I was scanning the new releases on a recent trip to my local library when something caught my eye, a book titled Everything I Know About Business I Learned from the Grateful Dead. Despite living just outside of San Francisco and having read countless business and marketing books branded to stand out from the crowd, this seemed like a strange concept. There are many associations one makes when thinking about the Dead, but business savvy isn’t exactly one of them. Upon further examination it turns out I was wrong to judge a book by its (Tie-Dyed) cover.
Rock bands don’t typically join the ranks of great entrepreneurs. However, a group of passionate people coming together to create something despite uncertainty about its success is as close to the definition as you can get. The Dead were no exception, not concerned with making money but rather wanting to play music. From keeping resources in-house to “strategic improvisation”, the book outlines a number of business lessons that can be learned from this seemingly unlikely source. Most importantly though, it made me think about PTs and collaboration.
