The IKEA effect
We've all heard of IKEA. We've all been there. But you may not know about "the IKEA effect", which is a cognitive bias in which consumers place a disproportionately high value on products they partially created - like IKEA furniture. We grow personally attached to our IKEA furniture because we put it together with our own hands.
This effect naturally is in concept advantageous for artists - particularly large ensembles of musicians, who are actively building something awesome and complex together. It would make sense that the sense of pride, attachment, and belonging would be quite high for large ensembles. However, often the individual musicians hold their own components but have no idea what they're building. They have little context and are unable to see the vision of the fully-built product, so the IKEA effect is dramatically lessened.
And the result is that we don't always capitalize on how the IKEA effect can be used to our advantage in its full potential.
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Why does this happen?
First, we are inclined to focus on details rather than the big picture. We are often too concerned with individual pitches and rhythms that we forget they're there to serve the phrase. We can't get past the imperfections because that is all we are taught to worry about. We rarely get to the point where we're operating at the structural level as an entire group.
Second, we don't know how our parts fit into the thing we're building. Sometimes we fall into the traps of "I'm just following the conductor" mode (from the ensemble musician's perspective) or "Just make sure you're with me" mode (from the conductor's perspective). Either of these modes makes our individual performances siloed and not interdependent. It prevents us from the ability to see the completely built piece of furniture - how our piece fits in and why it needs to be there.
Third, we don't always know why we're building the thing and how it is impactful. If we don't know why we're building the bookshelf to begin, it's really hard to get excited about having to build it. And while sometimes we may know why we're building it, but we don't know who we're building it for and the impact it has on them.
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So how do we help musicians see what we're building and capitalize on the IKEA effect?
In leading musicians, we can always remind ourselves to start with these three things:
Focus on the artistic architecture and use the details to support the story of that structure. Share information about the length of phrases and important musical checkpoints. Give them goal posts and the permission to get there themselves - sometimes without micromanaging from the conductor.
Help the ensemble depend on each other by allowing them to see how their parts intertwine and encourage them to work together. When they know how their parts support each other, it becomes less of a guessing game each time, but rather a collaboration that may be slightly different each time. And that is OK.
Share why we are doing this and the intended effect on the audience. This gives musicians the permission to be involved directly with the impact, and as a result, they will be more attached to the creation of the product.
When we know what we're building, why we're building it, and how our pieces fit, we will feel more attached to the art we build and more fulfilled in the process.
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