Leading for Innovation: And Organizing for Results

11.3. Being Innovative in the Way You Lead Is What Matters

In the social sector, we can see the same pattern. Compare for example the NBC Orchestra of New York and the Cleveland Orchestra. Under Arturo Toscanini—a genius with hundreds of capable helpers—the NBC Orchestra became one of the most visibly innovative orchestras in the 1940s and 1950s. It was the first to embrace broadcast technology, first in radio, then television. It shattered long-entrenched traditions of restraint, introducing an almost rock-and-roll flavor to some of its concerts. But after Toscanini died, the orchestra completely disintegrated and doesn't even exist today.

Now look at Cleveland. Cleveland is perhaps the most consistently excellent orchestra in the United States ...