Hi there and thank you for being here
I am Aakusti Oksanen, a coach, trainer, speaker, performer, percussionist, artist and musician.
I founded Drum Vision oy because I think the world needs a good mood, and I don't mean crazy partying, but a working community spirit, i.e. the courage to pull together and reach for the skies.
Sustainably, interactively and piece by piece, creating a better world.
I offer an exceptional method for the benefit of managers and work communities.
I'm often asked how I found such a piece of gold. I'll tell you this story in a moment.
When I tell people about my work, I hear people say they've never even heard of anything like it.
Benefiting from the social ingenuity of the African rhythm in our working lives is a rare breed.
However, its value is great and very versatile...
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From where the pepper grows
I have acquired my knowledge and experience through a long formula. Literally with sweat beads on my forehead. No other route would have been possible.
The roots of my work come from far away. I have sought them in a foreign culture, a long way from our familiar cultural milieu, which has long been characterised by an individualistic and performance-oriented materialistic worldview.
I've picked them up in a West African bush.
The fortunate coincidence of having had the opportunity to study and work with recognised master drummers has opened up a different perspective on music, rhythm and the world at large.
But the most exciting thing has been to discover that over the last 20 years, the sharpest thinking, research and management development in our own (business) world has "found" the very things I went after "where the pepper grows".
These are some of the terms we use to talk about community and good management:
- Interactivity
- Dialogue
- Enabling leadership
- Strategic thinking
- Shared vision for the future
- Building trust and a connection
- A team of excellence
- A positive mind set
- Resilience
- Managing well-being
- Employee experience
Familiar themes, aren't they?
Now I'll tell you my story. Have a rewarding journey!
There's dancing at the fancy dress party. I studied the transmission of tradition in my thesis "The musician at the party: tradition, the master drummer and the apprentice at a Burkina Faso engagement party", Bobo-Dioulasso 2003.
How did I learn the essence of African rhythm?
In the mid-90s, I fell completely into the African rhythm. The first time I heard real drumming live, I fell in love with it, bought my first djembe and immediately sought an apprenticeship.
I soon left Finland in search of more learning and a better common beat. I found it in Brussels, which from 1989 to 2005 was the centre of world djembe music thanks to the wonderful life's work of my teacher Mamady Keita.
In Brussels I found my global network of international djembe professionals and enthusiasts. It is this global network that you can tap into today.
Through my contacts in Brussels, I also found a real cultural and artistic treasure trove, my next teacher and long-time collaborator Ousmane "Zoumana" Dembele.
With Maestro Zoumana I went straight to the deep end. With his guidance, I learned music and rhythms in a non-linear style, through phrases or drum talk.
Through him, I got a vivid view of what the African rhythm tradition is all about: respect, appreciation of others, cooperation and a common rhythm for all.
At the same time, I learned about the traditional role of griots as the social glue of their community.
Gradually, as my experience grew, I began to piece things together and realised that as craftsmen of words and music, griots pass on from generation to generation an oral tradition in which community values, speeches and music are woven together into a unique whole.
When traditional rhythms speak, they reflect social values.
Zoumana said some time ago: "You, Aakusti, are the one of all my students who understands me best.."
Read on and I'll tell you why this might be true.
My teacher Zoumana and the talking drum. Somewhere on the road in Burkina Faso in 2003
How was a deep understanding of a foreign culture possible?
You may ask how it is possible that I could have achieved such a profound contact with the reality of a foreign culture.
The answer is simple. I've ridden on the shoulders of the great ones.
My best guide in the field has come from the great Finnish cultural researcher Lauri Honko. From his pioneering study of the worldview of an Indian master musician, I picked up the concept of mental text (Lauri Honko, Textualizing the Siri epic, Helsinki 1998).
My research method was simple: I went to a master drummer's house to spend time, study his world and learn all I could about local culture and art.
Our conversations about music, tradition, bands, parties, people and management gave me a unique insight into the mental landscape and everyday reality of the master drummer (I was doing the opposite of another tradition of cultural research, where the researcher observes people and interviews as many informants as possible to create a general picture of the culture).
The advantage of my own research approach is that the boundaries of the subject are not defined by the many coincidences of the researcher's own activities, such as tourism and finance, but by a deep relationship with the tradition.
Zoumana, an award-winning master drummer and respected griot musician, became the main informant for my research and study of African rhythm.
I have been the apprentice of an African master drummer like any other young local musician. But my case is special because of the multi-faceted collaboration.
When we got to know each other and understood the many possibilities of our cooperation in January 2003, we took over the work...
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.
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Between 2003 and 2015, I studied rhythm heritage with Zoumana, did field research, a documentary film, practiced drumming with a sweaty brow and performed with Zoumana's award-winning band Landaya.
We also planted trees in a nearby village, organised international camps, travelled together in Burkina Faso, started a drum import and maintenance business in Finland, taught several groups, formed a joint band...
The multi-level connection with the master drummer has allowed the subject to be experienced up close - from within the local perspective and culture.
Above all, I got to see first-hand how a master drummer works with his students, his colleagues and his community.
(In my LinkedIn profile, I say I have experience of working in demanding environments. This is indeed the case. Burkina Faso is one of the materially poorest countries in the world, so you can probably imagine...
(In my Message in a Bottle -I will tell you more about this too)
We also toured Finland teaching and running masterclasses. When we started to visit Estonia regularly, the African rhythm scene in Tallinn got a much needed boost.
We also did a lot of training "at home" with my teacher Zoumana. Bobo-Dioulasso 2009.
Together with Zoumana and the villagers, we planted trees in a nearby village. Wolonkoto 2013.
You'll find Message in a Bottle from me here.
Does not oblige you to do anything. You can get out whenever you want.
The challenge of reconciling worlds
However, not everything was as easy and comfortable as you might imagine.
Of course, I had experienced the difference between our cultures strongly when travelling back and forth, and my own adaptation to the alternating traditional African atmosphere and the hectic pace of Helsinki was always challenging.
When I started bringing Zoumana to Finland to teach and perform in 2006, I found myself in a new position.
I had to combine study, research and responsibility in a way I had not anticipated. All the demands, arrangements and time pressures we faced while working with Zoumana (we had to make a profit to finance our activities) slowly began to take their toll.
It is one thing to experience, learn about and live the African way of life with the locals on the ground, but it is another to integrate it into our own culture as the manager of a master drummer.
During that time, I sometimes felt like I was in a high altitude camp when my teacher visited Finland. I recovered a month from Zoumana's visit of the same length. This happened several times a year.
Finally, after about a decade of Zoumana's visits to Finland, I had to admit that I wanted to focus on interesting things here at home too.
I wanted to start applying everything I learned to interesting projects. It has turned out to be one of the best decisions of my life.
However, our work with Zoumana will continue, albeit in a new format. For our part, we have brought and made possible a great pool of griot musicians in Finland.
My partners from Africa living in Finland show by their own example how to work sustainably. They know how to build an atmosphere of trust that resonates in many ways. Each of them has shown their skills, their reliability and their endless entrepreneurial spirit. These guys never run out of ideas! Best of all, my friends are great company.
You can challenge on stage. Zoumana Dembele & Mande Maja Band Semifinal, Helsinki 2014
The birth of the coaching method
From 2002 to 2016, I travelled back and forth between Burkina Faso, Belgium and Finland. I was often amazed at the ways of my own culture.
In Africa, I got used to the immediate sociality and togetherness in everyday tasks.
At some point over the years, I had the desire to build on my experience to develop a tool that would would help us to share and develop our skills in our individual-centred culture.
To come together better.
A strong foundation for my current work as a coach was built in 2014-2022 when we started to take these issues further in collaboration with Mariann Nagatsu, a leadership development expert and learning designer. During those years we developed and delivered Talking Drum coaching.
Today, my reasons for continuing and developing my method are simple:
The African rhythm has a profound message for us Westerners. I want to share the wonderful story I have experienced of the sense of community that the African tradition offers us.
I want you to achieve important things with your community.
Because I firmly believe that by working together to achieve the things you want, your work community will become more valuable.
It will also increase your own value and the meaningfulness and significance of your work.
At its core, it is all about appreciation, sustainability and permissive creativity. If you value yourself, you can value your environment.
Thus, the message I learned from the West African griots is:
Together we are more.
Read more about the article Match made in heaven: African rhythm and solution-focused coaching, which we wrote with long-time leadership developer Marika Tammeaid.
Working together makes for the best results. The blacksmiths forge hot iron. Village of Ten, Burkina Faso 2003
What has Africa taught me?
I have always been interested in learning new things. I'm always hungry for new ideas - and I want to get to test them as soon as possible.
The African polyrhythm has taught me that different and seemingly contradictory things can coexist.
In particular, how to deal with changing circumstances.
I am constantly discovering things that African tradition has taught me that are applicable to human interaction:
As a coach, I have learned to apply e.g:
- Managing in an intense situation
- Showing direction
- Interaction and influencing skills
- Presence and responsiveness
- Active listening
- Monitoring the situation
- Working together
- Finding a common rhythm
- The philosophy of a good accompaniment
- Building a new one from scratch
As an artist and cultural researcher, I use these a lot:
- Creating a space
- Drum talk
- Circularity and meaningful encounter
- Organic concept of time
- Connecting and growing together (and separately)
- The importance of ritual for change
- The importance of encouragement
- Rhythmic tension and groove
- Polyrhythm
- Micropolyrhythmics
Almost any of these could also be in another category, and vice versa.
I think these are different sides of the same coin, as they all belong to the core of the African rhythmic tradition that builds social connection.
The best thing is that these themes (and many others) are now experientially learnable for the first time.
My mission from the beginning has been to find the healthy essence of African rhythm and share it for the benefit of all.
I assume that's why you're reading this now.
I am very grateful for your interest and hope to convey something essential about the dynamics of African rhythm and - above all - how it can be used on a larger scale.
That's why it's so great to hear such comments about my coaching approach:
"Aakusti is swinging! A coach who builds confidence and courage."
MARKUS RAIVIO, MANAGING DIRECTOR, KUKUNORI
"You're an amazing guy. A really skilled trainer who has the magic to get people involved."
PÄIVI PALSIO, PARTICIPANT, PAUKEPIIRI INSTRUCTOR TRAINING, HÄMEEN KESÄYLIOPISTO
African rhythm is for me a source of structural and social development, which will flow richly as long as people seek new energy and connection with each other.
Thank you for reading this far. It's amazing that you're here.
The sweat is pouring, the smile is on your face and the bara drums are booming. Musicians at work in Bobo-Dioulasso, Burkina Faso 2014
In my coaching you will experience the power of my method for yourself.
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Insights from the journey, tips for leadership and teamwork and much more in my Message in a Bottle.
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