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what we can learn from motown

written by anthony kim | nov 13, 2017 8:00:00 am

not too long ago, i took the opportunity to visit the motown museum in detroit. in 1959, berry gordy founded motown records, which developed artists like the temptations, four tops, supremes, marvin gaye, stevie wonder and the jackson 5. at first glance it seemed that berry’s success was because he had a knack for identifying superstars but a deeper look reveals more. motown’s success was actually built on an operating system which is similar to that of some of the most successful organizations today.

it may sound obvious, but the motown artists didn’t come up with their hits based on one try or a single inspiration. in fact, motown music has certain patterns and provides a clear structure, which increased the probability of success of each song. based upon the wonderful guided tour of motown i received, i’ve organized their approach into three strategies:

1. continuously experimenting, learning, and iterating

2. developing a clear process to work towards success

3. managing with a complete picture of the market they are serving...

 

this article originally appeared on the sxsw edu website. access out the full article here