Some management lessons come from fields that don’t have much to do with the business world.

We are now used to lessons in the management of athletes, but the lesson of the day comes from a Hard-Rock music group from the 80s.
Continuing the transformation of 70s rock towards a faster and more rowdy style, Rock&Roll bands gradually gave way to Hard-Rock bands (who themselves gave way to metal bands later). The characteristic of these groups is the crazy and excessive behavior of the members of these groups. Everything is staged to grab the title of the most “undrinkable” group.

In this one-upmanship of badass attitude, the Van Halen band distinguished itself brilliantly. An example of their execrable behavior is a zany demand from the group. Each time they arrive at a concert venue, the band demands that a jar full of M&M’s be placed in their dressing room, and that this jar not contain any brown M&M’s. Legend has it that at the mere sight of a brown M&M’s, the band would demolish the dressing room.
It would take several decades for the secret of this behavior to be revealed… Behind this atypical demand lies a real challenge for the group.

Concerts follow one another and accidents are frequent. The skills of the people in charge of setting up the scenes often leave something to be desired. And checking the entire installation required the group’s engineers a monumental amount of work. Thus, placed randomly in the group’s specifications, this request for a jar of M&M’s without a brown M&M’s served as a guarantee. A way to determine the level of trust that could be placed in the local teams.
The success of a tour depends largely on the ability of the band and the teams to be able to maintain a high level of performance over a long period of time. To do this, it is essential to rely on the local teams in charge of preparing the installations. At the risk of seeing more accidents.

As in the business world, it is the responsibility of managers to ensure that operations run smoothly. Without having the time to check all the work already produced.

To read the full article:
https://www.forbes.fr/management/ce-quune-anecdote-sur-un-groupe-de-hard-rock-peut-nous-apprendre/