As the Americas Finance Competency Leader for Ernst & Young, Tom Cucuzza has managed countless tight deadlines, made all the more difficult by the logistical challenges of team members scattered around the country. And he recently leaned on all of that experience to build an award-winning band called "American PI," comprised of E&Y partners and senior managers from the firm's performance improvement practice.The band recently won Fortune magazine's Battle of the Corporate Bands and performed at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland. Consulting caught up with Cucuzza to discuss the band's success… and playing at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
Consulting: When you're staffing an engagement, there are set processes to identify the best people available with the right skill sets. How did you staff
the band?
Cucuzza: While we have 135,000 people throughout our firm—I did not seek out the elite musicians from that sample. I started with an email looking for people with similar musical interests. Of our 12-member band, half had played in bands in high school or college, but only one or two had played in a band in their adult life. Others were literally church singers or played piano as a kid. This was the first time that we had performed at this level.
Consulting: What was the catalyst to forming the band?
Cucuzza: In January, I was asked to put a band together for an internal Performance Improvement meeting we were having in Orlando for the practice's 700 partners and senior managers. The event had a music theme and the tagline was 'advisory in concert'. We started with an orchestra conductor, who talked about the importance of a team working together, and we ended the event. The goal was for us to be a living reminder of that message.
Consulting: How did you go from that internal event to winning the annual Battle of the Corporate Bands at the
Rock and Roll Hall of Fame?
Cucuzza: The E&Y performance went so well that we started looking for other venues and someone mentioned the Hall of Fame competition. We met over a weekend and put together a demo recording. We then made the top 32, competed again to make the top 18 regional finals, competed against five other bands in San Francisco and eventually earned a spot to perform at the Hall of Fame show.
Consulting: How did you manage to rehearse given that you're based all over the country and are on the road often with your day job?
Cucuzza: That was a challenge—we couldn't rehearse together much. We'd have weekly conference calls to discuss what songs everyone would practice. And to make it even more difficult, we arranged all of our own music; we were writing parts for people who didn't play together. We finally got together four days before the Hall of Fame show.
Consulting: Did your experience managing virtual teams help you in this effort?
Cucuzza: Absolutely. When we came together for the first time, it was very much like putting a project team together. Each of us had individual sill sets and we very quickly got down to business. It felt very similar to what we do on projects. Over the course of the competition some of the other consulting skills came into play. For example, we built very detailed schedules for how the rehearsal week would go. Those planning skills were crucial. And as members of the band, we were as tightly connected as we would be on an engagement. It's a complete team effort.
Consulting: What's next for American PI?
Cucuzza: As winners of the 'Best Corporate Band in America', we've been asked to play at the next induction ceremony in April—where the nominees are: Guns 'N Roses, Heart, Donna Summer, The Beastie Boys, The Cure and The Red Hot Chili Peppers.
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