational. The most refreshing part of his recollections is that he owns missteps, failures, and success – a mix that is sometimes missing in contemporary business success stories. The missing reflection is the impact of Tony’s educational opportunity. He portrays himself as a less than motivated student who was more interested in starting entrepreneurial businesses than getting good grades. The clincher is that he just happened to have attended Harvard University and relied on the friendships and networks he made from his undergraduate days to create the core of the businesses he started as a 20-something. Neglecting to acknowledge the importance of being a Harvard graduate ignores how powerful privilege (whether economic, political, intellectual, or other) can be in shaping one’s life.

The best lessons from Hsieh’s reflections include the importance of fostering a positive organizational culture, the necessity of taking risks, and focusing on service that brings happiness to both those who purchase your service as well as to those working to make it happen.

Zappos.com didn’t establish its company values but instead eventually recognized and documented them after it became obvious that their values were having a profound impact on Zappos.com’s success. The core values that they discovered employees embraced included:

1. Deliver WOW through service
2. Embrace and drive change
3. Create fun and a little weirdness
4. Be adventurous, creative, and open-minded
5. Pursue growth and learning
6. Build open and honest relationships with communication
7. Build a positive team and family spirit
8. Do more with less
9. Be passionate and determined
10. Be humble

These values allowed Zappos.com to survive economic ups and downs, lay-offs, and eminent bankruptcy. Most importantly, the company values helped the leadership stay focused when there were temptations to compromise on quality and they encouraged passionately risky behavior that took Zappos.com to higher and higher success in business and fulfillment.

Advocating that “your culture is your brand,” Hsieh makes a compelling point that positive organization cultures are the result of seeing the organization’s work as something beyond just the immediate task of product delivery (no matter what that product is). Zappos.com even measures the degree to which its employees see themselves as involved in something bigger than e-business sales of shoes and accessories by periodically asking them if they “believe that the company has a higher purpose beyond just profits,” and asking if “Zappos has a real purpose – is it more than just a job.” Simple questions but how sad it is that many people would not assess their company/organization as having either higher purpose or believe their work environment is more than a job.

Hsieh’s conceptual model of happiness is largely derived from the research of Seligman and Czikszentmihalyi on positive psychology and “flow.” Tying the points of work environment and happiness together, he commented, “I would learn that research from the field of the science of happiness would confirm that the combination of physical synchrony with other humans and being part of something bigger than oneself leads to a greater sense of happiness…” (2010, p. 80)

Zappos.com’s lessons are definitely coming from a for-profit perspective. However, reading this story consistently made me think that education, and other not-for-profit initiatives, would do well to adopt these very same perspectives. Organization culture, risk taking and happiness are central to success in any endeavor.

Habsburg Tour - 2011

Diane and I had a wonderful opportunity to take a whirlwind Habsburg Tour during the recent Eid break. We flew to Vienna, then took the train to Prague and Budapest, and back to Vienna for a return to Qatar. We didn't realize it but we were actually taking a tour of the three great Habsburg Empire capitals. These three cities were profoundly influenced by the Habsburg dynasty of almost 700 years that covered much of central and eastern Europe. What is also fascinating is that all three cities are somewhat influenced by the Arab world (or, Ottoman as the history books would say) in architecture, art, and other culture. While the Habsburgs were certainly not egalitarian in their leadership, they made a great deal of difference through their advocacy for education and art.

This picture above is only a teaser for the many other pictures that are in my Habsburg Picassa album (https://picasaweb.google.com/101052781277666677040/HapsburgTour11#) so be sure to check out the others...