Editor’s note: Besides tracking technological advancements and innovations, our author is a Juilliard-trained musical composer. He has created a musical piece titled “Survivable Ambiguity” for you to enjoy while reading this column.
Here in the Berkshires, we have a globally aware and culturally sophisticated population. That’s why I think this analogy will work. Diplomacy is a lot like music. People have to play together for it to sound good.
There is a concept in music called polyphony. That is when more than one note sounds at the same time. A flute or a saxophone plays one note at a time, except for a few rare outliers. A guitar or a piano can play many notes simultaneously. They are polyphonic. Some instruments are soloists by nature. Others are built for complexity and collaboration.
In an ensemble, musicians need to play in the same key and tempo. Unless the group is large, they do not need a conductor. A handful of musicians can figure it out together, especially if they are following a score, as in classical music. But there are many forms of music where the notes are not written down. Or if they are, they are only loosely suggested. Improvisation takes over.
A nation is not like a symphony. A conductor or a president is ineffective unless the public agrees to follow the same key and tempo.
All innovation requires collaboration. All diplomacy requires innovation. What happens when two groups of diplomats come together and cannot even agree on what piece they are playing, or what key, or what tempo, or even what genre? That is a recipe for a train wreck.
When diplomats can communicate and share a rough idea of the structure, form, and rules of engagement, there is a chance the music can go somewhere. But when one side refuses to play by any known structure and has no intention of collaborating, you are left with an orchestra that does not know what piece they are playing or what tempo they are in. The result is not music. It is noise.
People will not attend concerts filled with noise. They will stop taking the music seriously, and the ensemble falls apart. The enterprise collapses. A musical project that no one wants to hear cannot sustain itself.
What we may be witnessing now is multiple orchestras trying to play together with no shared agreement. The outcome is chaos. The result is a world with no superpower leading. Britain had its turn. So did France, Spain, Italy, Greece, Rome, and the Ottomans. None of them remained in charge forever. Power cycles out. It always has.
The idea of democracy emerged because ruling by decree never really worked for most people. Eventually, they revolted. What is happening in the current American administration is unsustainable. And that means the United States may no longer remain the superpower it was. If the future requires global collaboration, maybe the notion that one country has to be in charge is obsolete.
Right now, America cannot lead. It does not even realize that it has lost the tempo. And no world leader can have a jam session with a partner who does not know the key, the tempo, or the style.
China is not going to replace the United States either. They have economic problems of their own. And while they may have a population used to being controlled, they are not cultivating individualism. That has not been their strength for 2,000 years.
America is different. America was built on individualism. But individuals are not going to tolerate being micromanaged by greedy, self-serving authoritarians.
Real innovators around the world and throughout history have always learned to collaborate. Manipulation is not collaboration. Having a superiority complex does not make you a genius. Strategy is required for sustainability. Without it, we will blindly walk into a massive die-back, like every other species that outgrows its habitat. Species either change or they perish. Another word for change is innovate.
I do not believe humanity is going to perish, even though we are flirting with the possibility. But I do believe that diplomats could learn something from innovators and musicians. If you cannot collaborate, you do not go anywhere. Not for long. All you end up creating is music no one wants to hear, inventions no one wants to use, and structures that do not last because they ignore the people they are supposed to serve.
Jazz musicians know how hard it is for the guitar and piano to play together. They each cover a wide harmonic range. There is a lot of overlap. You have to pay close attention, listen deeply, and know which register to occupy. Otherwise, you step on each other’s toes. And if you do that too much, you get kicked out of the band. Or the band never gets any gigs.
You may think it naïve to compare politics, innovation, and artistry. But that is exactly what I am doing. Because here in the Berkshires, we have a population that understands this line of reasoning. It would not work everywhere. But here, we are globally aware, culturally engaged, and exceptionally creative. We know how to create. We know how to listen.
What is happening now, nationally and globally, is not working. But we can look at the musicians all around us. Most of them know how to play in tune. That is the lesson.
It is time for the world’s regimes to start learning how real innovators work. Not television actors pretending to be geniuses. Not manipulators in the guise of leaders. But real creators. When you cannot find the key or rhythm, you cannot lead the music or any project. And without being on the same page, no one wants to play.
