I was chatting with an orchestra about ways they could attract new audiences and become more accessible. The orchestra’s concert dress was very traditional, full white tie and tails for the men, so I suggested that like other orchestras they should switch to something just as smart but less elitist and outdated.
“Oh, we actually thought about doing that, so we did a survey of our audience to ask them what we should do. They told us they like the tails, so we didn’t change”.
Asking the audience might seem like the logical thing to do in a situation like this. When it comes to making decisions, most orchestras ask their audience for feedback. Although this comes with the best of intentions, they’re actually looking for answers in the wrong places… and that’s because of “survivorship bias”.
