The asylum is under new management

I’ve seen One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest four times, and it’s clear the lunatics should run the asylum. They’re clever, inventive and adventurous - qualities now very much in demand, if IBM’s recent worldwide survey of 1,500 CEOs is any indication. These leaders are saying more than rigour, management discipline, integrity or even vision, creativity is what’s needed to navigate the volatile and increasingly complex global business environment.

In other words, loony creative types are now invited to sit at the grown-ups’ table. 

It wasn’t always so. In 1998 I went to NYC looking for a job. One night I was having dinner next to a table of three businessmen, the kind Tom Wolfe would call ‘Masters of the Universe’. They were talking about their kids at college. One guy had a son doing economics. Another had a daughter off to do medicine. The third was squirming as he lamented his son, for reasons he could not grasp, was going to study design. His pals scoffed: “What good is that going to be?”.

The irony was clearly lost on them that The Paramount Hotel, in which they were sitting, was a monument to the design talent of Philippe Starck. Every stick of furniture, table setting, light fitting, carpet, curtain and cushion was a product of Starck’s creative vision. A vision that had helped put Ian Schrager, the hotel’s owner, former discotheque operator and convicted felon, in a league above other top hotel brands 

Back to the table we find ourselves invited to today. Business challenges are more profound than ever: 1,500 CEOs confirm courage, vision and out-of-the-box thinking can unlock critical issues like innovation, and engaging with people in a disconnected world. So we’d better prove we’re up to the challenge.Lunatics, it’s over to you.

This article was originally published in the October 2010 issue of Campaign Asia-Pacific.