Issue 51: A Bulletin for Big Ideas and Better Business

OPINION/ LEADERSHIP

Leaders need the truth

💬 Sir John Hegarty

The Sopranos is a US crime drama that follows the story of Tony Soprano, a mafia boss from New Jersey. It’s a well-wrought tale, and the real genius lay in its unglamorous portrayal of life in the mob. Among the most haunting moments in the story is a scene where Tony is gathered with his fellow hoodlums. He tells a prosaic joke, and the group erupts with exaggerated laughter. Tony is surrounded by bootlickers. ‘Yes’ men who kowtow to power, and who are devoid of real loyalty.

Business culture tips from gangland kingpins (even fictional ones) are to be avoided. But the scene articulates a problem that creative leaders must come to terms with: the people in your team on might be obscuring the truth from you out of deference. This is a dangerous state for a company to find itself in. Figures at the helm of an organisation aren’t destined to have the most convincing ideas, or the greatest clarity of thought. Yet mass acquiescence allows crap concepts to rain down from corner offices in high up places. The problem is power – and the difficulties we have in speaking the truth to it.

Creative leaders should upend power and cede influence where possible

The answer is to upend that power where possible. And cede influence throughout a company. At BBH, it was vital to have a creative team that was confident and forthright in its point of view. I used to visualise this as a triangle. Traditional management structures decree that power runs from a small number of people at the top, to a majority further down. But flip the diagram upside down, and you have a multitude of people dictating the terms to bosses. We used to reason that it was our teams that would alter the fortunes of clients’ businesses, as well as our own. So power, where possible, should rest with them.

If you’re working in a creative company, I encourage you to distribute power to teams. It will enable you to eschew fatal groupthink. Here’s a sign that power is where it ought to be – you crack a bad joke in a meeting, and nobody laughs.

THE AGENDA

✏️ Pencil it in: your agenda for the coming week

1.
Wikipedia Day marks the date in 2001 that the site went live. The invention is one of the great triumphs of the internet age. It’s free, and has greater precision than most would give it credit for.
15th January

2.
Menswear fashion week kicks off in Milan on Friday. A big brand exodus from this year’s event has given way to new blood this season, with shows from buzzy young labels such as PDF and Saul Nash.
17th January

3.
The Crystal Awards see artists and cultural leaders honoured at the World Economic Forum in Davos. This year’s recipients include Pritzker Prize laureate Riken Yamamoto and fashion designer Diane von Furstenberg.
20th January

4.
TikTok is set to be banned in the US on Sunday, owing to its Beijing-based parent company ByteDance’s alleged ties to the Chinese state (and its refusal to divest). It’s a loss that will be felt by the app’s 150 million American users.
19th January

5.
Oscars nominations will be announced this week, as voted for by The Academy. The organisation has attempted to diversify its 10,000-plus membership after receiving criticism for a spate of all-white acting nominees, a change will hopefully be reflected in this year’s nominations.
19th January

LOS ANGELES / ARCHITECTURE

Eames House and Studio in Pacific Palisades, Los Angeles
Contributor: Hemis / Alamy Stock Photo

The biggest blaze in modern US history continues its devastating path across Los Angeles. Officials worry that this week, high winds will pick up and fan the flames. So far, an area larger than the size of Paris has been ravaged, claiming the lives of twenty-four people, reports the New York Times. Cultural landmarks have also been swept into the wildfire’s path – including the Palisades Theatre and historic home of actor Will Rogers. Other art spaces in the area, including the Charles and Ray Eames’s Case Study House #8 and the Getty Villa, have been spared but remain at risk. In a world ravaged by wars and an increasing intensity of natural disasters, heritage sites around the globe are in peril. Physical things are never as precious as human lives. But monuments of the built environment help us to recall our cultural history. Losing them is a tragedy in and of itself.

ON CREATIVITY /

Contributor: Clo’e Floirat

GREENWICH VILLAGE / FOLK MUSIC

Timothée Chalamet in A Complete Unknown
Contributor: Macall Polay / Searchlight Pictures

This week sees the release of new Bob Dylan biopic A Complete Unknown, with Timothée Chalamet starring as the legendary folk star. So far, reviews have been positive but some critics have misgivings about the film’s creative liberties. While the plot seems a generally accurate account of events, various invented scenes have been bugging fans — such as our protagonist meeting Woody Guthrie at a psychiatric hospital and then singing “Girl From the North Country” with Joan Baez. It’s often hard to pull the fact from the fiction in such films, and they become less authentic when, say, unsavoury moments in a musician’s life are left unaddressed. For instance, it remains to be seen whether Michael Jackon’s controversy-studded legacy will be tackled in a new biopic, which is also set to be released this year. Given that it was produced by the co-executors of the late singer’s estate, John Branca and John McClain, it seems unlikely that it will be anything other than a sanitised puff piece.

LONDON / DANCE

Sadler’s Wells East, East Bank, Stratford, London
Contributor: Sadler’s Wells Trust Limited / sadlerswells.com

Over the past century, London’s Sadler’s Wells has steadily forged its reputation as a world-leading hub for contemporary dance — hosting legendary performances by everyone from Carlos Acosta to Rudolf Nuryev. It’s currently preparing to launch a second location in the city, in a state-of-the-art building by acclaimed Irish architects O’Donnell + Tuomey. The addition represents the latest instalment of East Bank, an ambitious new development in the outer London neighbourhood of Stratford. A cluster of cultural brands will sit at its core; BBC Music Studios is due for completion later this year, followed by the V&A East Museum in early 2026. There’s strong evidence for the power of creative institutions to lead urban regeneration, as shown by the success of the Guggenheim in Bilbao and Downtown Los Angeles’ Broad Museum, and this new development is estimated to boost the local economy by some £1.5 billion. Something that’s bound to put a spring in the community’s step.

We all have our time machines. Some take us back, they’re called memories. Some take us forward, they’re called dreams.

/Jeremy Irons