International Interest In Beatles Study
massey-university
Tue Mar 13 2007 13:00:00 GMT+1300 (New Zealand Daylight Time)
International Interest In Beatles Study
Tuesday, 13 March 2007, 11:43 am
Press Release: Massey University
International Interest In Beatles Study
There is international interest in a study by a New Zealand economics researcher on what drove the Beatles to success.
Dr Greg Clydesdale, who specialises in enterprise development, used the British pop group to explore the importance of competition in creativity and innovation.
He says the Beatles should be seen as a creative process rather than creative geniuses. “A standout feature of their experience was that their creative improvements were a process of gradual, continuous improvement over time.”
He says this process was enhanced by the structure of the group, as a working team with high levels of exchange, mutually reinforcement and complementary blends of expertise and thinking styles. “This resulted in continuous improvement which in turn resulted in creative genius,” he says.
The second force was the element of competition and rivalry. As an example, he cites the Beatles’ desire to outdo their contemporaries, particularly the Beach Boys. “When the Beatles first heard – and analysed – the Beach Boys’ album Pet Sounds, they asked their manager George Martin if they could do as well. He told them they could do better. The Beatles’ response was to produce Sergeant Pepper.”
Dr Clydesdale says fame was a strong incentive but the Beatles achieved it strategically. “They wanted to be bigger than Elvis. But their focus was always a few yards ahead.”
He says the rivalry between John Lennon and Paul McCartney was also an important factor and supports earlier research suggesting competition and cooperation can be intertwined. He quotes McCartney as saying: “He'd write ‘Strawberry Fields’ and I’d go away and write ‘Penny Lane’”. Dr Clydesdale says the rivalry was friendly, largely because the rewards were shared: “The whole group benefitted from performing an excellent song. And regardless of which one wrote it, the song went down as a ‘Lennon and McCartney’ composition.”
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Dr Clydesdale says the Beatles’ experience is useful in identifying what can drive creativity in business. “Seeing it as a process suggests that experimental studies of just one creative act may have limited value to real world creativity which is often determined by knowledge and routines built up over time.”
His research has appeared in the international Creativity Research Journal. He has also been invited to present his study as a keynote speaker at the annual conference of the Amsterdam Centre for Law and Economics in The Hague next month.
Dr Clydesdale is based at from Massey University’s Auckland campus. A copy of his research paper is available at http://masseynews.massey.ac.nz/
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