ISSUE 17 /

A BULLETIN FOR
BIG IDEAS AND
BETTER BUSINESS.

We’re all ears

OPINION / CREATIVITY 

Unbossing it:
ideas should have
no hierarchy

💬 Sir John Hegarty 

A new leadership term currently doing the rounds is ‘unbossing’. It’s a method of management where those in charge employ a hands-off approach. Rather than an interventionist, micro-management style of running a company, chiefs offer a wider direction, then trust that teams will get the job done.

While it’s a clumsy idiom, it’s a good idea. An assumption that hurts businesses is that leaders ought to spring forth with all the thinking. When companies are organised in hierarchies, a curious thing happens when people move upwards. As they surge from one promotion to another, professionals become more convinced of their own brilliance. Specifically, they adopt the mindset that a loftier position in the corporate structure means their contributions are keener and more valuable than those who sit below them.

It's hard to run a creative business in this scenario. When biased leaders prioritise their own ideas, fresh ones from other sources aren’t given the airtime they deserve. The best way to encourage a creative culture is to pay less attention to who’s had an idea, and put more emphasis on the calibre of the idea itself. There is no research pointing to smarter ideas emanating from the corner office (as opposed to factory or office floor). Creativity flourishes when everyone is given permission to have a view on how to change things.

Leaders who are focused on their own talents are less effective than those who are able to recognise brilliance in others. Acknowledge the creative flair that exists in overlooked corners of your organisation, then trust them. They’ll boss it for you.

THE AGENDA

1.
John Montagu, the 4th Earl of Sandwich, was playing cards, and needed a bite. He asked a servant to bring him roast beef between two slices of bread. Consider British Sandwich Week a celebration of a meal that keeps you on your game.
20th – 26th May  

2.
Boeing’s Starliner is expected to ferry astronauts to the International Space Station this week. The mission has been beset by delays and spiralling costs. A reminder that feats of creative innovation seldom run to time – or budget.
25th May

3.
UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and South Korean President Suk Yeol are getting together for the AI Seoul Summit. The gathering is intended to devise ways to keep the technology from causing mischief. Global security should be on the agenda, but so too should safeguarding jobs that are vulnerable to automation.
21st– 22nd May

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SEATTLE / TECH

Building
the future?

Microsoft Build gets underway in Seattle today. The tech brand’s developer conference comes hot on the heels of Google and Apple’s big events last week. The theme for the get together is the (slightly ominous sounding) “How will AI shape your future?” It’s unlikely that the event will produce a definitive answer. But it comes against a moment where tech advancement and human creativity appear to be at odds with one another. The outcry following Apple’s ‘crush’ ad demonstrated the level of public anxiety with how digital tools are replacing original thought and imagination. Tech brands are hamstrung between competing in the AI arms race – and showing that they still care a jot for humans.

ART SPECTATOR

LONDON / LITERATURE

Tomes for
tough times

Literature is a bellwether for the prevailing mood. As the International Booker Prize is announced this evening, a glance at the shortlist reminds us of the challenges the world currently faces. But there’s a silver lining (or binding) too. While the texts deal with weighty themes, the award officials have recognised an underlying signal of hopefulness also. “Our shortlist, while implicitly optimistic, engages with current realities of racism and oppression, global violence and ecological disaster,” explains chair of judges Eleanor Wachtel. It’s a reminder that fiction is one of the most effective tools in helping us comprehend the world we live in.

KYOTO / CITIES

Honey,
I shrunk the city 

The aging population of the world has been described as a demographic time-bomb by experts. As younger people have fewer children, the proportion of elders is surging. It is feared that more ailing people will place a yoke on economies. But what about the shape of cities? A study by Kyoto University has found that half of Japan’s are at risk of disappearing in the next 100 years. Professor Tomoya Mori looked at what would happen if (as worst fears were realised) the population dwindled to one third of what it is today. Societies and ideas flourish when people live in close proximity. Such a shrinkage would be dire for creativity.

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