Secret Leaders

John Cleese: How creativity can be applied to business


Listen Later

As an entrepreneur, creativity is the name of your game. And who better to hear from than the king of creativity himself, Mr John Cleese. Yes, that’s right. John. Cleese. You’re welcome. 

Where do we begin? 

John’s (Mr Cleese?) talents are boundless - actor, comedian, screenwriter, producer and author. The co-founder of the infamous Monty Python’s Flying Circus, the creator and star of Fawlty Towers has taken the time to look back on his writing processes and accomplishments as a series of creative experiences to share and inspire. And he’s distilled his thoughts into a short (an hour long read), beautiful guide he’s cunningly entitled ‘Creativity’. 

Even if you have no desire to break into screenwriting, John has lived a lifetime of creativity and there is so much that we mere business folk can learn from him, including his secret process. 

“You have to create a space where people don't come in and interrupt. And you have to have a sufficiently long period of time for your initial agitated thoughts to settle, so that you can then play, and play in a very relaxed way, not cudgelling your brains and furrowing your brow, just thinking, I wonder if, what would happen if, and why did I suddenly think of a hippopotamus? That sort of thing.”

So grab a cuppa and let John’s wisdom guide you. This one really is a corker to kick the season off with. 

We chat about:

  • What we can learn from children about creativity
  • Our emotional facilities aren’t helped by modern living
  • John Cleese’s secret process
  • There’s no such thing as a mistake
  • The importance of rehearsal
  • Resting for creativity
  • Links:

    • Creativity - John Cleese
    • Hare Brain, Tortoise Mind - Guy Claxton
    • --

      Sponsors

      Vorboss - get better internet: https://vorboss.com/secretleaders

      Vanta - get 20% off security certifications like ISO27001 and SOC2: https://vanta.com/secretleaders

      Vertice - save on your SaaS or cloud spend ($5k off or a free benchmark) using the code secretleaders: https://www.vertice.one/l/secretleaders

      --

      Newsletter

      Sign up here: https://secretleaders.email/

      You can find our historic newsletters here: https://www.secretleaders.com/episodes

      ...more
      View all episodesView all episodes
      Download on the App Store

      Secret LeadersBy Leaders Media

      • 4.3
      • 4.3
      • 4.3
      • 4.3
      • 4.3

      4.3

      21 ratings


      More shows like Secret Leaders

      View all
      This is Money Podcast by This is Money

      This is Money Podcast

      33 Listeners

      Disruptors by Rob Moore

      Disruptors

      116 Listeners

      The Property Podcast by Rob Bence and Rob Dix from The Property Hub

      The Property Podcast

      57 Listeners

      The Diary Of A CEO with Steven Bartlett by DOAC

      The Diary Of A CEO with Steven Bartlett

      8,859 Listeners

      Feel Better, Live More with Dr Rangan Chatterjee by Dr Rangan Chatterjee: GP & Author

      Feel Better, Live More with Dr Rangan Chatterjee

      3,976 Listeners

      Anything Goes with James English by Anything Goes with James English

      Anything Goes with James English

      326 Listeners

      How To Fail With Elizabeth Day by Elizabeth Day and Sony Music Entertainment

      How To Fail With Elizabeth Day

      1,196 Listeners

      The High Performance Podcast by High Performance

      The High Performance Podcast

      596 Listeners

      Working Hard with Grace Beverley by Grace Beverley

      Working Hard with Grace Beverley

      200 Listeners

      The Startup Ideas Podcast by Greg Isenberg

      The Startup Ideas Podcast

      212 Listeners

      The Rest Is Politics by Goalhanger

      The Rest Is Politics

      3,840 Listeners

      The News Agents by Global

      The News Agents

      1,249 Listeners

      Bad Money by Kindling Media & Vespucci

      Bad Money

      22 Listeners

      The Rest Is Money by Goalhanger

      The Rest Is Money

      199 Listeners

      Begin Again with Davina McCall by Begin Again

      Begin Again with Davina McCall

      643 Listeners

      The Room Where It Happened by High Performance

      The Room Where It Happened

      2 Listeners