What makes art compelling? What makes art impactful and transformative? What gives arts products the power to provide audiences with memorable aesthetic experiences? The answer to this question for the dance company, Diavolo, originates in the creative process used to develop their distinctive style of dance works. This process is very innovative for a dance company and is the foundational core of all of Diavolo’s organizational activity. From an inspirational idea to actualization, Diavolo’s process is a wonderful example of how innovation leadership can work in any organization, and as such, is the primary concept of this chapter.
This story shows how an artist, Jacques Heim, led the formation of a dance company based on who he was, what he knew, and whom he knew (Sarasvathy, 2008), and demonstrates how an innovation leader can form a vision that resonates with partners who bring additional talent to the venture. These self-selecting partners play an invaluable role in co-creating successful products and an entire organization. Heim’s passion for his work and his ability to empower others to help achieve and shape his vision illustrates how innovation leadership principles can profoundly impact an arts organization and the many people within its sphere of influence. The goal of this chapter is to serve as a valuable link between multiple disciplines by presenting artistic processes and approaches to innovation leadership, allowing those from other fields to glean insights that may otherwise be difficult to observe, absorb, and implement.
Description
The creative process of Diavolo demonstrates how the CREATE Model, the two types of innovation (exploratory and value-added innovation), and two fundamental leadership theories (path-goal theory and leader-member exchange theory) manifest in an arts organization. The unraveling of this process is informative and inspiring as these elements are interwoven, interdependent, and non-obvious. The formation of Diavolo’s innovation leaders, the levels at which new ideas are generated, and the sources of innovation all spring from the core values of trust, teamwork, honesty, integrity, discipline, hard work, and overcoming fear.
The thesis of this chapter is that Diavolo’s creative process and approach to leading innovation can be adopted and implemented by organizations in any industry. Key points can be applied within organizations in the following ways. As a founder and innovation leader, achieving organizational goals without compromising personal and organizational vision is possible through creative thinking. For example, Jacques initially spent a year researching dance companies in the USA to determine if others produced something that would compete with his desire to create a dance company and product that combined his love of architecture, movement, and dance in a unique, meaningful, and engaging way with the goal of providing audiences with memorable aesthetic experiences.
Seemingly immovable barriers should be examined from all angles before giving up and innovation leaders at all levels can benefit from this type of thinking. For example, a major perceptual barrier for many artists is the belief that taking action to make money with art means that they must compromise their artistic/aesthetic vision for their work and this is often viewed as an immovable barrier. It seems the choice is either fulfilling one’s artistic vision through the art that is produced or creating something according to current trends and popular taste so that it will sell.
Organizations and innovation leaders of all kinds can learn from the improvisational, co-creative process and practice of creating artistic work. For example, organizations and innovation leaders can emulate the artistic process of throwing away preconceptions about new products and allowing creative ideas to emerge. This happens through creating a fluid environment characterized by flexible and adaptable thinking that is not fearful of extended periods of change and ambiguity. A discussion of innovation and creativity within arts organizations inherently involves grappling with the following questions. What does innovation mean in this context? What is most important during the product development phase? How is the risk and success of an innovative artistic product measured?
Johansson (2006) describes innovation as something new and valuable. Many artists and arts leaders would agree with this characterization, however, determining the value of something as subjective in nature as artistic work is challenging. Stoneman (2010) introduces the concept of soft innovation, which includes aesthetic, artistic, sensory, and intellectual products and services whose significance cannot and should not be judged according to functional, utilitarian uses. As an economist, he considers the financial impact of soft innovation to be a factor in determining if new products and services are significant or valuable. Not all artists and leaders of arts organizations would agree with this perspective as other types of impact create value and significance as well; for instance social/cultural, emotional, and artistic/aesthetic impact.
When creating new work, Hirschman (1983) points out that artists can orient their creativity towards a variety of audiences, such as the self, peers/industry professionals, and the public at large based upon a variety of objectives, such as self-expression, recognition/acclaim, and money. These choices for artists and leaders of arts organizations illustrate the many tensions within arts industries because creating for the self can produce high levels of intrinsic satisfaction for artists and presenting this work can significantly help to achieve an organization’s artistic mission and vision. However, artistic work of this kind may not yield financial rewards and is more likely to have a smaller pecuniary impact. In this case, only two of the triple-bottom line goals for nonprofit arts organizations (economic necessity, artistic quality, and broad public access) would be achieved (Wyszomirski, 2013).
As a nonprofit art organization, the story of Diavolo involves all of these tensions. How is the artistic vision of Jacques realized during the creation of new dance works? Does he create for himself, his peers in the dance world, for the public at large, or simply to make large financial profits? How does Diavolo achieve its mission as nonprofit while at the same time sustaining a sufficient operating budget? How does innovation leadership happen in this context? The next section answers these questions by providing a backstage pass into the world of Diavolo.
The story
Diavolo Dance Company, founded in 1992 by Artistic Director Jacques Heim, has existed for twenty-five years. The name Diavolo, meaning “Today I Fly”, is partially inspired by the Spanish word for “day” and the Latin word for “I fly.” As a groundbreaking acrobatic dance company, the name is a lively description and summary of their unique performance style. During the company’s first seven years of existence, Jacques focused on the formation of his artistic vision, ideas about the kind of work he wanted to create, and developing what would become his innovative approach to choreography as an architect of motion. Other than its European debut at the 1995 Edinburgh Fringe Festival, which began the formation of Diavolo’s international reputation as a cutting-edge dance company, performances took place mostly in Los Angeles. In 1999, the company embarked upon its first major tour of North America, and since then, has been touring nationally and internationally for the past eighteen years.
Although Jacques is fascinated with movement, dance, architecture and structures, he is not a dancer himself and has no formal training in architecture. He spent time as a student at the California Institute of the Arts and has a background as a street performer. From the time of his undergraduate years at Cal Arts, Jacques knew he wanted to start a dance company that utilized structures. His artistic language of architecture and movement developed out of his love for props and large structures.
In 1992, Heim researched dance companies to determine if there were other companies in the USA using the language of architecture in motion. Knowing that American dance companies have a difficult time of drawing audiences, in comparison to other art forms, he wanted to be sure that he could offer audiences something different and unique. His research revealed that very few dance companies were using the language of architecture in motion. Some companies utilized props, but not the very particular language of architecture in motion. The research confirmed to Jacques that there was an opportunity in the USA for the type of dance company he wanted to launch, thus, he founded Diavolo.
During the early years of Diavolo, Jacques was invited to work with the University of California-Los Angeles dance program. In this role, he taught dancers how to physically interact with structures and moving objects. Diavolo’s core values of trust, teamwork, honesty, integrity, discipline, hard work, and overcoming fear, started very early on in the life of Diavolo, prior to Jacques teaching at UCLA. However, working with UCLA’s dance program helped to test and refine the foundational philosophy, mission, and technique of Diavolo. A primary core value involves the dancers, as teammates, trusting each other. As a dancer working for an acrobatic dance company that performs on moving structures, trust is incredibly important. If the dancers do not trust each other when physically interacting with other moving dancers and sets, structures, and props, the artistic vision for the dance piece will both literally and figuratively fall flat, and fail.
Honesty and integrity are also crucial. If a dancer claims to be strong enough to execute a dangerous jump or catch another dancer falling from a moving wall, then another team member’s physical safety could be at risk if they are not telling the truth. Clearly, teamwork, discipline, hard work, and overcoming fear are also very important values for all dancers to commit to and live out. Those who are not true to themselves and true to the company, who do not believe in Diavolo’s core values, are asked to leave the organization.
Jacques navigates the tensions between creating artistic work according to his vision, satisfying public taste, and the need to make money in an exemplary manner. During Diavolo’s first national tour in 1999, Jacques would sit in the audience during performances to monitor audience reactions. During these observations, Jacques realized the audience was quite surprised that Diavolo’s offerings were categorized as dance. He noticed that they were attracting an audience that typically could not relate to dance but were fascinated with the very visual and visceral nature of his work. This confirmed that his artistic intuition resonates very strongly with at least certain segments of dance audiences, and those who normally would not attend dance performances.
Heim is very aware that international presenters will not pay large sums of money to hire his company to perform if he creates work that is simply nice and regular. They could hire a local company to perform predictable work for a lower cost. Thus, he creates new work that will be of interest to presenting organizations around the globe. By knowing his competition, Jacques creates new work that is innovative and unique in the dance world. This increases the likelihood that presenting organizations will pay to bring Diavolo performances to international venues.
Jacques deals with the riskiness of new artistic work by following his artistic instincts and surrounding himself with a great creative team. He also remains humble and approaches every new piece as if it were the first time creating and directing a piece, as if he knows nothing. Additionally, he conducts private showings of the new work at various stages of development with the goal of receiving feedback from a representative sample of potential audiences.
He creates based on his intuition when developing the theme of a new piece, but also keeps in mind that he is creating for an international audience. For Jacques, knowing that the work is going to be international causes him to create differently and to consider the bigger picture. This approach shifts his focus from creating only for local audiences to creating new dance pieces that appeal to national and international audiences including audiences that know nothing about dance. Yet, he creates something that is still very meaningful, visual, visceral, and remains true to the philosophy and language of architecture in motion.
Thus, the result is a creative approach that balances the tensions of creating high quality artistic work, fulfilling the aesthetic vision of the creative artist, creating with a particular audience in mind, and the goal of making money. Jacques’ approach is successful, as evidenced by Diavolo’s international touring schedule and audience feedback. Attendees comprising the dance enthusiast segment, although they have never seen anything like Diavolo, say the combination of elements is fascinating and feels different. Other audiences, especially those who normally do not attend dance performances, love Diavolo’s refreshing fusion of architecture, movement, and dancers. Innovation in the creative industries generates increased demand from consumers who are not typically drawn to a certain product (Caves, 2000). In fact, many audience members prefer Diavolo because it is not like typical dance companies.
The people who comprise Diavolo’s dance team bring a variety of abilities, experience, and training to the company. For example, some are trained ballet dancers, some are gymnasts, and still others are actors, rock climbers, and even stunt doubles for movie studios. Diavolo’s creative process is atypical for a dance company and very innovative. Many dance companies treat dancers as performers only, not collaborators in the creative process, and would never ask for their opinion about the choreography or other elements of a new piece. This richness and variety of background training and experience provides a broad scope of ideas and inputs as the dancers, together with Jacques, co-create the story and choreography of a new work.
For Heim, collaboration, interconnectivity, and relationships are vital to his work and process. He highly values and utilizes a creative team, comprised of a sculptor/architect, set designers, engineers, a musical composer, a spoken word artist, a lead choreographer, and dramaturge. When working with the team, Jacques is able to communicate his vision for a new dance work and inspire others to help create the new product by bringing their unique skills, knowledge, and talents to the improvisational process.
Heim’s creative process for new dance pieces begins with a passionate idea. This idea could come from a moving experience with artwork of some kind or from observing people interacting on the street. He is fascinated by human reactions to physical objects and the impact and influence of structures upon human behavior. Jacques stores his ideas and inspirations in a dream book; a type of journal in which he draws initial sketches for structures or sets that the dancers perform on that relate to an inspirational passionate idea.
In general, Jacques is able to fulfill his artistic vision despite financial constraints. However, the cost of materials used to create the physical structures does impact his vision in terms of size and scope. He cannot always create the structures he envisions due to size constraints of most venues’ stages and the cost of creating such large-scale structures causing Diavolo’s performance fee to become too expensive for many presenting organizations. Thus, in some instances, financial and practical considerations do present challenges to Jacques’ artistic vision.
A new piece requires Jacques to research many different architects and types of architecture as the basis of his inspiration. He creates drawings and then works with his sculptor/architect over a period of months to make a small model of the set structures based upon his initial drawings of the concept. By the first day of rehearsal, Jacques knows exactly how the piece starts and ends and has a book with all of the scenes. Prior to the first rehearsal, he will meet with the dancers and give them homework to do their own research on movement. This results in better quality collaborations during studio rehearsals in terms of the meaning, movement, and substance of the new work.
Using a structured improvisational process, Jacques has the dancers play with the set, structure, and props for at least a six-week period. This allows for testing and experimentation in terms of what the structure can do and what it needs to do, while at the same time, developing narrative for the new work. This process can take more than six weeks and, in some instances, the story and the structure changes dramatically from his initial ideas. Jacques greatly values the varied time frames and new directions as it helps him to let go of any preconceptions that he may have brought into the process and allows innovations to take shape.
This structured improvisational process highlights Jacques’s approach to leading innovation. Simply by being members of the company, the dancers know that the language of Diavolo is very collaborative. As self-selecting partners, they understand that they are expected and encouraged to provide creative input. Thus, throughout the entire rehearsal process, the dancers provide input pertaining to the choreography and collaboratively create the movements with a lead choreographer. For example, when they start rehearsing a scene, Jacques asks his creative team to consider each moment of the piece by saying, “What is that moment?” Then they talk about it. Someone will say, “Ok, if that is what this moment is supposed to be, how do we make that moment? What is the theme of that moment?” Another will say, “How do we feel about it? How do we want to make the audience feel?” After these questions are discussed, one person suggests they start moving in a certain manner very slowly. Then, they say, “Ok, how slowly, backwards, forwards? Ok, let’s try it and see how it goes. Start doing it. Ok, play a little bit with that.”
Jacques wants, needs, and encourages creative input regarding the intent and content of every moment and every scene. Together, the team envisions and evaluates and during every step of the process considers how each moment emotionally impacts the artists and the audience. They are very concerned that they put themselves in the position of an audience member so as not to lose them. The goal is to create from the point of view of the person who is watching for the first time. Through this structured process of improvisation, Diavolo is able to consider the audience during the creative process while producing innovative artistic work that is true to Jacque’s artistic vision and the organization’s mission.
The dancers of Diavolo are required to have nerves of steel because they manipulate the structure while rehearsing, starting scenes from the beginning over and over again. At times, the structure can be heavy, cumbersome, difficult, and dangerous. In some instances, the structure breaks down and must be repaired, requiring the dancers wait long periods of time before moving again. They, at times, get hurt by the structure and then receive medical attention to patch and stitch the wounds and, once completed, return to rehearsal. The men and women of Diavolo are required to have incredible levels of patience and to be like gladiators, as they are dancers, collaborators, and creators while at the same time they must function in part like construction workers, scientists, mathematicians, and logicians.
Discussion
The argument of this chapter is that Jacques Heim’s creative process and approach to leading innovation can be adopted and implemented by organizations in any industry. Diavolo’s story enacts the principles of two fundamental leadership theories: path-goal theory and leader-member exchange theory. Path-goal theory of leadership is concerned with how leaders influence the way subordinates view their work goals, personal goals, and the path to attain these goals (House, 1975). Jacques’ passion for his dance company is compelling and infectious. His creative team is motivated by his incredible artistic vision and aesthetic taste, and the way that he empowers them to contribute to the process. The dancers are self-selecting members of the team and are committed to the core values of the company. As such, their goals are inherently similar to Jacques’ and they work towards creating compelling dance works. The dancers have the goal of becoming and remaining professional dancers and Jacques clarifies their path to that goal by articulating clear core values for the company. As the innovation leader, Heim provides motivating and satisfying work environments for his dancers by encouraging their creative input when developing new pieces, as well as providing an opportunity for them to perform.
Leader-member exchange theory deals with the developmental relationship between leaders and followers (Lunenburg, 2010). The members of Heim’s creative team work with him on an individual basis. Due to Jacques’ preference to work collaboratively with people who provide the skills that he lacks, followers naturally take on greater levels of responsibility, receive significant amounts of personal attention, and must be able to function with greater amounts of autonomy and freedom in their roles. This type of culture yields intrinsic rewards, because individuals are valued for their creativity and expertise, and extrinsic rewards such as public recognition, acclaim, and financial compensation. For the dancers specifically, it is incredible to participate creatively in the development of new dance works rather than simply executing movements as directed.
Diavolo’s creative process includes the steps in the CREATE Model. For example, Jacques introduces an initial inspirational idea to the creative team and they add to this through the structured improvisational process. When Heim leads by considering each moment and scene in terms of how both the dancers and the audience will respond, he is supporting idea generation by encouraging input from everyone. Jacques and his team identify, evaluate, and implement innovative ideas as they improvise, while remaining open to making any necessary changes.
When creating new dance works using structured improvisation, Diavolo is using exploratory innovation, which involves generating brand new ideas. There are times, however, when Jacques and his creative team will rework older pieces. In this case, Diavolo is using value-added innovation, which involves modifying and improving existing ideas. Regardless of the type of innovation used, there are risks involved when developing new products. In the performing arts, risk involves both artistic and financial considerations (Colbert, 2012). A consumer’s perception of risk is heightened by the fear that they may not enjoy or understand the new performing arts product (Crealey, 2003).
Jacques’ approach to innovation leadership helps Diavolo to limit these risks. For example, they are able to keep their audience in mind during the creation of new work. This reduces the risk of products that do not resonate with an audience. However, the artistic vision and creative spark in the work is not diminished by this approach. Heim has learned to trust his creative intuition and creates in a way that balances achieving artistic goals and connecting with audiences to reduce financial risks.
Another tactic Jacques uses to reduce risk, as mentioned previously, is to offer private showings of new work at various stages of development in order to receive feedback from potential audience members. This feedback is another way to evaluate innovative ideas and products and lead innovation, and is similar to the build-measure-learn feedback loop described in the Lean Startup method (Ries, 2011). Diavolo’s creative team brings a depth and breadth of knowledge, skill, and perspective to the new product development method that can process and interpret the feedback in a way that achieves resonance with audiences in an authentic way. Thus, the way Jacques leads innovation by empowering his creative team is not only brilliant, but can be copied by innovation leaders in any organization and industry (House, 1975; Lunenburg, 2010).
Heim, as an individual is certainly an innovation leader. However, his creative team, can also be described as a group within an organization that leads innovation. As such, the levels at which new ideas are generated and the sources of innovation within Diavolo include the individual level and group level. Leader-member exchange theory suggests that leaders form high-quality, trust, and respect-based relationships with followers (Bauer, 2016). Jacques achieves this by articulating a clear set of core values asking creative team members to commit to the core values and then gives them the space to contribute creatively. These are core principles that leaders in any industry could adopt and apply as they lead innovation within their organizations.
Summary
The key points from this innovation leadership success story can be applied within organizations in the following ways. As a founder and innovation leader, achieving organizational goals without compromising personal and corporate vision is possible through creative thinking. For those working in arts organizations, the story of Diavolo demonstrates that it is possible to fulfill organizational goals without compromising artistic vision. For artists, Jacques’ approach shows that considering the market and competitors prior to creating aesthetic products can be a successful strategy.
Organizations and innovation leaders can learn from the improvisational, co-creative process, and practices of Diavolo. This process engages the founder/innovation leader and team members in a journey of testing and co-creation, exploring possibilities, and cultivating the product together. This creative process involves flexibility in terms of time, as the product may morph in entirely new directions. Preconceptions must be thrown away to allow innovations to emerge because product development is never static and products will change, sometimes even radically, over time.
Jacques is considered an effective director and leader because he asks his team to share and to trust (Goleman, 2002). His ability to collaborate with his creative team is the reason for Diavolo’s success. His inspiration, artistic vision, and approach to innovation leadership has enabled him to launch and sustain a successful dance company. People are drawn to Diavolo because Jacques’ artistic work is incredibly beautiful, emotionally moving, and exudes a transformative energy and experience.
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