5 Learnings from the Biggest Band in the World

Five timeless lessons to guide your career and life, with a little help from my friends.

Jul 21, 2024

📝 Words: 1,862 | 🕰️ Estimated Reading time: about 9 mins

For the past three months, some of my friends have pointed out that I named this newsletter after a Beatles song, but have yet to mention the band in any of my issues.

Today I want to change that by exploring what the biggest band in the world can teach about succeeding in business and life.

Wait - this isn’t one of those cliched posts that have become epitome of a certain type of LinkedIn posts, like this one giving B2B sales tips learned by proposing to his girlfriend.

This is legit.

The Beatles created a cultural phenomenon. They were, and still are, an immensely successful business (Paul McCartney’s net worth is around $1 billion), and their achievements are largely due to the principles mentioned here.

Context: The Beatles and Me

Thanks to my father, I have been a Beatles fan since I was 8.

I still remember the first time I listened to “1” - the compilation that made me fall in love with the band.

The album had a yellow number one on a red background.

I can still vividly picture myself opening the package and putting the CD on my dad’s record player at my grandma’s house.

It was the early 2000s, and back then, school ended at 4pm on Tuesdays and Thursdays. I spent those afternoons at grandma’s, as she would pick me up from school.

There I was, doing homework, drawing, and playing with Lego, all while listening to music - especially The Beatles.

Occasionally, friends would come over, and we would study, draw, play with Lego, and listen to The Beatles.

By introducing their music to my friends, I felt like I was the warden of a secret enchantment. And every friend that came to my grandma’s fell in love with their melodies.

The collection “1” featured 27 Beatles songs that went no. 1 either in UK or the US charts. I could still recite the tracklist in my mind: first was “Love Me Do”, then “From Me To You”, then “She Loves You”, then “I Want To Hold Your Hand”, and so on.

At that time I could not comprehend the magnitude of a band producing so many hits. I just really loved the music and the melodies, a lot.

The five key learnings

Over the years, my relationship with The Beatles evolved significantly.

I have been a Lennon fan first, and a McCartney fan afterwards. I have immersed myself in their music, absorbed their history, played their songs (with little success), and even created a band with my closest friends - all inspired by them.

18-year old me (far right) trying to sing Beatles’ harmonies

Their music has been a constant companion throughout my life and will continue to be.

With countless hours (probably in the thousands) spent on The Beatles, once I began working and getting into leadership roles, I discovered valuable lessons from their story.

Learnings still relevant today, that can inspire professionals and entrepreneurs every day.

I believe these are the five most important:

Work your tail off
You don’t have to be great to start, but you have to start to be great
Don’t be afraid to experiment
Work quickly and finish things
Teamwork makes the dreamwork

Work your tail off

Throughout their career, the Beatles exhibited an incredible work ethic, perhaps unmatched in the music industry.

They produced so much great music in such a short period of time - everything they recorded happened over the period of seven years.

Have you ever heard about the 10,000-hour rule?

In Malcolm Gladwell’s book “Outliers” there is a chapter called “The 10,000-Hour Rule” which begins with the epigraph “In Hamburg we had to play for eight hours”

This refers to the Beatles’ time in Hamburg, Germany, where they regularly performed at different clubs from August 1960 to May 1962.

This is what John Lennon said about that period:

“We had to play for hours and hours on end. Every song lasted twenty minutes and had twenty solos in it. That's what improved the playing.”

The Beatles worked incredibly hard, forging their sound and skills.

From long nights in Hamburg, where they played 6-8 hours every day, to recording over 200 songs from 1962 to 1970, while touring internationally and performing live more than 1,200 times - the rhythm was not for the faint-hearted.

A crouched Paul McCartney, John Lennon doing a split and George Harrison dressed in black near the piano in the back - Hamburg, Germany

To the risk of sounding like the father I have just become, I’ll say this:

When I hear people in their 20s talking about doing “just enough” or “just what is needed”, I get chills. I can’t understand how they don’t see the value of working hard, especially when they are just starting out.

The problem is that they think hard work benefits only the company they work for, when it really benefits themselves.

Because the hard work you put on the early days will reap the benefits in the long run. It builds discipline, determination and grit – traits that will always exceed talent.

You don’t have to be great to start, but you have to start to be great

Paul McCartney exemplifies this in Peter Jackson's "The Beatles: Get Back" documentary series (available on Disney+).

The boys were tight on a deadline, pressured to create new songs for an upcoming album.

In this scene (see it below), McCartney starts singing a melody strumming a blues progression on his iconic Hofner bass.

He repeats the verse again, and again, and again, and just a couple of minutes later he is singing the chorus of one of most iconic Beatles' song: "Get Back".

Greatness can emerge from simply starting doing what you have to do.

Obviously, not everyone has the same creative genius as Paul McCartney, but if you have a task to do, just start working on it and something good will come out.

Something will eventually materialize when you just sit down and start doing.

The first draft might not be a good one, but at least you will have something you can build upon. The key is to begin.

Don’t be afraid to experiment

The Beatles were passionate about exploring the work of fellow musicians, soaking up a diverse array of influences from both the past and their contemporaries.

Through continuous experimentation, they drew inspiration from their surroundings, transforming their musical identity multiple times.

They weren't afraid to experiment, even when there was much at stake.

For example, in 1965-66, instead of maintaining the status quo, they decided to stop touring and focus on their craft.

What happened?

During this period, they produced some of the most innovative sounds Western pop music had ever seen.

In their search for new sounds, in the album “Revolver” (1966) they incorporated instruments such as the Indian tambura and tabla, and clavichord, vibraphone and tack piano into their work for the first time.

They did it because they wanted to experiment, innovate, and try new things without fear.

This is what McCartney said before releasing “Revolver”:

“We'll lose some fans with “Revolver”, but we'll also gain some. The fans we'll probably lose will be the ones who like the things about us that we never liked anyway.”

They were not afraid of losing their status.
And that made all the difference.

Work quickly and finish things

“Real artists ship” - Steve Jobs

Steve Jobs - who was a massive Beatles fan - was referring to the fact that it is not enough to just have an idea, but you also have to follow through on it and get it out into the world.

Everyone has ideas, but real artists ship them.

Many people start a project but never finish it.
Some people get their projects almost done and then abandoned them.

Very few people are finishers and get their ideas out into the world.

For example, The Beatles recorded their debut studio album, “Please Please Me” in just one day, on February 11, 1963.

They recorded 14 songs, with the last one recorded at 10 pm - a cover of “Twist and Shout” that left John Lennon’s voice sore for a long time after.

This album is not considered among their best (despite being well-received in Britain, where it remained in the Top 10 for over a year), but it was their first.

The album that started it all.

And that exhausting working day instilled in The Beatles an important mantra: work quickly and finish things.

Teamwork makes the dreamwork

Although it may sound clichéd, the four lads of The Beatles were really lifelong friends who exemplified the power of teamwork.

Their collaboration was exceptional.

Paul McCartney and John Lennon formed one of the most prolific songwriting duos in pop music history. Often, they composed songs in isolation and then introduced them to George Harrison and Ringo Starr, who had only a few hours to learn, enhance, and record the pieces together.

For example, Paul McCartney wrote “And I Love Her”, but it was George Harrison who created the iconic guitar intro just minutes after hearing the song for the first time.

This is what Steve Jobs said:

My model of business is The Beatles.
They were four very talented guys who kept each other’s negative tendencies in check. They balanced each other. And the total was greater than the sum of the parts.
And that’s how I see business: great things in business are never done by one person. They are done by a team of people.

The Beatles wore matching suits, shared a similar sense of humor, styled their hair in the same fashion, and moved with a distinct, unified body language.

Mick Jagger of the Rolling Stones even referred to them as “the four-headed monster”.

They were a unique entity, a self-directed group whose decisions were made collectively and based on consensus, not unanimity. Every member felt validated and valued, especially when their shared goal was to “make it big.”

However, maintaining unity became more challenging after their manager, Brian Epstein, passed away in 1967.

John Lennon grew disengaged, George Harrison blossomed as a songwriter and resented the lack of recognition from the others, and Paul McCartney struggled to take the lead while his songwriting partner was busy doing this with Yoko.

Despite these challenges, like any great team, each Beatle had a clear understanding of how their individual talents contributed to the group’s goals.

They supported one another, complemented each other’s strengths, sometimes even introducing outsiders to make the group more productive (e.g. Billy Preston) and together, they broke records and achieved global success that persists 60 years later.

And just like when I shared the magic of The Beatles with my friends as an 8-year-old, if this newsletter inspired even one person to explore their timeless music, it was definitely worth it.