CEOs in the News

Lights, Camera, Action: What CEOs can Learn from the World of Film

Consider Amy Whitaker, who was partly inspired by Catmall’s approach to making blockbuster films when she wrote her new book, Art Thinking, which offers advice to leaders attempting to foster creativity.

Whitaker has a fairly unique background, melding together a Masters in Business Administration with a Masters in Fine Art. Her book attempts to combine ideas from both worlds to help CEOs cope with the constant risk of market disruption.

“Creativity has a reputation as loose, open-ended, and kind of head in the clouds,” Whitaker told the Yale School of Management in an interview. “But it’s possible to be really rigorous about the creative process.”

“CEOs must be aware that the creative process can’t always be efficient in a business sense. There needs to be room for failure.”

Three role-players
She singles out the Pixar president’s critical “colleague-friend” as one of three role-players that can help tease out ideas during creative sessions with staff.

“They offer candor, they can talk about details of the craft, and there’s a mutual respect, even if it’s not necessarily a friendship as it’s traditionally construed,” she said.

Another role necessary in the creative process is that of the guide: someone who can bring out the team’s talents and ideas, but isn’t a guru trying to weld people to their own viewpoint. “Being a guide is actually extremely hard. It takes a lot of invisible work,” she said.

Finally, like in films, there needs to be a producer. This is the person who determines whether all the great ideas will be economically viable out in the real world.

More broadly, however, Whitaker argues that CEOs must be aware that the creative process can’t always be efficient in a business sense. There needs to be room for failure.

To mitigate that risk, she recommends CEOs take a leaf out of the investment management industry’s book. Fund managers often allocate a small part of their portfolios, say 10%, to higher-risk alternative products. Business leaders could also take this portfolio approach, by allocating a set proportion of time and resources strictly to creative work.

And they’ll need to be patient. Whitaker points out that Sara Blakely, for example, had to keep her job selling fax machines for a year after she founded successful intimate apparel company Spanx.


Ross Kelly

Ross Kelly is a London-based business journalist. He has been a staff correspondent or editor at The Wall Street Journal, Yahoo Finance and the Australian Associated Press.

Share
Published by
Ross Kelly

Recent Posts

Rachel Barger, Cisco’s Senior Vice President of the Americas, Encourages Us to Always Keep an Open Door

In this edition of our Corporate Competitor Podcast, leadership speaker and storytelling expert Don Yaeger…

2 days ago

Boards May Need To Reevaluate Their Idea Of Acceptable Risk

Boards are being held to a higher standard regarding risk. A more thorough strategy may…

6 days ago

CEOs Can Become Afflicted With ‘Boreout’ Too

If you're experiencing burnout not because you're overworked, but because you're underinspired, it might be…

6 days ago

Why CIOs Should Report Directly To The CEO

When companies elevate the role, they reap significant benefits. Here are five critical ways it…

7 days ago

New-Era Koppers Keeps Staying Ahead Of The Game

CEO Ball has led early decoupling from China and diversification that ties into today’s infrastructure…

7 days ago

Cyberattacks: Not If, But When

You can’t be bulletproof, but you can be armed for battle.

1 week ago