The A Train Serenade

Written by Michel Fabode

I’d successfully found my way through JFK Airport to the correct platform for the A train – not an insignificant feat for me. As usual on these trips, I take in the sights, sounds, and aromas of the A train. While I’ve always liked taking public transit around NYC, it was mostly a forgettable ride. That is until a teenager got on the train, mini-speakers in tow. 

When I heard our new train companion get on the train, I mentally welcomed the music to serenade us through the otherwise uneventful ride. I’d never listened to the song, but it was catchy, and I could see why someone would like it.

A few minutes later, my opinion started to shift. We’ve all been there. You find a new track by an artist you like, and it hits all the right notes. So, you keep the song on repeat. Over and over and over. You proudly shimmy into a musical echo chamber with this song, and you enjoy every single bit of it until you’re good and ready to come out.

Well, this young lady was happily frolicking about her echo chamber. Right around the 4th or 5th   time the song looped, however, I realized that my fellow A-train riders and I had been dragged in there with her, and we had no say in the matter.

By loop 25 or so (it wasn’t a long song), I was silently begging for mercy. We eventually reached her stop, where those of us on the train let out a barely audible sigh.  

Just like a teen who forces train passengers into her one-song musical echo chamber, leaders who employ a monolithic, thoughtless culture can make their diverse teams feel similarly trapped and begging for mercy.

Design a culture that invites your diverse team to turn that single-song echo chamber into a set of melodies that allows them to do their best work while genuinely enjoying the journey.  

To learn more, check out CULTŪRA.