What Steve Jobs and Pink Floyd Have in Common

I became a Pink Floyd fan this weekend.

I'm not kidding.

It happened when I stumbled on a documentary on how the band created the 1973 hit-album "Dark Side of the Moon."

The album that MADE Pink Floyd.

Listening to lead singer David Gilmore describe the artistic process of creating the album was instructive.

I found it particularly moving when he described the evolution of the hit song "The Great Gig in the Sky."  A song that began as an organ instrumental overlayed with quotes from the Bible and speeches by Malcolm Muggeridge but became something bigger.

Much bigger.

Ultimately, the band junked the organ for a piano and just weeks before releasing the album, hired 22-year old Clare Torre to improvise--yes IMPROVISE a vocal accompaniment with the only directive that there be NO WORDS.  After listening to the track a few times, Torre performed an improvised vocal by "pretending she was an INSTRUMENT."

The result:  a haunting, beautiful "wail" that is arguably one of the finest and most recognizable songs by the band.

In listening to Pink Floyd describe the artistic and labor-intensive process of song writing, I was reminded of three other interviews I recently watched.

Interviews not of musicians.

But ENTREPRENEURS.

Interviews with Richard Branson, CEO of Virgin Group, Jeff Bezos, CEO of Amazon.com, and Steve Jobs, the late co-founder of Apple.    

Like Pink Floyd, these three men never talked about their "product" but about the "ART" they were creating. 

Each described their business in the context of the satisfaction they derived from changing and improving the world through their products.

Like Pink Floyd, these men chose to drive to work each day--even when they didn't need the money.

Because the need to create great art can never just be about money.

In business school, we teach students to build a successful business by identifying a need, and then filling the need.

Perhaps we have it backwards.

Perhaps we should be do what Seth Godin eloquently instructs us to do in his book "Lynchpin."

Become artists FIRST.

And create great work.

Work that has passion

Work that we can be proud of.

And work that maybe, just maybe-- like a great band, and like a great entrepreneur--work that can be bigger than us and inspire others to make great work.

To make art...

I'm going to the track tomorrow to do some speed work.

I am going to be singing Pink Floyd's hit single "Money" in my head to push me through the intervals.

Better yet... I think I'll download the song onto my iPod.

Steve Jobs would be pleased.

AMJ