Tinder for orchestras
Imagine a service that matches compatibility between musicians and orchestras using purpose and values - basically a Tinder for orchestras.
In addition to entering a location, a picture, and availability, a musician or an orchestra can easily set up their profile by answer questions like:
Why do you do this challenging work?
What do you care about?
What are your top 3 values?
What are you most proud of in your work?
Imagine the kind of profiles you might see? Imagine the thoughts that might go through our heads as we decide whether we want to swipe right or swipe left?
We may even discover matches that weren't even on our radar.
This is because we are looking at the situation through a different (perhaps deeper) lense.
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In our cosmetic and status-driven society, it is easy for musicians to think that only the top orchestras are worth our time and effort. Or only belonging to an elite institution would be a valid definition of our self-worth. So we only desire to seek jobs with those organizations and sometimes limit our searches.
At the same time, every orchestra wants to believe that they are worthy of only the world's best musicians. They are influenced by status symbols on resumes such as competitions, pedigree, and summer festivals. So they seek out those status markers in resumes and feel safe making choices, sometimes without even having heard anything.
These have been traditional shortcuts for us to identify our "matches."
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A Tinder for orchestras based on purpose and values would disrupt that pattern.
Is there an orchestra out there that is "the one" for every musician? Is there a musician that is "the one" for an orchestra? The universe works in mysterious ways, so I wonder…if we put effort into matching purpose and values, what would the applicant distribution be like across orchestras looking to hire? Would it be more evenly distributed? Would all the cosmic chips fall into place?
Could it help the most purpose-aligned musicians surface for orchestras or help the values of an orchestra attract like-minded musicians?
In an article called "What Tinder can teach you about recruitment," the author Chris Dyer writes, "Just as in dating, getting hiring right can save us a lot of time, money and possibly heartbreak."
He also points out that perhaps finding like-minded matches is not the only benefit:
"Tinder claims its app offers the chance to 'meet people you wouldn’t normally meet.' This brings together like-minded singles as well as opposites who attract. The latter group may hold more promise for dynamic relationships, especially in a work setting. That’s because people with different backgrounds and thinking styles challenge and excite us, and even complement our strengths and weaknesses."
So what if in addition to finding "the one," we also have the chance of finding "the one that challenges us to be better"?
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Without alignment of purpose and values between an organization and its people, employees become disengaged. Glint revealed that disengaged employees are 12 times more likely to leave their jobs.
With a service like Tinder for orchestras, it is possible to use purpose and shared values to prevent unnecessary turnover rates and increase job satisfaction for orchestral musicians.
I'll leave you with a quote about such organizations by Hubert Joly from The Heart of Business:
"They are human organizations made of individuals who work together toward a common purpose. When that common purpose aligns with their own individual searches for meaning, it can unleash a kind of human magic that results in outstanding performance."
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