Get out of the way and let music do what it does so well.
principle — attributed to Mark Johnson
Johnson's closing principle is the discipline of the facilitator. I just get out of the way and let music do what it does so well: help people find a way to work together. The reframe matters for any practitioner whose work involves bringing groups together through a shared instrument. The instrument does the work. The facilitator's job is to make the conditions possible and then step back. Practitioners who insist on staying central crowd out the very dynamic they were trying to produce. Practitioners who set the conditions and then withdraw produce results that compound for years. The discipline applies to teachers, conveners, producers, and any role whose value depends on what the group does together rather than what the leader says.
For facilitators, conveners, and producers thinking about when to step back. The principle is most useful as a self-check when the practitioner has been at the center of every interaction in a project that was supposed to be participant-driven.
facilitator-restraint, music-as-bridge, ego-minimization, letting-go