Issue 54: A Bulletin for Big Ideas and Better Business

OPINION/ CREATIVITY

What works best: Chaos or process?

💬 Sir John Hegarty

There are two ways to run a creative organisation – through process or chaos. Option one involves the performing of actions in an orderly, logical and cogent manner. The process-led company considers scenarios ahead of time, and composes systems to get the most out of staff, assets or equipment. It’s focused on predictable outcomes. The second option is about spontaneity, imagination and speed. Outcomes are far from predictable, but this sort of structure (where there is no structure) is capable of producing magic from time-to-time.

The golden mean allows for chaos when feats of imagination are required, and process, when ideas must be reined in

The greatest examples of these extremes? The Beatles and The Rolling Stones. And specifically, two records these bands made respectively. When John, Paul, George and Ringo stepped into the studio to create Let It Be, their sessions were about process. That meant regular hours, structured rehearsal time, and a framework that helped prevent artistic tension from escalating into spats. Meanwhile, The Stones’ recording session for Exile on Main St. was about chaos. It involved late night sessions, missing band members and hanging out with beat-era junkie-cum-novelist William S. Burroughs.

In this instance, both yielded triumphant creative work. But either too much chaos (and too little process), or too much process (and not enough chaos), can be risky. The first scenario results in anarchy. And the second sentences you to boredom. I’m never one to sit on the fence, but in this debate, I think there is a third way. One where organsiations create a golden mean that allows for chaos when feats of great imagination are required, and process, when wild ideas must be reined in. The most successful leaders know that licensed disorder can be a route to innovation. There’s a broader idea here too. When there are two options available, a chaotic person will always create a third.

THE AGENDA

🗓️ Diarise this: your agenda for the coming week

1.
Anticipation is building in the German capital. This week the full programme for the 75th annual Berlin International Film Festival – or Berlinale – will be announced. Organisers will call ‘action!’ for the festival itself on the 13th of this month.
4th February

2.
The annual Sapporo Snow Festival in Japan began in 1950, when local students built six ice sculptures in Odori Park. Today, it gets around two million visitors. That’s the virtue of snow and steady growth.
4th – 11th February

3.
Nothing has inspired great art more than nature. This week the UK public will cast their votes on who gets to become Wildlife Photographer of the Year, in the People’s Choice Award.
5th February

4.
Art on Ice is a Swiss figure skating gala. This week it will triple axel its way into Zurich. The theme this year is mental strength – a trait these athletes need in vast amounts.
6th February

5.
Manchester has a reputation for culture and creativity. The Made in Manchester Awards will recognise the city’s finest this week. Eighteen categories will laud those who have made contributions to innovation and entrepreneurship here. We’re simply mad for it.
6th February

CALIFORNIA / ENTERTAINMENT

Fresh ideas? Examples of new and upcoming creative from Disney
Sources: disney.com

Missing mouse magic

The Walt Disney Company is set to announce its earnings for the first quarter of 2025 this week. Analysts are upbeat about the figures – revenue is expected to have risen by almost 5% on last year, to $24.63 billion. And Investopedia reports that the entertainment giant’s streaming divisions (Hulu, Disney+ and ESPN+) became profitable earlier than anticipated in 2024. While this is buoying for anyone looking at the bottom line, others worry that the company’s capacity to produce new ideas is waning. Bob Iger became CEO of the company for a second time last year and promised to restore Disney’s creative prowess, but has also pursued a strategy that involves deep cuts to the company’s content budget. This might account for the plethora of remakes and sequels currently in the works. Of the next twenty Disney productions slated for production, seventeen are additions to existing franchises (Ice Age 6, anyone?). Executives should remember: investment in fresh ideas is the secret to long term growth.

ON CREATIVITY /

Contributor: Sir John Hegarty

PARIS / TECH

AI Action Summit: ‘Promoting AI usage that enhances productivity’
Source: elysee.fr

Big government vs big tech

Inventions usually have unintended consequences. One potential in the near future is the eradication of our entire species by an artificial super-intelligence. Professor Geoffrey Hinton, who is often referred to as the ‘godfather of AI’, puts the likelihood of this at 10% – 20% within the next three decades. It’s cheery stuff, but at least French President Emmanuel Macron appears to be paying attention. This week the government there will host its AI Action Summit in Paris, a get-together with the intention to “deliver the critical public goods needed to align AI with the public interest.” This brief hits the mark. In recent decades, big tech has instigated products that have transformed society, while government policy has lagged behind. In an era where companies are driving at artificial general intelligence (AGI), legislation must keep pace – and ensure that any unintended consequences are not of the civilisation-ending kind.

CALIFORNIA / BOOKS

Susceptible to porch-piracy: Launch campaign includes a living room read-along
Source: books.apple.com

The You You Are

Severance is a disquieting satire on Apple TV. Workers at Lumon Industries, a cult-like mega-corporation, undergo brain surgery – severance – to separate their work and personal lives. When they enter the office, they have no memory of anything outside. They have no knowledge of their work when they exit the company headquarters, either. A lighter moment in the story includes bumbling supporting character, Dr. Ricken Lazlo Hale who has penned an inkhornish philosophy book called The You You Are. A copy makes its way into the office, and becomes a venerated text for the severed characters. Now Apple Books has digitally released eight chapters of the fictional title. Gems include: “they cannot crucify you if your hand is in a fist” and “a society with festering workers cannot flourish, just as a man with rotting toes cannot skip.” Indeed.