Rediscover Your Creative Genius
Friday February 28, 2014 | Filed under:
What’s the single most important thing CEOs need to successfully navigate in today’s increasingly complex world? If you guessed management discipline, integrity or even vision, you’d be wrong. According to a major IBM survey of top CEOS from throughout the world, the answer is creativity.
To illustrate this unusual business concept, live and on stage, we’re bringing the “Warhol of Wall Street” to the ASI Show in Long Beach during the very first ASI keynote to feature paint as a catalyst for brainstorming.
Our speaker, Erik Wahl, is a former suit who now believes creativity is the key to unlocking success. Yeah, I know what you’re probably thinking: “What can a graffiti artist teach me about running my business?” Although I have a deep appreciation for art, about the only time I express myself in a creative fashion is in my garden or my writing. But when I read the results of the IBM study about creativity, I was convinced Wahl is on to something.
The survey found that less than half of global CEOs believe their enterprises are adequately prepared to handle a highly volatile, increasingly complex business environment. The best way to overcome massive shifts in everything from new government regulations, growing volumes of data and rapidly evolving customer preferences? Install “creativity” throughout an organization.
Think about the last time you put the best minds in your company together in a room and allowed them to brainstorm. Remember how many cool new ideas they came up with? Unfortunately, with business moving at the speed of light, these days we rarely have the time for much deep thinking – or creativity.
But in his free keynote on Thursday, March 27, 9:30-10:15 a.m., Wahl promises to help us all tap into our inner inventiveness, which is another way of describing how the best entrepreneurs think. Afterward, he’ll give away the paintings he’ll create during the “Erik Wahl Experience” to ASI show-goers on the show floor – and he’ll also meet a handful of people at a ticketed meet-and-greet (tickets still available).
For more info, click here to watch Wahl’s video, or read a Forbes magazine column about what makes his ideas so special. He’s given a prestigious TED Talk and his keynotes have earned standing ovations before such organizations as AT&T, Disney, London School of Business, Microsoft, FedEx, Exxon Mobil and Ernst & Young.
Wahl’s keynote is but one highlight of our California show, taking place Tuesday, March 25 to Thursday, March 27. We’re kicking things off in a big way with the Long Beach Invitational the Monday before the show starts. If you’re a golfer, don’t miss this private outing at the Trump National Golf Club. Tickets are still available for an event that earned rave reviews last year.
We’ve got a lot of action planned around the Long Beach show. In addition, ASI’s hosted buyer event, fASIilitate, is taking place March 24-25 at the Hyatt Regency Long Beach.
In the meantime, think about the last time you did anything creative (it’s ok if it dates to the third grade). Let me know by posting a comment or e-mailing me here. I’m also on Twitter and LinkedIn.