The Sound of Strategy: How Jazz Shapes My Business Thinking
Introduction
Music is inseparable from humanity. Some theories suggest that its origins stretch back to the dawn of humankind—or even earlier. By around 2000 BCE in Mesopotamia, traces of music notation using cuneiform were already emerging, and in 9th-century Europe, “neume notation,” a direct ancestor of modern sheet music, began to take shape. Over the following millennium, the familiar notation we use today became standard.
Music spans a vast spectrum—classical, jazz, pop, rock, folk—and serves us in many ways: to relax, to focus, or to move our emotions.
Among these genres, the one that truly captivated me was jazz.
Born in the African-American communities of New Orleans in the late 19th to early 20th century, jazz is defined by improvisation, syncopated rhythms, distinctive harmonies, and a fusion of blues, ragtime, and European traditions. I found it uniquely emotional—its sound changes with the performer’s mood, personality, and life story. Listening to jazz felt like a dialogue between performer and listener, each sharing their own humanity through sound.
My Encounter with the Saxophone
In Japan, jazz is unexpectedly easy to encounter—not just in concert halls, but in shops, cafés, and even convenience stores. Having lived in France and Austria, both renowned for their musical heritage, I was surprised by how often jazz punctuated daily life in Japan.
Jazz employs a wide variety of instruments—piano, drums, brass, woodwinds—but the saxophone often stands out as its iconic voice. With its sleek, metallic form and warm yet commanding tone, it can effortlessly capture one’s heart.
I had long harboured a quiet fascination with the saxophone: one day, I wanted to express myself through its voice. But my musical experience was limited to school lessons, where I could only manage assigned pieces, and I could barely read sheet music.
The turning point came in Austria, when I discovered a professional saxophonist—a conservatory graduate and active performer—who offered private lessons. The only catch? He taught exclusively in German. My German at the time was rudimentary, but my desire to play outweighed the challenge. I began lessons.
Practice and Perseverance
Learning the saxophone demanded mastery of many interconnected skills: reading music, finger technique, breath control, embouchure, and the distinctive swing of jazz rhythms. Early attempts at simple pieces exposed flaws in timing, pitch, and phrasing. Communicating in German during lessons was equally challenging.
To improve, I created my own routine—studying YouTube tutorials, recording my practice to identify weaknesses, and implementing soundproofing at home to avoid disturbing neighbours. Simultaneously, I worked on my German, motivated by the immediate reward of understanding my teacher and applying feedback in real time.
After two to three years of disciplined practice, I could play jazz pieces accurately from sheet music. But true jazz began where the notes ended—improvisation. My first attempts sounded disjointed compared to the rich, fluid lines I imagined. Through persistence and guidance, I gradually found my voice.
Forming a saxophone ensemble with fellow students expanded my world further. We rehearsed after work, attended concerts together, and eventually performed at friends’ gatherings. A hobby had evolved into a vibrant community.
What Jazz Taught Me
From this journey, I drew three key lessons:
Interdependent skills create excellence – In saxophone playing, breath, embouchure, fingering, and rhythm must not only be mastered individually but integrated seamlessly.
Collaboration shapes the final sound – In ensembles, each musician must listen, adjust, and blend their tone with others, much like aligning with an audience’s mood in a solo performance.
Communities amplify growth – Shared goals create strong, creative networks that attract others with similar spirit, sustaining and expanding the group over time.
I also came to appreciate that beneath jazz’s emotional spontaneity lies structure. Great improvisers work within—and sometimes deliberately step outside—musical theory, combining scales and chords in a way that creates both coherence and surprise.
Applying Jazz to Business
The parallels with business are striking. Just as a jazz performance emerges from the interplay of instruments, business success depends not only on individual performance but on how each element—people, processes, products—works in harmony.
Like a jazz ensemble, a startup with a shared vision can create a positive cycle: attracting talent, fostering creativity, and building a resilient ecosystem. And just as in jazz, unconventional ideas—those that seem to “break the rules”—can add distinctive, memorable value to a venture.
In Japanese, there is an expression: “Oto wo Tsumugu”—to “weave sound.” It describes how musicians combine individual notes into a meaningful whole. I believe the same is true in business: if we can weave together the diverse “sounds” of skills, ideas, and people into a harmonious whole, we can create a future as rich and compelling as a jazz performance at its finest.
© 2025 Masato Nagayoshi
