The Art of Possibility: Transforming Professional and Personal Life

The experiences of an orchestra conductor help make The Art of Possibility great. The book was written by a duo of a psychotherapist and a conductor. The advice is primarily to have a positive outlook on things. Give an "A" to everyone. Look through the positive aspects of the situation. Admit mistakes and focus on making anything possible.

The examples from the conductor side include various musical passages. Sometimes composers make parts intentionally difficult. The struggle is part of the desired result. A musician that is too talented would not provide the desired "struggle". Trusting in people can help them to thrive. In an example of bringing music into schools, there was little hope that the kids in the rough part of town would benefit from it. However, by trusting in them, they were able to obtain a positive experience. In another case, a youth orchestra was causing trouble in their hotel while on tour. Rather than move straight to chew them out, he instead talked about what went well with the previous performance. They eventually self-criticized and ensure they did not have problems again. (In another case, he did chew out an orchestra member, only to have her quit. He later admitted to his poor behavior and she came back on her own.)

Music is an interesting field. Conductors holds great power and rarely admit to error or even accept internal criticism. Good performances often involve the proper "feelings" as opposed to just the mechanical process. This all provides a great testbed for working to have the desired attitude and internal desire for achieving the best.

The book also had interesting discussion about serving and being served. In one case, a musician was biking and noticed her tires were flat. She went to a gas station, but needed quarters to get air. She asked if they had changed for $10. They said the till was not opened. She was stuck. Then she asked if they could give their personal change to operate the pump. They were willing to do it, and everybody felt happy. Similarly, a woman was struggling financially. She was reluctant to ask for small handouts from her mother. Instead, she was convinced to ask for all the money she would need. The mother ended up being happy to do so - and also gave to her other children. People get joy from serving. They often just need to be nudged to do it.