Leadership Greater Chicago is a civic networking and leadership development organization, Founded in 1986, each year 35 up-and-coming business and nonprofit leaders are put together in a class to explore major issues of the Chicago region. Tom was a member of the Class of 1990. On November 18 he hosted a forum on "The Power of Creativity and Culture in the Chicago Region" at the Lookingglass Theatre in the Pumping Station at Water Tower Place.
From left to right: Rachel Kraft, Executive Director of
Lookingglass Theatre; Rita Athas, Executive Director of
World Business Chicago; Dr. Thomas Tirpak, Innovation Champion at
Motorola; Tom Tresser.
Here are my opening remarks:
Good morning and thanks for attending Leadership Greater Chicago’s first program on creativity and culture. We’re going to look at how creativity and culture affect the Chicago region and its economy. We’ve got three great speakers for you and a creative environment in which to hear them.
Before we start I’d like to offer a few ideas to keep in the back – or front – of your mind…
Creativity and culture operates in a few distinct dimensions – it’s a heritage thing, it’s an economy thing and it’s a personal transformation thing…
Point #1 – Heritage – Would you believe that the establishment of this country was a daring act of design and innovation?
John Adams said this in an 1815 letter to Thomas Jefferson: "The War was no part of the Revolution...It was only an effect and consequence of it. The Revolution was in the minds of the people, and this was effected...years before a drop of blood was drawn at Lexington." America is truly a “work in progress” – a march of democratic creativity where more is possible, more is dreamed and more is done. In this marketplace of ideas, we are only supposed to care about what is in your heart and head and not about your pedigree or parentage (or who you sleep with or what you had for breakfast). That’s why 38 million who were not born here are in America right now. Creativity = opportunity = innovation = prosperity.
Which leads to Point #2 – Economic Prosperity. The Creative Economy is a major part of the U.S. and regional economic picture. Nationally, the core copyright industries in 2005 generated $1.4 trillion. That’s bigger than the chemical and related industries. Bigger than the motor vehicle and parts industries. Bigger than the aircraft and associated equipment industries. Bigger than the medicinal and pharmaceutical products industries.
According to Richard Florida, Director of the Martin Prosperity Institute and Professor of Business and Creativity at the Rotman School of Management, University of Toronto, there are over 38 million people in America who make their living from their creative work, this group represents about 30% of the labor force, but they account for 49% of wages earned.
In Illinois, in 2006 some 1.7 million people worked full time in what Florida has identified as creativity-related employment. That’s 30% of total employment. According to the Metro Chicago Information Center, that picture is similar for Chicago – where 1.3 million of those 1.7 million people are located.
But the presence or absence of creative people is much more than a head count.
There is such a thing as the Council on Competiveness in Washington, D.C. They’ve been working on a massive policy project for over four years – the National Innovation Initiative – and their report, “Innovate America” is pretty definitive. Their tagline for the entire project is “Innovate or abdicate” The CEO’s of 11 major U.S. companies and 8 research universities put their names to it and stated on the first page of this report: "RESOLVED...Innovation will be the single most important factor in determining America's success through the 21st century."
Pretty dramatic. Sounds like life or death.
Now to Point #3 – Creativity and personal development, which actually forms a feedback loop and circles back to Points #1 and #2.
How do we create an environment where every person can invent, create and contribute to their fullest potential?
Albert Einstein knew something about creativity and innovation. Have you heard one of his most repeated quotes? "Imagination is more important than knowledge." What could he have meant by that? He certainly knew a lot. But the scientist and theorist who turned physics upside down and inside out imagined much, much more...
This celebrated quote comes from an interview Einstein did for the Saturday Evening Post, October 26, 1929. He said,
"If I were not a physicist, I would probably be a musician. I often think in music. I live my daydreams in music. I see my life in terms of music...I am enough of an artist to draw freely upon my imagination. Imagination is more important than knowledge. Knowledge in limited. Imagination encircles the world." My friends – my fellow Chicago leaders - Listen to Albert. Dream big dreams. Imagination comes before the great breakthroughs.
Imagination comes before the next cure of an "incurable" disease. Imagination comes before the next “killer ap” that will have us waiting in line at the Apple store. Imagination comes before the next beautiful song that will make you weep or make you dance. Imagination is America’s number one energy source. It has been since the founding. It is inexhaustible and forever renewable. But we can waste it and we can ignore out. Our job – it seems to me – is to expand, accelerate, levitate and celebrate Chicago’s imaginative resources.
Here is Tom Tirpak's presentation:
