Fearless - The Art of Creative Leadership with Charles Day

Jill Cress is the Chief Marketing and Experience Officer for H&R Block. She also serves on the board of the AdCouncil, and she's been recognized on Forbes' list of the World's 50 Most Influential CMOs. Before H&R Block, Jill spent 20 years at MasterCard. Now, a leader who spends most of their professional life working in financial institutions could easily build their success around the study of data, but the foundations of Jill's leadership are based on the most valuable investments of all. Delivering results has always been table stakes when you're stepping into a leadership position, and money will and should sit squarely on that table as one essential definition of success. But enduring financial success is a consequence of your willingness to take your eyes off the financial prize and fix them squarely on your most valuable assets: The people that work for you. And what matters to them are two things. First, that they matter. And second, that what they're doing makes a difference. During our conversation, I talked to Jill about the creativity diagnostic tool that we've developed. It measures when leaders are creating the conditions that maximize the creativity of their people. One of the critical insights that shows up time and time again is that the very best leaders are fully invested in creating a culture that ensures that everyone feels seen and heard and respected. Now, this investment carries personal risk, because it can make you as the leader feel vulnerable, and it is time consuming. But the ROI is through the roof. So what are you investing in?

When do you stop and take a breath? If you've listened to Luther Vandross or Tina Turner, or Sting, or Chaka Khan, or Teddy Pendergrass, or Roberta Flack, then you've heard Lisa Fischer sing. If you went to a Rolling Stones concert between 1989 and 2015, you saw Lisa as the band's lead female singer join Mick Jagger on stage. If you've seen her in person, as I've been fortunate to have done so twice, or if you've seen her on YouTube, take over the stage from Tina Turner during It's Only Rock and Roll, or the clips of her on stage with Mick Jagger, you already understand the extraordinary talent that she is linked to. Both of those are in the show notes. And if you've watched 20 Feet from Stardom, then you already know that Lisa is one of the greatest background singers that the world has ever heard. For most of us, those 20 feet might as well be the length of a trip to Mars. For Lisa, who won a Grammy in 1991 and then decided not to take center stage, those 20 feet were a choice. A choice that brings her joy. Lisa is a rare spirit who's had enormous influence and impact. If you see her perform, you're left with a belief that she has a direct connection with your soul. In those moments, she is alive in ways that stretch our understanding of what the word means. Leadership at its heart is the ability to unlock the potential of others, to make them feel more connected. The very best leaders do that by helping us to understand ourselves better, by helping us feel what we had never felt before. Lisa is proof that you don't have to stand center stage to do that. You just have to be honest with yourself about where you get your energy from, and then let that energy flow.

Do you welcome the sounds of silence? Shu Hung is the Global Chief Creative Officer of AKQA. In a complicated world, Shu has learned that knowing who you are is the foundation on which leadership success is built. Please come as you are. There is such profound truth in that request, and such enormous challenge. We spend so much of our lives wondering if we measure up, if we're doing things the right way, if we have approval from the right people. And the energy that's required in all of that self doubt is not just exhausting, but it denies us access to the instincts, the consciousness, the confidence that creativity thrives on. Life is a journey that at the end will only be judged by the one person that matters, you. And the sooner we discover who we are, the sooner we can discover what we're capable of. Please come as you are. Words to live by.

What should we expect from you? Nicole Parlapiano is the Chief Marketing Officer at Tubi. When she arrived two and a half years ago, Tubi was an eight year old business that had no brand recognition. Today, with the help of their ad agency, Mischief, the streaming service has 97 million active monthly users, up from 20 million in 2019. Leading a challenger brand works best when you're willing to move fast and break things. And if you want the people that work for you to act with the same confidence, then they have to know who you are. Reaching a senior leadership position takes a wide range of skills and talent. It requires managing down and up, reacting and adapting. And in the process, we learn a lot about ourselves and when we're at our best. That's information that will be helpful to others. And yet, for many reasons, I think, most leaders don't share it. So, take a moment, and write down three things that you expect of the people that work for you. Then write down three things that they can expect from you. Tomorrow morning, share them. You'll be surprised, I think, at the confidence it gives them, and you.

Sir Andrew Strauss is the former Captain of the England cricket team which he led to become the number one team in the world for the first time in England's history. He then became England's Director of Cricket and he's recognized as the architect of the country's first ever one day World Cup victory. In 2019, he was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II for his services to charity, sport, and cricket. Being captain of a cricket team requires the same skills needed to run a business. Amplified. Managing world class talent while your work is being broadcast, and your success and failures, both personal and collective, are being recorded, analyzed and critiqued in real time, requires a range of rare skills and temperament. Unlocking the potential of others while taking responsibility for the outcome is at the heart of the attributes required for the job. Andrew and I met in London a few days ago, and as you'll hear, our conversation covered a lot of ground, both professional and the deeply personal. From his achievements to the loss of his wife. By the time Andrew Strauss turned 33, he'd achieved what every cricket fan in England grows up dreaming of. Captaining your country to victory in Australia. In my lifetime, it has only happened three times. Seven years later, he lost his wife to cancer. Most of us do not achieve so much so young. Nor lose so much so early. For Andrew, the combination has encouraged him to ask questions of himself earlier in his life than most people do. Unlocking creativity in others means building trust with those around us. They want to know who we are and what matters to us. Fulfilling our own potential means answering those same questions. And in my experience, that happens when we ask ourselves this. What else do I want to know about myself? Most leaders strive for success relentlessly, head down, and only later do we take stock of the choices we've made. How will you judge if you've lived a good life or not? What else do you want to know about yourself?

Who do you trust? Jim Stengel is the former CMO of P&G, and he's now a hugely successful author, speaker, coach, consultant, and advisor. He's also the host of the brilliant CMO Podcast. In our conversation, Jim and I started to lay the framework for how we think that leadership is going to have to evolve as the confidence in most institutions, including government, continues to deteriorate. Being creative on demand is perhaps one of the hardest things that we ask any human being to do. Because every act of creativity requires an emotional leap by its creator. That's why the best creative thinking usually comes when you have confidence in yourself and trust in the environment around you. Now, it's impossible for any of us to predict with any certainty what the next four years are going to look like. What's reasonable to expect is that they will not be “normal.” So in these circumstances, it's very likely that some of the people around you are going to feel a lot less safe than they have before. As leaders, creating an environment that people can trust, regardless of what's going on in the world, will be more critical than ever before. And that starts with giving people reasons to trust you. Establishing trust is a simple equation. Say what you mean, then do what you say, and do it consistently. So what do you stand for? And what will you stand for when the chips are down, and the pressure is on? Why should people trust you? Get that right, and I promise you, you'll change your corner of the world for everyone around you.

Welcome to the first episode of 2025. A year that promises to be unlike any other on so many levels. This episode is designed as a provocation, an inspiration, and a roadmap for the leaders of businesses, for whom unlocking creative thinking is critical. Over the last four weeks, I've talked to 12 exceptional leaders from a diverse set of experiences and perspectives. I've asked them how the best leaders will lead in 2025. From those conversations, I've identified the three leadership practices that will be critical to leaders of creative businesses this year.

What does your company reject? Karl Lieberman is the Global Chief Creative Officer of Wieden + Kennedy. Wieden is a reference point among creative companies in many industries. For almost 45 years, they'd been impacting culture and driving business for their clients by unlocking the creativity of their people. . Creating the kind of environment in which people feel safe to put all their ideas on the table is the easiest thing to aspire to. And the hardest thing to do, in my experience. It means giving people a voice. It means being open, genuinely open to another way of looking at the world. And to the possibility that being criticized is much more desirable than being ignored. These criteria are at best challenging for most leaders to accept. Control and predict are much more natural. But predictability and conformity are creative kryptonite. To unlock creativity and unleash its power to maximum effect, you have to be willing to break the norms, to encourage the irrational and sometimes even the absurd. You have to reject predictability for possibility. And when you're yelled at, because no one has ever done it like that before, you have to be willing to shrug. You'll hear all that and more in my conversation with Karl.

What are you willing to compromise? Lina Polimeni is the Chief Corporate Brand Officer at Eli Lilly and Company. This is a business whose work is often the difference between life and death, where they are trying to cure cancer, and where the outcome is very personal. In the middle of that reality, your own leadership journey is fueled by a lot of food for thought. No one can lead effectively without compromise.  But what we choose to compromise has a huge part to play in whether we're successful. If what we end up sacrificing is a pathway to discovering that we are already enough… If what we end up sacrificing is a road to realizing that the best version of who we are can help others become the best version of themselves… If that is what we are compromising, then the cost of that will be the realization that we behaved as others wanted us to. And when they are a part of our past, remembered or forgotten, what we will be left with is a journey that is not the one we started out on. A destination that is not where we wanted to go. And a dream that is always around the corner. We can be what others want, or we can be who we want to be. We always have that choice. 

Edited highlights of our full length conversation. What are you willing to compromise? Lina Polimeni is the Chief Corporate Brand Officer at Eli Lilly and Company. This is a business whose work is often the difference between life and death, where they are trying to cure cancer, and where the outcome is very personal. In the middle of that reality, your own leadership journey is fueled by a lot of food for thought. No one can lead effectively without compromise.  But what we choose to compromise has a huge part to play in whether we're successful. If what we end up sacrificing is a pathway to discovering that we are already enough… If what we end up sacrificing is a road to realizing that the best version of who we are can help others become the best version of themselves… If that is what we are compromising, then the cost of that will be the realization that we behaved as others wanted us to. And when they are a part of our past, remembered or forgotten, what we will be left with is a journey that is not the one we started out on. A destination that is not where we wanted to go. And a dream that is always around the corner. We can be what others want, or we can be who we want to be. We always have that choice. 

Are you centered? Kerry Sulkowicz is the Past-President of the American Psychoanalytic Association, and the Founder and Managing Principal of Boswell Group. They provide leadership advice to boards and CEOs. Kerry and I have been friends for a long time, and he has taught me much about the psychodynamic aspects of leadership. Whenever we talk, his advice strikes me as clear and straightforward, and always very human. Being centered doesn't happen through accident, chance, or hope. It happens by intent.  And that intent is driven by recognizing two obvious truths.  Leadership is lonely. And leadership is stressful. Much, much more so than many are willing to admit publicly. The old-world view is that leadership demands that you project strength, certainty, invincibility. Even in the face of threats that can feel like they are existential - because these days, for many businesses, they might be. If some days that means you feel like you're a leader in a fight for survival, well, that's not surprising. Because that's exactly how your brain responds to that set of circumstances.  And under that kind of stress, the part of your brain that's responsible for executive function, for risk assessment, and problem-solving, and for planning, suddenly starts to develop tunnel vision. And at the same time, our amygdala kicks in and suddenly survival gets added to the emotional maelstrom, and then finally comes the impulse to hurry up and do something. Anything.  Being centered is the shelter in that storm. It's held up by a strong sense of self, by awareness and honesty about how you respond under stress, and it's helped by having a clear and multi-faceted definition of success.  Those foundations, when combined with a willingness to take a little time to turn down the short term noise, and dilute the adrenaline fueled feelings of urgency, will give you the ability to lean on yourself and think things through. Leadership is sometimes about taking action and it is sometimes not. But it is always about being centered. So, how well do you know yourself? 

Edited highlights of our full length conversation. Are you centered? Kerry Sulkowicz is the Past-President of the American Psychoanalytic Association, and the Founder and Managing Principal of Boswell Group. They provide leadership advice to boards and CEOs. Kerry and I have been friends for a long time, and he has taught me much about the psychodynamic aspects of leadership. Whenever we talk, his advice strikes me as clear and straightforward, and always very human. Being centered doesn't happen through accident, chance, or hope. It happens by intent.  And that intent is driven by recognizing two obvious truths.  Leadership is lonely. And leadership is stressful. Much, much more so than many are willing to admit publicly. The old-world view is that leadership demands that you project strength, certainty, invincibility. Even in the face of threats that can feel like they are existential - because these days, for many businesses, they might be. If some days that means you feel like you're a leader in a fight for survival, well, that's not surprising. Because that's exactly how your brain responds to that set of circumstances.  And under that kind of stress, the part of your brain that's responsible for executive function, for risk assessment, and problem-solving, and for planning, suddenly starts to develop tunnel vision. And at the same time, our amygdala kicks in and suddenly survival gets added to the emotional maelstrom, and then finally comes the impulse to hurry up and do something. Anything.  Being centered is the shelter in that storm. It's held up by a strong sense of self, by awareness and honesty about how you respond under stress, and it's helped by having a clear and multi-faceted definition of success.  Those foundations, when combined with a willingness to take a little time to turn down the short term noise, and dilute the adrenaline fueled feelings of urgency, will give you the ability to lean on yourself and think things through. Leadership is sometimes about taking action and it is sometimes not. But it is always about being centered. So, how well do you know yourself? 

What is your pain for?  Taban Shoresh is the Founder of The Lotus Flower, a UK-based charity that supports women and girls that have been displaced by conflict, and helps them to build sustainable futures. Since 2016, the charity's projects have impacted more than 60,000 women, girls, and community members.  Every now and then, you meet someone whose story stops you in your tracks. Taban's story starts with her being arrested in Iraq at the age of four. Three weeks later, she's ordered onto a bus that will take her to the place where she and other members of her family will be buried alive. At the end of 2021, before Russia invaded the Ukraine or the war in Gaza, the number of forcibly displaced people worldwide stood at 89.3 million. There were 27.1 million refugees globally, half of whom were aged under 18, which makes Taban's story one of millions and completely unique.  She has experienced staggering trauma, she has known realities that I'm sure I would not have survived, and she has taken all of that pain and turned it into creative leadership of the most consequential kind. As you'll hear, for reasons both global and personal, she's in a hurry.  All of us have suffered pain. What we use it for is a question that will stay with me for a long time after this conversation. 

Edited highlights of our full length conversation. What is your pain for?  Taban Shoresh is the Founder of The Lotus Flower, a UK-based charity that supports women and girls that have been displaced by conflict, and helps them to build sustainable futures. Since 2016, the charity's projects have impacted more than 60,000 women, girls, and community members.  Every now and then, you meet someone whose story stops you in your tracks. Taban's story starts with her being arrested in Iraq at the age of four. Three weeks later, she's ordered onto a bus that will take her to the place where she and other members of her family will be buried alive. At the end of 2021, before Russia invaded the Ukraine or the war in Gaza, the number of forcibly displaced people worldwide stood at 89.3 million. There were 27.1 million refugees globally, half of whom were aged under 18, which makes Taban's story one of millions and completely unique.  She has experienced staggering trauma, she has known realities that I'm sure I would not have survived, and she has taken all of that pain and turned it into creative leadership of the most consequential kind. As you'll hear, for reasons both global and personal, she's in a hurry.  All of us have suffered pain. What we use it for is a question that will stay with me for a long time after this conversation. 

Is it good? Heather Freeland is the Chief Brand Officer at Adobe, a business that, as Heather describes, is undergoing significant change to prepare itself for the future to come, and the one that is already here. In a company long known for providing powerful tools to creative people, the advent of Generative AI is both a threat and an opportunity. How human beings maintain our relevance sits at the very heart of that tension. Is that good? In the quest to become leaders that make a difference, there are many powerful questions to ask ourselves. What do I want to find out about myself? What is success? Both of these are intensely personal, and can be answered, albeit with some serious and honest reflection, from within. But, “Is that good?” usually stretches us out into the world. We are inclined to ask, through what lens? Against what criteria? Measured by what result? Based on whose experience? But at the end of that journey of data collection, consultation, and analysis, the answer to, “Is that good?” is still waiting for someone to decide. Michelangelo, when asked how he had created such perfection from a piece of rock said, “I simply removed everything that wasn't the David.” If human beings are to create a dividing line that AI can not cross, the question, “Is that good?” may be the beating heart on which that barrier depends. “Is that good?” is heavy lifting. It requires clarity and confidence. Muscles we should probably start building today.

Edited highlights of our full length conversation. Is that good? Heather Freeland is the Chief Brand Officer at Adobe, a business that, as Heather describes, is undergoing significant change to prepare itself for the future to come, and the one that is already here. In a company long known for providing powerful tools to creative people, the advent of Generative AI is both a threat and an opportunity. How human beings maintain our relevance sits at the very heart of that tension. Is that good? In the quest to become leaders that make a difference, there are many powerful questions to ask ourselves. What do I want to find out about myself? What is success? Both of these are intensely personal, and can be answered, albeit with some serious and honest reflection, from within. But, “Is that good?” usually stretches us out into the world. We are inclined to ask, through what lens? Against what criteria? Measured by what result? Based on whose experience? But at the end of that journey of data collection, consultation, and analysis, the answer to, “Is that good?” is still waiting for someone to decide. Michelangelo, when asked how he had created such perfection from a piece of rock said, “I simply removed everything that wasn't the David.” If human beings are to create a dividing line that AI can not cross, the question, “Is that good?” may be the beating heart on which that barrier depends. “Is that good?” is heavy lifting. It requires clarity and confidence. Muscles we should probably start building today.

Why are you doing what you're doing? Gabriel Schmitt has just celebrated his one year anniversary as the Global CCO of Grey. Grey's proposition is that they have been coming up with famously effective ideas since 1917. Gabriel is somewhat younger than that, but over his career, has learned one of the most important leadership lessons that I think often gets overlooked. The importance of context. A few years ago, I wrote an article for Fast Company called The Four Weapons of Exceptional Creative Leaders. I got some pushback on using the word “weapons” in the context of creativity. My response was that if you've ever done battle with the status quo, then you already know that you need to bring some serious weapons to that fight. Context is the beginning and the end of the leadership journey. Without it, you have no ability to answer critical questions, like where are we on our journey? How much further do we have to go? Context is the reason why you are trying to make that wild idea. It is why you hire that person. It is why you invest in that technology. It is why you make that decision. It is why you come up with the answer. It is why people follow you. And without it… everything else is just a guess. So why are you doing what you're doing? And are you sure?

Edited highlights of our full length conversation. Why are you doing what you're doing? Gabriel Schmitt has just celebrated his one year anniversary as the Global CCO of Grey. Grey's proposition is that they have been coming up with famously effective ideas since 1917. Gabriel is somewhat younger than that, but over his career, has learned one of the most important leadership lessons that I think often gets overlooked. The importance of context. A few years ago, I wrote an article for Fast Company called The Four Weapons of Exceptional Creative Leaders. I got some pushback on using the word “weapons” in the context of creativity. My response was that if you've ever done battle with the status quo, then you already know that you need to bring some serious weapons to that fight. Context is the beginning and the end of the leadership journey. Without it, you have no ability to answer critical questions, like where are we on our journey? How much further do we have to go? Context is the reason why you are trying to make that wild idea. It is why you hire that person. It is why you invest in that technology. It is why you make that decision. It is why you come up with the answer. It is why people follow you. And without it… everything else is just a guess. So why are you doing what you're doing? And are you sure?

How well do you know yourself? Lisa Smith is the Global Executive Creative Director at JKR. Fast Company have called her a visionary designer, citing in particular her work for Burger King, the Victoria & Albert Museum in London, Chobani and the Metropolitan Museum of Art. They described her work as unique because “it has consistently changed the visual landscape, disrupted popular aesthetics, and started trends of its own.” When you meet Lisa, her energy is infectious. As you'll hear in our conversation, she wants to make a difference. She also knows herself well enough to have learned that her energy sometimes needs an adapter. We are driven by instincts, starting with the genetic code that we must survive.  Against that context, self awareness comes second and is usually filtered and diluted by other impulses.  The ability to stand back and accurately reflect on the impact we are having in real time, is a lifelong quest for most of us. But when you meet someone who has learned to understand themselves multi-dimensionally, who sees themselves in mirrors that reflect all angles, the good and the works in progress, our trust in that person rises like the proverbial tide - predictably and visibly.  That remains true even if, especially if, they show up as less than their best selves but can acknowledge or forewarn us that they can see, and feel and acknowledge that - sometimes preemptively. Lisa is not alone in her ambition sometimes turning her into a bulldozer. She is rare in her ability to see it happening before it happens and to warn those around her that her form of leadership encompasses all the elements of “lead, follow or get out of the way.” 

Edited highlights of our full length conversation. How well do you know yourself? Lisa Smith is the Global Executive Creative Director at JKR. Fast Company have called her a visionary designer, citing in particular her work for Burger King, the Victoria & Albert Museum in London, Chobani and the Metropolitan Museum of Art. They described her work as unique because “it has consistently changed the visual landscape, disrupted popular aesthetics, and started trends of its own.” When you meet Lisa, her energy is infectious. As you'll hear in our conversation, she wants to make a difference. She also knows herself well enough to have learned that her energy sometimes needs an adapter. We are driven by instincts, starting with the genetic code that we must survive.  Against that context, self awareness comes second and is usually filtered and diluted by other impulses.  The ability to stand back and accurately reflect on the impact we are having in real time, is a lifelong quest for most of us. But when you meet someone who has learned to understand themselves multi-dimensionally, who sees themselves in mirrors that reflect all angles, the good and the works in progress, our trust in that person rises like the proverbial tide - predictably and visibly.  That remains true even if, especially if, they show up as less than their best selves but can acknowledge or forewarn us that they can see, and feel and acknowledge that - sometimes preemptively. Lisa is not alone in her ambition sometimes turning her into a bulldozer. She is rare in her ability to see it happening before it happens and to warn those around her that her form of leadership encompasses all the elements of “lead, follow or get out of the way.” 

Edited highlights of our full length conversation. Which direction are you going? Nils Leonard, one of the co-founders of Uncommon - the award winning global creative studio - has been a regular guest on this show since I started Fearless seven years ago. In all of that time, I've wondered abut his partnership with his two co-founders, Natalie Graeme and Lucy Jameson. Why did they decide to go into business together? How does it work and what might get in the way? And what makes the Uncommon partnership particularly worth understanding is the extraordinary consistency between what they said mattered to them when they started, and how they show up today. This conversation, on a wet, rainy Thursday morning, at an outdoor restaurant in Cannes, shows why this partnership has worked so successfully so far and raises some questions about how it will need to evolve to guide the company's next stage of evolution.

What lessons have you learned? This episode features the return visit of Jon Cook, the Global CEO of VML. I interviewed Jon for the first time a year ago, eight months after he had died while going for a run in his neighborhood. Today, he is the CEO of the world's largest advertising agency. We covered a lot of topics during our latest conversation, from the qualities that he brings as a leader, to navigating mergers, to the impact of AI. We also talked about a simple but powerful truth that I think a lot of leaders have a hard time remembering when they're facing stressful situations - that we are already better than we think. Leadership is lonely. It's a cliche because it's true. Those feelings of isolation usually leave our doubts and insecurities to wander through the garden of our minds, unchaperoned. Given enough time and enough space, those insecurities can become a permanent part of our self-image and self-beliefs. Talking to someone who can help us to fully see ourselves is always helpful. Of course, I'd say that. I'm a leadership coach. But we have ways to help ourselves that can be powerful, too. One of the simplest is to look back and to see our past achievements for what they are. Achievements, experiences, skills, and wisdom. And if you take a few moments and you write that list of achievements down, you'll be better prepared, not only to meet this moment, but you'll also be able to quiet the part of you that thinks that nothing you do is ever good enough. Self-awareness is the most powerful asset that any leader can develop. So, make that list right now.

What will be the impact of AI on the creative industries, and how can we meet this moment? This is the final episode of my series of interviews over the last few weeks leading up to and through the Cannes Lions Festival of Creativity. It offers a map for the future based on those conversations, and observations of the speed of change. If you haven't seen it, look up the Volvo ad that was just published on social media. It took one person, 24 hours to create. This ad could not have been made in May, when I started this series of interviews. Creativity and innovation are oxygen for the world's best businesses. Increase the flow and they soar. Limit the supply and they wither and ultimately die. That has been true for longer than anyone reading this has been alive. What is also true is that until now, that creativity, that ability to come up with original ideas that solve problems has been limited to human beings. With the arrival and advances in AI, will that still be true five years from now? Two? Tomorrow? Over the last few weeks, I've interviewed ten different leaders from across the creative industries. Brand leaders, agency founders, global agency heads, global client leads, production experts, creator community experts, consultants, and an advertising industry legend. And while I was at Cannes, I talked to two dozen more about where the creative industries are headed and what they need to do to ensure their future. These industries are a complex eco system of competing and contradictory forces built on what I believe is the worst business model in the world: selling original ideas based on how long it took to conceive and deliver them, and then giving up the ownership and the economic benefit of those ideas forever. It is the equivalent of pricing a Picasso based on how long it took him to paint it. It is selling every patentable idea based on the cost of the labor, while ignoring the impact on people's lives. According to some reports it takes 24 hours to build an iPhone. Imagine if Apple broke that down into a scope of work and then sold each iPhone for the cost of that scope and, with it, the ownership of the IP. For how long would they remain the most valuable business in the world? The daily advances of AI challenge every aspect of the creative industries. From defining and articulating the problem, to conceiving, creating and delivering solutions. Every part of the process is being radically changed. And the extent of that change is limitless. So what should we do about that?

Where does ideation end and production begin? This episode is part of a series of conversations I've been having in partnership with the Cannes Lion Festival of Creativity. Over the last few weeks, I've been focusing my study of leadership through a single lens, the impact of Artificial Intelligence on the Creative Industries. This final interview is with David Rolfe, the Global Head of Production at WPP. Dave and I have known each other for more years than we care to acknowledge, and he is the most provocative and disruptive thinker about production that I know. As the week at Cannes unfolded, it became clear that this series wouldn't be complete without a conversation about production. So I asked Dave late in the week if he would sit down with me and talk about the impact of AI on production. As you may have heard in my interview with Adam Tucker, WPP has made a large investment in AI. That wasn't the reason I wanted to include Dave in this series, but it does, again, add a dimension to the conversation that helps to establish reference points as the industry navigates the disruption that AI is already bringing. I started the conversation with Dave from a simple premise. Is production dead? As you'll hear, it is most definitely not, but it will look very, very different in a very short space of time, and that change has already begun. So if any part of your future thinking about production is based on how production looked and worked a year ago, you probably need to challenge that perspective to make sure that it stands the test of time, which in today's world, we can probably define as somewhere between 12 and 24 months, I suspect. In the next episode, I'll sum up everything I've heard and seen since we started this series. In the meantime, thank you for listening.

Does your AI do what you need it to do? This episode is part of a series of conversations I've been having in partnership with the Cannes Lions Festival of Creativity. Over the last few weeks, I've been focusing my study of leadership through a single lens, the impact of Artificial Intelligence on the Creative Industries. I'd planned on ending the series with my interview of Sir John Hegarty, but I recorded two bonus episodes during Cannes that I felt were an important part of the conversation. Adam Tucker is the Global Account Lead at WPP for Mondelez, and he reached out to me after listening to the first few episodes in this series. He pointed out that while we were focusing on how AI will impact the process of how the creative industries work, we hadn't talked about how it is already changing the work itself. WPP has made a significant investment in AI. The press reports that it's spending about $318 million annually in WPP Open, a set of AI capabilities that are now available to its 35,000 employees around the world. Adam explained why from his perspective, this investment creates a competitive advantage. I'm not an AI expert, nor have I seen WPP Open firsthand, to pass any judgment on its capabilities, and whether it is in fact superior to other forms of AI that are publicly available. This conversation is not intended to convince you whether WPP has created a competitive advantage or not. What it does establish is one clearly differentiated benchmark in the ecosystem of AI that are now springing up across the creative industries, and therefore, it provides one measurement against which to evaluate your own relationship with artificial intelligence. I'll wrap this series this week with one more bonus episode and then a recap. In the meantime, thanks for listening.

Are you willing to dare?  This episode is the last in a series of conversations that I'm having in partnership with the Cannes Lion Festival of Creativity. For the weeks leading up to Cannes and during Cannes, we focused our study of leadership through a single lens. The impact of Artificial Intelligence on the Creative Industries. Are we moving fast enough? Are we going far enough? Is this an opportunity to fundamentally redesign the creative industries? Or should we adjust and iterate, slowly and carefully? There are opportunities and risks around every corner. This episode's guest is Sir John Hegarty. He's the Co-Founder of Bartle Bogle Hegarty and one of the most original thinkers of the last 40 plus years. Sir John is a reference point for an industry that has changed a lot, and also not very much over those four plus decades. The through lines that mattered, then still matter today. Confident, disruptive thinking. At a time when the future is waiting to be invented, like never before, Sir John's description of the atmosphere that leaders need to create is time tested. Only time will tell whether it is timeless. Next week, we'll have a couple of bonus episodes before I wrap up the series, and give you my thoughts on the impact of AI on the creative industries, based on the conversations that I've been having. In the meantime, thanks for listening.

Edited highlights of our full length conversation. Are you willing to dare?  This episode is the last in a series of conversations that I'm having in partnership with the Cannes Lion Festival of Creativity. For the weeks leading up to Cannes and during Cannes, we focused our study of leadership through a single lens. The impact of Artificial Intelligence on the Creative Industries. Are we moving fast enough? Are we going far enough? Is this an opportunity to fundamentally redesign the creative industries? Or should we adjust and iterate, slowly and carefully? There are opportunities and risks around every corner. This episode's guest is Sir John Hegarty. He's the Co-Founder of Bartle Bogle Hegarty and one of the most original thinkers of the last 40 plus years. Sir John is a reference point for an industry that has changed a lot, and also not very much over those four plus decades. The through lines that mattered, then still matter today. Confident, disruptive thinking. At a time when the future is waiting to be invented, like never before, Sir John's description of the atmosphere that leaders need to create is time tested. Only time will tell whether it is timeless. Next week, we'll have a couple of bonus episodes before I wrap up the series, and give you my thoughts on the impact of AI on the creative industries, based on the conversations that I've been having. In the meantime, thanks for listening.

What is it? This episode is the seventh in a series of conversations that I'm having in partnership with the Cannes Lion Festival of Creativity. For the weeks leading up to Cannes, we're focusing our study of leadership through a single lens. The impact of Artificial Intelligence on the Creative Industries. Are we moving fast enough? Are we going far enough? Is this an opportunity to fundamentally redesign the creative industries? Or do we adjust and iterate, slowly and carefully? Do we follow the puck, or skate to where it's going? There are opportunities and risks around every corner. Before we jump into this conversation, a couple of programming notes. I had originally intended to finish this series of conversations with this episode, and then to do a wrap up episode on my takeaways from the series. But I've got a chance to interview an industry legend at Cannes, and so I'm going to extend the series by one more. You'll hear that conversation at the end of Cannes next week. And then, the week after, we'll wrap up the series. Tiffany Rolfe is a mother, as well as the Global Chair and Global Chief Creative Officer at R/GA. I asked Tiffany to come back on the show because she is, as you'll hear, a self described tech optimist. She's also one of the most original thinkers that I know. Her professional journey has taken her from Executive Creative Director at Crispin Porter + Bogusky, to Chief Content Officer and Partner at one of the first agency consultancy hybrids, Co:Collective, to her role at R/GA. If you haven't heard our earlier episode in which she talks about the challenges of combining a demanding career with being a mother, it's a really powerful listen. In this conversation, one of the first questions that came up was, how should we think about AI? Stay tuned next week for our final conversation in the series. And in the meantime, thanks for joining us.

Edited highlights of our full length conversation. What is it? This episode is the seventh in a series of conversations that I'm having in partnership with the Cannes Lion Festival of Creativity. For the weeks leading up to Cannes, we're focusing our study of leadership through a single lens. The impact of Artificial Intelligence on the Creative Industries. Are we moving fast enough? Are we going far enough? Is this an opportunity to fundamentally redesign the creative industries? Or do we adjust and iterate, slowly and carefully? Do we follow the puck, or skate to where it's going? There are opportunities and risks around every corner. Before we jump into this conversation, a couple of programming notes. I had originally intended to finish this series of conversations with this episode, and then to do a wrap up episode on my takeaways from the series. But I've got a chance to interview an industry legend at Cannes, and so I'm going to extend the series by one more. You'll hear that conversation at the end of Cannes next week. And then, the week after, we'll wrap up the series. Tiffany Rolfe is a mother, as well as the Global Chair and Global Chief Creative Officer at R/GA. I asked Tiffany to come back on the show because she is, as you'll hear, a self described tech optimist. She's also one of the most original thinkers that I know. Her professional journey has taken her from Executive Creative Director at Crispin Porter + Bogusky, to Chief Content Officer and Partner at one of the first agency consultancy hybrids, Co:Collective, to her role at R/GA. If you haven't heard our earlier episode in which she talks about the challenges of combining a demanding career with being a mother, it's a really powerful listen. In this conversation, one of the first questions that came up was, how should we think about AI? Stay tuned next week for our final conversation in the series. And in the meantime, thanks for joining us.

Edited highlights of our full length conversation. What is it? This episode is the seventh in a series of conversations that I'm having in partnership with the Cannes Lion Festival of Creativity. For the weeks leading up to Cannes, we're focusing our study of leadership through a single lens. The impact of Artificial Intelligence on the Creative Industries. Are we moving fast enough? Are we going far enough? Is this an opportunity to fundamentally redesign the creative industries? Or do we adjust and iterate, slowly and carefully? Do we follow the puck, or skate to where it's going? There are opportunities and risks around every corner. Before we jump into this conversation, a couple of programming notes. I had originally intended to finish this series of conversations with this episode, and then to do a wrap up episode on my takeaways from the series. But I've got a chance to interview an industry legend at Cannes, and so I'm going to extend the series by one more. You'll hear that conversation at the end of Cannes next week. And then, the week after, we'll wrap up the series. Tiffany Rolfe is a mother, as well as the Global Chair and Global Chief Creative Officer at R/GA. I asked Tiffany to come back on the show because she is, as you'll hear, a self described tech optimist. She's also one of the most original thinkers that I know. Her professional journey has taken her from Executive Creative Director at Crispin Porter + Bogusky, to Chief Content Officer and Partner at one of the first agency consultancy hybrids, Co:Collective, to her role at R/GA. If you haven't heard our earlier episode in which she talks about the challenges of combining a demanding career with being a mother, it's a really powerful listen. In this conversation, one of the first questions that came up was, how should we think about AI? Stay tuned next week for our final conversation in the series. And in the meantime, thanks for joining us.

What do the artists think? This episode is the sixth in a series of conversations that I'm having in partnership with the Cannes Lion Festival of Creativity. For the weeks leading up to Cannes, we're focusing our study of leadership through a single lens. The impact of Artificial Intelligence on the Creative Industries. Are we moving fast enough? Are we going far enough? Is this an opportunity to redesign the creative industries? Or should we adjust and iterate, slowly and carefully? There are opportunities and risks around every corner. Jamie Gutfreund has seen the creative industries from many vantage points. She's the former Global Chief Marketing Officer for Hasbro and MGA Entertainment. She was Chief Growth Officer at Whalar and has been recognized by Forbes as one of the 50 Most Entrepreneurial CMOs. Today, she's the Founder of Creator Vision, a company that she describes as helping brands bridge the gap between the practice and the promise of the creator economy. At a time when the future is coming towards us faster than perhaps at any period in human history, gaining some advanced warning about what will happen next, would be welcome. To put it mildly. Is it conceivable that AI itself might give us the clues to how AI is going to change the world as we know it? Jamie thinks it's possible, if we look at it through the right lens. The artists' lens. At the end of the series, I'll offer some thoughts on what we've heard and learned, and where we might go from here. In the meantime, thanks for joining us.

Edited highlights of our full length conversation. What do the artists think? This episode is the sixth in a series of conversations that I'm having in partnership with the Cannes Lion Festival of Creativity. For the weeks leading up to Cannes, we're focusing our study of leadership through a single lens. The impact of Artificial Intelligence on the Creative Industries. Are we moving fast enough? Are we going far enough? Is this an opportunity to redesign the creative industries? Or should we adjust and iterate, slowly and carefully? There are opportunities and risks around every corner. Jamie Gutfreund has seen the creative industries from many vantage points. She's the former Global Chief Marketing Officer for Hasbro and MGA Entertainment. She was Chief Growth Officer at Whalar and has been recognized by Forbes as one of the 50 Most Entrepreneurial CMOs. Today, she's the Founder of Creator Vision, a company that she describes as helping brands bridge the gap between the practice and the promise of the creator economy. At a time when the future is coming towards us faster than perhaps at any period in human history, gaining some advanced warning about what will happen next, would be welcome. To put it mildly. Is it conceivable that AI itself might give us the clues to how AI is going to change the world as we know it? Jamie thinks it's possible, if we look at it through the right lens. The artists' lens. At the end of the series, I'll offer some thoughts on what we've heard and learned, and where we might go from here. In the meantime, thanks for joining us.

Edited highlights of our full length conversation. What do the artists think? This episode is the sixth in a series of conversations that I'm having in partnership with the Cannes Lion Festival of Creativity. For the weeks leading up to Cannes, we're focusing our study of leadership through a single lens. The impact of Artificial Intelligence on the Creative Industries. Are we moving fast enough? Are we going far enough? Is this an opportunity to redesign the creative industries? Or should we adjust and iterate, slowly and carefully? There are opportunities and risks around every corner. Jamie Gutfreund has seen the creative industries from many vantage points. She's the former Global Chief Marketing Officer for Hasbro and MGA Entertainment. She was Chief Growth Officer at Whalar and has been recognized by Forbes as one of the 50 Most Entrepreneurial CMOs. Today, she's the Founder of Creator Vision, a company that she describes as helping brands bridge the gap between the practice and the promise of the creator economy. At a time when the future is coming towards us faster than perhaps at any period in human history, gaining some advanced warning about what will happen next, would be welcome. To put it mildly. Is it conceivable that AI itself might give us the clues to how AI is going to change the world as we know it? Jamie thinks it's possible, if we look at it through the right lens. The artists' lens. At the end of the series, I'll offer some thoughts on what we've heard and learned, and where we might go from here. In the meantime, thanks for joining us.

What are you fed by?  This episode is the fifth in a series of conversations that I'm having in partnership with the Cannes Lion Festival of Creativity. For the weeks leading up to Cannes, we're focusing our study of leadership through a single lens. The impact of Artificial Intelligence on the Creative Industries. Are we moving fast enough? Are we going far enough? Is this an opportunity to fundamentally redesign the creative industries, or should we adjust and iterate, slowly and carefully? Do we follow the puck, or skate to where it's going? There are opportunities, and risks, around every corner. Nils Leonard is the Co-founder of Uncommon, a global creative studio based in New York, London, and Stockholm. I invited Nils into the series because I suspected he would have a strong point of view about what AI is, and isn't, when it comes to creativity. Nils has strong beliefs about many things, which is why I ask him back on the show regularly. One of those is the emotional leap of faith that every creative act demands. It's a deeply and uniquely human investment. At the end of the series, I'll offer some thoughts on what we've heard and learned, and where we might go from here. In the meantime, thanks for joining us.

Edited highlights of our full length conversation. What are you fed by?  This episode is the fifth in a series of conversations that I'm having in partnership with the Cannes Lion Festival of Creativity. For the weeks leading up to Cannes, we're focusing our study of leadership through a single lens. The impact of Artificial Intelligence on the Creative Industries. Are we moving fast enough? Are we going far enough? Is this an opportunity to fundamentally redesign the creative industries, or should we adjust and iterate, slowly and carefully? Do we follow the puck, or skate to where it's going? There are opportunities, and risks, around every corner. Nils Leonard is the Co-founder of Uncommon, a global creative studio based in New York, London, and Stockholm. I invited Nils into the series because I suspected he would have a strong point of view about what AI is, and isn't, when it comes to creativity. Nils has strong beliefs about many things, which is why I ask him back on the show regularly. One of those is the emotional leap of faith that every creative act demands. It's a deeply and uniquely human investment. At the end of the series, I'll offer some thoughts on what we've heard and learned, and where we might go from here. In the meantime, thanks for joining us.

Edited highlights of our full length conversation. What are you fed by?  This episode is the fifth in a series of conversations that I'm having in partnership with the Cannes Lion Festival of Creativity. For the weeks leading up to Cannes, we're focusing our study of leadership through a single lens. The impact of Artificial Intelligence on the Creative Industries. Are we moving fast enough? Are we going far enough? Is this an opportunity to fundamentally redesign the creative industries, or should we adjust and iterate, slowly and carefully? Do we follow the puck, or skate to where it's going? There are opportunities, and risks, around every corner. Nils Leonard is the Co-founder of Uncommon, a global creative studio based in New York, London, and Stockholm. I invited Nils into the series because I suspected he would have a strong point of view about what AI is, and isn't, when it comes to creativity. Nils has strong beliefs about many things, which is why I ask him back on the show regularly. One of those is the emotional leap of faith that every creative act demands. It's a deeply and uniquely human investment. At the end of the series, I'll offer some thoughts on what we've heard and learned, and where we might go from here. In the meantime, thanks for joining us.

Are you aiming high enough? This episode is the fourth in a series of conversations that I'm having in partnership with the Cannes Lions Festival of Creativity. For the weeks leading up to Cannes, we're focusing on a study of leadership through a single lens. The impact of Artificial Intelligence on the Creative Industries. Are we moving fast enough? Are we going far enough? Is this an opportunity to fundamentally redesign the creative industries? Or should we adjust and iterate slowly and carefully? Do we follow the puck or skate to where it's going? There are opportunities and risks around every corner. Yasu Sasaki is the Global Chief Creative Officer of Dentsu. His company has a presence in over 145 countries and regions, and they've been working with artificial intelligence, in one form or another, since 2011. One of the main questions facing the creative industries is which companies will see AI as an opportunity to stretch the boundaries of human creativity. To recognize that the limitations in our creativity are no longer practical, financial, or time-based, but are, in fact, our own confidence in our capacity to think originally. We can also use this opportunity to create greater efficiency, a worthy ambition in a world in which resources are scarce and a life in which the time available to us is finite. In theory and in practice, we can both raise the bar and lower cost. But we must be careful how we do it. At the end of the series, I'll offer some thoughts on what we've heard and learned and where we might go from here. In the meantime, thanks for joining us.

Edited highlights of our full length conversation. Are you aiming high enough? This episode is the fourth in a series of conversations that I'm having in partnership with the Cannes Lions Festival of Creativity. For the weeks leading up to Cannes, we're focusing on a study of leadership through a single lens. The impact of Artificial Intelligence on the Creative Industries. Are we moving fast enough? Are we going far enough? Is this an opportunity to fundamentally redesign the creative industries? Or should we adjust and iterate slowly and carefully? Do we follow the puck or skate to where it's going? There are opportunities and risks around every corner. Yasu Sasaki is the Global Chief Creative Officer of Dentsu. His company has a presence in over 145 countries and regions, and they've been working with artificial intelligence, in one form or another, since 2011. One of the main questions facing the creative industries is which companies will see AI as an opportunity to stretch the boundaries of human creativity. To recognize that the limitations in our creativity are no longer practical, financial, or time-based, but are, in fact, our own confidence in our capacity to think originally. We can also use this opportunity to create greater efficiency, a worthy ambition in a world in which resources are scarce and a life in which the time available to us is finite. In theory and in practice, we can both raise the bar and lower cost. But we must be careful how we do it. At the end of the series, I'll offer some thoughts on what we've heard and learned and where we might go from here. In the meantime, thanks for joining us.

Edited highlights of our full length conversation. Are you aiming high enough? This episode is the fourth in a series of conversations that I'm having in partnership with the Cannes Lions Festival of Creativity. For the weeks leading up to Cannes, we're focusing on a study of leadership through a single lens. The impact of Artificial Intelligence on the Creative Industries. Are we moving fast enough? Are we going far enough? Is this an opportunity to fundamentally redesign the creative industries? Or should we adjust and iterate slowly and carefully? Do we follow the puck or skate to where it's going? There are opportunities and risks around every corner. Yasu Sasaki is the Global Chief Creative Officer of Dentsu. His company has a presence in over 145 countries and regions, and they've been working with artificial intelligence, in one form or another, since 2011. One of the main questions facing the creative industries is which companies will see AI as an opportunity to stretch the boundaries of human creativity. To recognize that the limitations in our creativity are no longer practical, financial, or time-based, but are, in fact, our own confidence in our capacity to think originally. We can also use this opportunity to create greater efficiency, a worthy ambition in a world in which resources are scarce and a life in which the time available to us is finite. In theory and in practice, we can both raise the bar and lower cost. But we must be careful how we do it. At the end of the series, I'll offer some thoughts on what we've heard and learned and where we might go from here. In the meantime, thanks for joining us.

Are you seizing what is starting? This episode is the third in a series of conversations I'm having in partnership with the Cannes Lions Festival of Creativity. For the weeks leading up to Cannes, we're focusing our study of leadership through a single lens. The impact of Artificial Intelligence on the Creative Industries. Are we moving fast enough? Are we going far enough? Is this an opportunity to fundamentally redesign the creative industries, or should we adjust and iterate, slowly and carefully? Do we follow the puck or skate to where it's going? There are opportunities and risks around every corner. Asmita Dubey is the Chief Digital and Marketing Officer of L'Oréal. Her company is the fourth largest advertiser in the world. They are a 115-year old business that owns 37 brands. It's easy to see the world presumptively. To presume that big companies always move more cautiously, that they are slower to see, to adopt, and to adapt to disruptions in the eco system around them. But if your company believes, as Asmita frames it, in seizing what is starting, if you operate from a foot forward perspective, if you are relentlessly curious and consistently committed to the belief that creativity and innovation are all that separates you from your competitors, then the size of your company does not matter. Big or small. Old or new. You can seize what is starting, and define the future on your terms. At the end of the series, I'll offer some thoughts on what we've heard and learned, and where we might go from here. In the meantime, thanks for joining us.

Edited highlights of our full length conversation. Are you seizing what is starting? This episode is the third in a series of conversations I'm having in partnership with the Cannes Lions Festival of Creativity. For the weeks leading up to Cannes, we're focusing our study of leadership through a single lens. The impact of Artificial Intelligence on the Creative Industries. Are we moving fast enough? Are we going far enough? Is this an opportunity to fundamentally redesign the creative industries, or should we adjust and iterate, slowly and carefully? Do we follow the puck or skate to where it's going? There are opportunities and risks around every corner. Asmita Dubey is the Chief Digital and Marketing Officer of L'Oréal. Her company is the fourth largest advertiser in the world. They are a 115-year old business that owns 37 brands. It's easy to see the world presumptively. To presume that big companies always move more cautiously, that they are slower to see, to adopt, and to adapt to disruptions in the eco system around them. But if your company believes, as Asmita frames it, in seizing what is starting, if you operate from a foot forward perspective, if you are relentlessly curious and consistently committed to the belief that creativity and innovation are all that separates you from your competitors, then the size of your company does not matter. Big or small. Old or new. You can seize what is starting, and define the future on your terms. At the end of the series, I'll offer some thoughts on what we've heard and learned, and where we might go from here. In the meantime, thanks for joining us.

Edited highlights of our full length conversation. Are you seizing what is starting? This episode is the third in a series of conversations I'm having in partnership with the Cannes Lions Festival of Creativity. For the weeks leading up to Cannes, we're focusing our study of leadership through a single lens. The impact of Artificial Intelligence on the Creative Industries. Are we moving fast enough? Are we going far enough? Is this an opportunity to fundamentally redesign the creative industries, or should we adjust and iterate, slowly and carefully? Do we follow the puck or skate to where it's going? There are opportunities and risks around every corner. Asmita Dubey is the Chief Digital and Marketing Officer of L'Oréal. Her company is the fourth largest advertiser in the world. They are a 115-year old business that owns 37 brands. It's easy to see the world presumptively. To presume that big companies always move more cautiously, that they are slower to see, to adopt, and to adapt to disruptions in the eco system around them. But if your company believes, as Asmita frames it, in seizing what is starting, if you operate from a foot forward perspective, if you are relentlessly curious and consistently committed to the belief that creativity and innovation are all that separates you from your competitors, then the size of your company does not matter. Big or small. Old or new. You can seize what is starting, and define the future on your terms. At the end of the series, I'll offer some thoughts on what we've heard and learned, and where we might go from here. In the meantime, thanks for joining us.

Can you imagine? This episode is the second in a series of conversations I'm having in partnership with the Cannes Lions Festival of Creativity. For the weeks leading up to Cannes, we're focusing our study of leadership through a single lens. The impact of Artificial Intelligence on the Creative Industries. Are we moving fast enough? Are we going far enough? Is this an opportunity to fundamentally redesign the creative industries? Do we follow the puck or skate to where it's going? There are opportunities and risks around every corner. PJ Pereira is the Founder and Creative Chairman at Pereira O'Dell. PJ is also a published author and an artist in his own right. We talk about a piece of animation that he recently created for his latest novel in which he used AI, and and we've included a link in the show notes for this episode. One of the themes that's emerging from the conversations and background research I've been doing, is one of those realizations that is both surprising while striking me immediately as unquestionably true. As a species, human beings are particularly bad at recognizing the speed, scale and impact of exponential growth. Let me share an example I heard on a New York Times podcast recently, that uses cases of COVID to illustrate this. If you start with a single case, and cases double every three days, then after 30 days, you have about a thousand cases. We can all wrap our heads around that. But then go 30 days longer. Now, you have a million. Wait another 30 days? Now, you have a billion. AI is moving with the speed of a virus, and we are struggling to recognize the implications in ways that we can relate to. We don't have to go back too far to see how quickly our understanding of “normal” can change. On March 1st, 2020, society was operating pretty normally. Chris and I actually took a plane to Chicago on the 2nd, and we flew back to New York on the 5th. Five days later, five days, that idea was unimaginable, and it remained that way for a year. But speed of change is not the only measurement that we should be conscious of. The enormity of the gap between the normal, as we understand it today, and what we will demand as normal tomorrow, is usually beyond our imagination to see or to predict or to project. PJ brings those limitations of our imagination to life through a vivid and unforgettable example. At the end of the series, I'll offer some thoughts on what we've heard and learned, and where we might go from here. In the meantime, thanks for joining us.

Edited highlights of our full length conversation. Can you imagine? This episode is the second in a series of conversations I'm having in partnership with the Cannes Lions Festival of Creativity. For the weeks leading up to Cannes, we're focusing our study of leadership through a single lens. The impact of Artificial Intelligence on the Creative Industries. Are we moving fast enough? Are we going far enough? Is this an opportunity to fundamentally redesign the creative industries? Do we follow the puck or skate to where it's going? There are opportunities and risks around every corner. PJ Pereira is the Founder and Creative Chairman at Pereira O'Dell. PJ is also a published author and an artist in his own right. We talk about a piece of animation that he recently created for his latest novel in which he used AI, and and we've included a link in the show notes for this episode. One of the themes that's emerging from the conversations and background research I've been doing, is one of those realizations that is both surprising while striking me immediately as unquestionably true. As a species, human beings are particularly bad at recognizing the speed, scale and impact of exponential growth. Let me share an example I heard on a New York Times podcast recently, that uses cases of COVID to illustrate this. If you start with a single case, and cases double every three days, then after 30 days, you have about a thousand cases. We can all wrap our heads around that. But then go 30 days longer. Now, you have a million. Wait another 30 days? Now, you have a billion. AI is moving with the speed of a virus, and we are struggling to recognize the implications in ways that we can relate to. We don't have to go back too far to see how quickly our understanding of “normal” can change. On March 1st, 2020, society was operating pretty normally. Chris and I actually took a plane to Chicago on the 2nd, and we flew back to New York on the 5th. Five days later, five days, that idea was unimaginable, and it remained that way for a year. But speed of change is not the only measurement that we should be conscious of. The enormity of the gap between the normal, as we understand it today, and what we will demand as normal tomorrow, is usually beyond our imagination to see or to predict or to project. PJ brings those limitations of our imagination to life through a vivid and unforgettable example. At the end of the series, I'll offer some thoughts on what we've heard and learned, and where we might go from here. In the meantime, thanks for joining us.

Edited highlights of our full length conversation. Can you imagine? This episode is the second in a series of conversations I'm having in partnership with the Cannes Lions Festival of Creativity. For the weeks leading up to Cannes, we're focusing our study of leadership through a single lens. The impact of Artificial Intelligence on the Creative Industries. Are we moving fast enough? Are we going far enough? Is this an opportunity to fundamentally redesign the creative industries? Do we follow the puck or skate to where it's going? There are opportunities and risks around every corner. PJ Pereira is the Founder and Creative Chairman at Pereira O'Dell. PJ is also a published author and an artist in his own right. We talk about a piece of animation that he recently created for his latest novel in which he used AI, and and we've included a link in the show notes for this episode. One of the themes that's emerging from the conversations and background research I've been doing, is one of those realizations that is both surprising while striking me immediately as unquestionably true. As a species, human beings are particularly bad at recognizing the speed, scale and impact of exponential growth. Let me share an example I heard on a New York Times podcast recently, that uses cases of COVID to illustrate this. If you start with a single case, and cases double every three days, then after 30 days, you have about a thousand cases. We can all wrap our heads around that. But then go 30 days longer. Now, you have a million. Wait another 30 days? Now, you have a billion. AI is moving with the speed of a virus, and we are struggling to recognize the implications in ways that we can relate to. We don't have to go back too far to see how quickly our understanding of “normal” can change. On March 1st, 2020, society was operating pretty normally. Chris and I actually took a plane to Chicago on the 2nd, and we flew back to New York on the 5th. Five days later, five days, that idea was unimaginable, and it remained that way for a year. But speed of change is not the only measurement that we should be conscious of. The enormity of the gap between the normal, as we understand it today, and what we will demand as normal tomorrow, is usually beyond our imagination to see or to predict or to project. PJ brings those limitations of our imagination to life through a vivid and unforgettable example. At the end of the series, I'll offer some thoughts on what we've heard and learned, and where we might go from here. In the meantime, thanks for joining us.

Are you leading, following or getting out of the way? This episode is the first in a series of conversations that I'm having in partnership with the Cannes Lions Festival of Creativity. For the next five weeks leading up to Cannes, we're going to focus our study of leadership through a single lens. The impact of Artificial Intelligence on the Creative Industries. Are we moving fast enough? Are we going far enough? Is this an opportunity to fundamentally redesign the creative industries, or should we adjust and iterate, slowly and carefully? Do we follow the puck, or skate to where it's going? There are opportunities and risks around every corner. We start with a conversation with Nick Law, who is Creative Chairperson at Accenture Song. Nick has seen the creative industries from an array of extraordinary perspectives. He was Vice Chairman, Global Chief Creative Officer at R/GA, he served as Chief Creative Officer at Publicis Groupe, and was Vice President of Marcom Integration at Apple, where he co-led the global design and marketing group. On his Cannes speaker profile, Nick says that he believes all technology needs creativity to make it human, and all creativity needs technology to make it real. At the end of the series, I'll offer some thoughts on what we've heard and learned, and where we might go from here. It promises to be an eye opening and thought provoking journey. Thanks for joining us.

Edited highlights of our full length conversation. Are you leading, following or getting out of the way? This episode is the first in a series of conversations that I'm having in partnership with the Cannes Lions Festival of Creativity. For the next five weeks leading up to Cannes, we're going to focus our study of leadership through a single lens. The impact of Artificial Intelligence on the Creative Industries. Are we moving fast enough? Are we going far enough? Is this an opportunity to fundamentally redesign the creative industries, or should we adjust and iterate, slowly and carefully? Do we follow the puck, or skate to where it's going? There are opportunities and risks around every corner. We start with a conversation with Nick Law, who is Creative Chairperson at Accenture Song. Nick has seen the creative industries from an array of extraordinary perspectives. He was Vice Chairman, Global Chief Creative Officer at R/GA, he served as Chief Creative Officer at Publicis Groupe, and was Vice President of Marcom Integration at Apple, where he co-led the global design and marketing group. On his Cannes speaker profile, Nick says that he believes all technology needs creativity to make it human, and all creativity needs technology to make it real. At the end of the series, I'll offer some thoughts on what we've heard and learned, and where we might go from here. It promises to be an eye opening and thought provoking journey. Thanks for joining us.

Edited highlights of our full length conversation. Are you leading, following or getting out of the way? This episode is the first in a series of conversations that I'm having in partnership with the Cannes Lions Festival of Creativity. For the next five weeks leading up to Cannes, we're going to focus our study of leadership through a single lens. The impact of Artificial Intelligence on the Creative Industries. Are we moving fast enough? Are we going far enough? Is this an opportunity to fundamentally redesign the creative industries, or should we adjust and iterate, slowly and carefully? Do we follow the puck, or skate to where it's going? There are opportunities and risks around every corner. We start with a conversation with Nick Law, who is Creative Chairperson at Accenture Song. Nick has seen the creative industries from an array of extraordinary perspectives. He was Vice Chairman, Global Chief Creative Officer at R/GA, he served as Chief Creative Officer at Publicis Groupe, and was Vice President of Marcom Integration at Apple, where he co-led the global design and marketing group. On his Cannes speaker profile, Nick says that he believes all technology needs creativity to make it human, and all creativity needs technology to make it real. At the end of the series, I'll offer some thoughts on what we've heard and learned, and where we might go from here. It promises to be an eye opening and thought provoking journey. Thanks for joining us.

Here's a question. Which two things are true at once? This week's guest is Robbie Kaplan. Robbie is a lawyer and the founding partner at Kaplan Hecker & Fink LLP. Robbie is best known for successfully challenging a key provision of the Defense of Marriage Act. Today, gay marriage is legal in America because Robbie Kaplan stood in front of the Supreme Court and argued for it. Recently, she was E. Jean Carroll's lawyer in both of her successful lawsuits against Donald Trump. And among Robbie's many awards is one from The Financial Times, which named her the “Most Innovative Lawyer of the Year”. People that know her, say about Robbie Kaplan, “she just sees things from a thousand different angles all at once, it's hard to keep up with her thought processes. She's not afraid, if she sees a problem, to go figure out some law that's going to allow her to fix it.”  Others say she is “a lawyer that you don't want to see opposing you.”  They say, “she's brilliant, she's unrelenting, she can't be intimidated and she's not going to back down. She eats bullies for lunch.” And the Washington Post has described Robbie as “a brash and original strategist, a crusader for underdogs who has won almost every legal accolade imaginable.” Which may make this admission surprising. Not everyone doubts themselves.  But many people do.  If you are one of those people, if sometimes feeling that you are an imposter is holding you back, is preventing you from unlocking the potential of the people around you, as in yourself, then let me offer you this. Two things can be true at once. You can feel like an imposter and achieve extraordinary things at the same time. You do have to be clear about the extraordinary things, and why they matter to you. But then that's what leadership is all about.

Edited highlights of our full length conversation. Which two things are true at once? Robbie Kaplan is a lawyer and the founding partner at Kaplan Hecker & Fink LLP. Robbie is best known for successfully challenging a key provision of the Defense of Marriage Act. Today, gay marriage is legal in America because Robbie Kaplan stood in front of the Supreme Court and argued for it. Recently, she was E. Jean Carroll's lawyer in both of her successful lawsuits against Donald Trump. And among Robbie's many awards is one from The Financial Times, which named her the “Most Innovative Lawyer of the Year”. People that know her, say about Robbie Kaplan, “she just sees things from a thousand different angles all at once, it's hard to keep up with her thought processes. She's not afraid, if she sees a problem, to go figure out some law that's going to allow her to fix it.”  Others say she is “a lawyer that you don't want to see opposing you.”  They say, “she's brilliant, she's unrelenting, she can't be intimidated and she's not going to back down. She eats bullies for lunch.” And the Washington Post has described Robbie as “a brash and original strategist, a crusader for underdogs who has won almost every legal accolade imaginable.” Which may make this admission surprising. Not everyone doubts themselves.  But many people do.  If you are one of those people, if sometimes feeling that you are an imposter is holding you back, is preventing you from unlocking the potential of the people around you, as in yourself, then let me offer you this. Two things can be true at once. You can feel like an imposter and achieve extraordinary things at the same time. You do have to be clear about the extraordinary things, and why they matter to you. But then that's what leadership is all about.