The CEO in the Creative Room

Think of any company that has launched something unheard of before. The iPhone. AI. The driverless car. Each one comes from two things working together: creation and discerning leadership. Two essential rooms. The CEO, and the engineer who is free to explore.

The CEO has a place, for sure. Someone has to decide, ship and say no. But a CEO who stands over the engineer all day doesn’t get more creation. They get less. The engineer stops playing with ideas and starts performing for the person watching.

We work the same way inside. There is the mind that wanders and connects, and the mind that plans and monitors. A creative room, and a CEO’s office.

Most of us spend our day in the office. Checking the inbox. Rehearsing a conversation before it happens. Replaying one that’s already gone. Wondering how we came across. Even on a day off, the CEO is still pacing the corridor.

So the common question becomes how do I get into the creative room? And that starts the search for a method to switch the CEO off. Breathwork. Cold water. Regulating the nervous system.

None of this is irrelevant. But notice who is running the search. It is the CEO, trying to regulate the engineer so there is less to oversee. And the engineer cannot settle while the CEO is watching, even when the CEO is watching to make sure they settle.

Now think about where your best ideas actually turn up.

In the shower.

Not at the desk with the whiteboard. Not in the meeting called to brainstorm. In the shower, with the water running and nowhere to be.

It works because no one is watching. No screen, no audience, no one waiting for an answer. Even the inner CEO seems to step out for a few minutes. And in that gap, wonder becomes possible. The answer to last week’s problem simply arrives, unasked.

For me, it also happens on a long drive, or washing up.

I’ve noticed that the moment I plan the walk to have ideas, or lie in bed telling myself to let my mind wander, it doesn’t come. The CEO has just booked a meeting in the creative room. It only works when nobody arranged it, when the walk just happens and the morning just unfolds.

Nothing is being forced. Nothing is being watched. The creative room opens on its own.

When no one else is around, who is still watching you through your day?

The questions are here, if you want them.