It is extremely difficult to have a hit record. There are 82 million tracks on Spotify, for example, 60,000 new songs are uploaded every day.
Given these numbers and the mind-boggling choice available, it is a huge achievement to be a one-hit-wonder. So, let’s hear it for Tubthumping by Chumbawamba, Breakfast at Tiffany’s by Deep Blue Something, Funkytown by Lipps Inc. and Spirit in the Sky by Norman Greenbaum.
But it’s rarer and harder – much, much harder – to deliver a string of hits. For every Stevie Wonder, Beyoncé, Queen and Elton John, there are literally dozens of artists such as Wild Cherry (Play That Funky Music), Anita Ward (Ring My Bell) and The Surfaris (Wipe Out).
Recent research at Stanford University has identified what separates the hitmakers from the one-hit wonders. Their findings were clear: artists with distinctive and varied catalogues at the time of their first hit were more likely to keep creating hit songs.
Hitmakers’ willingness to experiment, learn and adapt before becoming successful created the capabilities required to sustain their success. Conversely, the one-hit wonders who achieved their initial hit with lower levels of creativity in their portfolio struggled to adapt as the market changed.
I can see parallels between this analysis and how companies can increase their creativity and innovation.
When asked, most business leaders will say that they want to make their organisations more innovative. A key component of an organisation’s innovation is the creativity and entrepreneurial abilities of its people. So, recruitment is critical.
But who are you recruiting? Are you focused on finding people with varied backgrounds and unique career paths? Or are you recruiting people with, at best, a history of repeating their single, greatest hit?
Off The Record: Tubthumping by Chumbawamba
I get knocked down
But I get up again
You’re never gonna keep me down
I get knocked down
But I get up again
You’re never gonna keep me down