A humanist in Silicon Valley, Tim is the rare business leader who understands both tech and enchantment, AI and EQ.
NAVI RADJOU, Co-author of “Frugal Innovation” and "Frugal Society"
Tim encourages us in a playful yet reflective way to find beauty and meaning in business and shows us how small, everyday actions can help us build a more humane economy.
KLAUS SCHWAB, Founder and Executive Chairman, World Economic Forum
If more people and workplaces followed Tim’s rules of enchantment, our jobs would be more fulfilling.
ADAM GRANT, Author of “Give and Take” and “Originals”
I’m in love with Tim’s celebration of Business Romantics. It will inspire you to think bigger, aim higher, and do something meaningful.
WILLIAM TAYLOR, Co-founder of Fast Company
Tim is a visionary who’s not only forward-thinking but also knows how to inspire people around him. Refreshing!
CLARA DELETRAZ, Co-Founder, Switch Collective
Every hard, calculating business person can benefit from Tim’s unabashedly soft, humanistic approach to unlocking the potential in organizations.
JOHN MAEDA Partner, author of The Laws of Simplicity and Redesigning Leadership
A lively debate as part of the new BAŞKA FELSEFE ("Another Philosophy") series in Istanbul
Business-as-usual is no longer working. AI, climate crisis, wellbeing, remote work: our long-held conventions of productivity, profit, and prosperity are becoming less and less relevant in light of existential crises and exponential change. A range of new concepts and frameworks are proposing alternative ways for us to collaborate and create value. Which qualities will be Read More
Tim will speak at this virtual conference hosted by the Acosta Institute
Tim will be a speaker at the 2024 International Healing-Centered Education Conference: Capacity-Building in Times of Change, a virtual event on December 7-8, 2024 presented by the Acosta Institute. The conference will bring together educators, leaders, and practitioners dedicated to creating resilient, inclusive learning environments and explore actionable strategies for navigating today’s complex social, political, Read More
Tim co-curated and co-hosted this dinner on the eve of the Dubai Future Forum
by Tim Leberecht Data, prediction markets, scenarios, foresight, strategic planning, speculative design, imagination, science fiction – there are countless ways to envision and plan for the future. Attending the Dubai Future Forum, the world’s largest gathering of futurists, this week, however, I couldn’t help but ponder a heretical question: Does the future get any better Read More
Tim contributed to a report by the House of Beautiful Business and Hotwire
by Tim Leberecht I’m excited to share the new “AI Beyond Efficiency” report by the House of Beautiful Business and Hotwire to which I had the pleasure to contribute, alongside my colleagues Martha Schabas and Till Grusche. Inspired by our explorations of “Beautiful AI” in the past year, we argue that brands must move beyond Read More
Masculinity, loneliness, transactionalism, and the end of reality
by Tim Leberecht “I respect Americans. They seek democracy everywhere.” — Yves Saint Laurent YSL The Saturday before the U.S. election I visited the Yves Saint Laurent Museum in Marrakech for the first time. Morocco had long been the late French fashion designer’s chosen second home, and along with his partner Pierre Bergé, he spent a Read More
Tim spoke about authenticity, playing to play (not win), and ‘embracing the unmeasurable’.
Tim Leberecht is the German–American co-CEO of the House of Beautiful Business, a global think tank and community of over 50,000 people that aims to make humans more human and business more beautiful. His 2015 book The Business Romantic was an international bestseller. He speaks to The Beautiful Truth about how businesses – and humans – can thrive Read More
Minimalism vs. Maximalism: What is the right way to deal with Trump and AI?
by Tim Leberecht I was cross-reading two articles this week: Adam Gopnik’s “How Alarmed Should We Be If Trump Wins Again?” in The New Yorker and Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei’s “Machines of Loving Grace,” an essay aiming to provide a non-alarmist, cautiously optimistic vision for AI. There are parallels: Gopnik distinguishes between Trump minimalists, those Read More
…and why it is at the center of the life-centered economy
by Tim Leberecht Can you hear the soul of a city? This is the question at the heart of German-Turkish filmmaker Fatih Akin’s 2005 movie Crossing the Bridge in which multi-instrumentalist and producer Alexander Hacke, a member of legendary German avantgarde band Einstürzende Neubauten, travels to Istanbul to explore its rich musical landscape. He arrives in the Read More
by Tim Leberecht The frenzy around Generative AI continues. Last week, OpenAI released its much anticipated Strawberry model, allegedly capable of the most sophisticated extended-reasoning we’ve seen yet. Earlier this year, filmmaker Gary Hustwit announced the premiere of something unanticipated: a generative documentary on the legendary musician, composer, and producer Brian Eno. Curated by algorithms, this groundbreaking new film (or entire film genre) is Read More
Tim gave the keynote at IT industry conference VarTech in Orlando, Florida
Tim gave the keynote at VarTech, the annual gathering of IT company BlueStar which took place in Orlando, Florida, this year and gathered 1500 C-level execs and senior managers from resellers and BlueStar clients. Tim’s keynote was part of a program track curated and hosted by TED and moderated by TED curator Cyndi Stivers that Read More
by Tim Leberecht Could it be that a human-centered approach to business is not the solution but in fact the very root cause of the problems we’re facing? And, specifically, will our desire to humanize machines make them inhumane? And us, perhaps, as well? I was reminded of these questions this weekend when I saw Read More
by Tim Leberecht Long before Elon Musk spoke with Donald Trump, I did! Sort of. A magazine set up a “fake interview” by confronting me (I had just published my first book, The Business Romantic) with quotes from Trump: Business Romantic vs. Business Cynic, that was the idea. The article is from 2015, and it was clearly Read More
Tim spoke to The Beautiful Truth about authenticity, playing to play (not win), and ‘embracing the unmeasurable.'
Tim was interviewed by The Beautiful Truth magazine, a publication whose mission, topics, and aesthetics are, for lack of a better word, beautifully aligned with the work at the House of Beautiful Business. Tim spoke about beauty in business, our humanity in an age of AI, playing to play (not win), embracing the unmeasurable, and Read More
Join Tim in New York during UN Week to write a powerful counter-narrative to the polycrisis
Polycrisis? Polyopportunity! Flip the dystopian script and join Tim during UN Week in New York City on September 19/20 for a brain trust gathering that the House of Beautiful Business is hosting in partnership with its friends at the Acosta Institute, an organization with the mission to advance healing-centered cultures. With a select group of Read More
“Nothing is more powerful than an idea whose time has come,” wrote Victor Hugo. He could have been writing about this year’s Paris Olympics.
by Tim Leberecht In July 2004, I stood inside Tahrir Square in Cairo and cheered as runners carried a silver cylinder capped by an orange flame. It was a procession that marked two important firsts: the Olympic torch on African soil and the global Olympic Torch Relay, which would become an iconic opening tradition, heralding Read More
It’s not “Runway of Power” or other deep fakes that distort our concept of reality. It’s reality itself.
by Tim Leberecht Matt Klein, the head of foresight at Reddit and creator of the newsletter Zine, thinks the world is getting weirder. If “weird” describes societal norms being turned on their head—if it means being “an outsider in an insider world,” as Olga Khazan, the author of the book Weird, claims—then Klein is definitely onto something. These days, Read More
What gives you hope amidst the polycrisis? How do you define well-being in an era marked by algorithmic disruptions? Why is a life-centered economy pivotal for nurturing the health of both the planet and the individual? At the World Hope Forum, for the first time curated and hosted – virtually – by Germany and focused Read More
Tim gave the keynote at the all-hands summit of Westernacher Group in Heidelberg, Germany,
by Tim Leberecht I had the pleasure of giving the keynote at Westernacher Group’s (Westernacher Consulting & Westernacher Solutions) all-hands summit in Heidelberg last week. One of Germany’s, if not the world’s, most romantic cities, Heidelberg was the center of German Romanticism and is famed for its rich academic history that boasts some of the Read More
AI is simplifying our understanding of the world and then disseminating that simplification. If that trend continues, we could find ourselves living in a reality that’s much less rich, with absolutely no resonance.
by Tim Leberecht No one likes a grammar pedant. English is not my mother tongue, and I’m certainly guilty of the occasional dangling modifier or unclear pronoun. I take comfort in the fact that proper usage is an always-evolving concept and that the line between error and poetic license can be delightfully hazy. Yesterday’s malapropisms Read More
Tim was a guest on the Making Business Art podcast
Tim was in in-depth conversation with Ezequiel Williams on his podcast Making Business Art. They spoke about why the future of business lies outside business; why emotional intimacy at and through work is key to solving many of our current woes — from hashtag#loneliness to hashtag#polarization; the qualities of transformative experiences such as the ones we Read More
The importance of vibrations — good and bad — in an age of digital monotony
by Tim Leberecht No one likes a grammar pedant. English is not my mother tongue, and I’m certainly guilty of the occasional dangling modifier or unclear pronoun. I take comfort in the fact that proper usage is an always-evolving concept, and that the line between error and poetic license can be delightfully hazy. Yesterday’s Read More
Nine years after the release of my first book, THE BUSINESS ROMANTIC, and four years after my second, AGAINST THE TYRANNY OF WINNERS, I’m excited to share that I’m embarking on a new book project. Titled PICKY and inspired by my work with the House of Beautiful Business, the new book will make the case Read More
On film and in real life, just being—and not acting—is hard but essential.
by Tim Leberecht Is romantic love experiencing its own kind of polycrisis? The so-called “fairy-tale industrial complex” (a term coined by love coach Francesca Hogi) keeps our expectations of finding the one soaring high above reality. At the same time, polyamory has gone mainstream, providing an alluring alternative to traditional romantic tropes. Meanwhile, the self-help movement has monetized Read More
Tim spoke at the Living Room Sessions series by Mount Anvil in London.
As a guest speaker at the Living Rooms series of London-based property developer Mount Anvil, Tim discussed how to build a business that embraces intuition, intimacy, and multiple forms of intelligence (cognitive, emotional, relational, somatic, artificial): a beautiful, life-centered business. Tim spoke to a room full of guests about what companies can learn from marriage counsellors, where Read More
Bilingualism, code-switching, AI, VR, empathy, poetry, and beauty
by Tim Leberecht Before my daughter was born, I made a habit of speaking German to her mother’s belly, hoping she would internalize my first language in utero. I rambled aloud about beer festivals and black forest cake, played 99 Luftballons at high volume, read excerpts of Schopenhauer and Goethe, and intonated the longest of the long Read More
Tim gave a talk and hosted a breakfast session at The Conduit in Oslo.
In the face of the disruptions caused by Artificial Intelligence, and the effects of late capitalism on our wellbeing and the health of our planet and societies, business is undergoing a profound shift. In his talk at The Conduit, a collaborative community of social changemakers in Oslo, Tim argued that going forward, the most important work Read More
Tim and the House of Beautiful Business will be at the Annual Meeting of the World Economic Forum in Davos.
The Annual Meeting of the World Economic Forum in Davos is upon us again—and Tim will will bring beauty to business with the House of Beautiful Business. On Monday, January 15, he will contribute to a session hosted by SAP on “How to Build Cultures of Belonging and Trust in Times of AI,” alongside Kim Dabbs, Global VP, ESG and Social Read More
A list of terms, ideas, concepts, and words for sad times
An end-of-the-year The New Yorker article proposed some entertaining epithets for our current decade: the terrible twenties; the new dark ages; the assholocene. And indeed, if something is bad right now, it’s probably rising: sea levels, inflation, violent conflict, partisanship, unemployment, fascist populism, income inequality. The tally of grievances has definitely gotten longer, and it seem as Read More
Listen to Tim talk about business romanticism, thoughtful dissent, and joyful activism.
Tim was a guest on the Let’s Crew and Riot podcast, hosted by Chin Ru Foo. In this eoiosde, Chin and Tim talk about his intentions for 2024, the value (and difficulty) of thoughtful dissent, the different roles we can all play in social change (from activism to storytellers) and what ‘Between the Two of Us’ means Read More
by Tim Leberecht 2023 has been a year of trauma. For a word that once had a rigid clinical definition, trauma has undergone a rebrand. You need only scroll through social media for a taste of the many things the term can now describe. On TraumaTok and TraumaGram, a new generation of trauma-informed youth wield therapy-speak to Read More
Neither the political nor the personal can be “fixed.”
by Tim Leberecht On a gray morning last spring, I found myself pausing over a friend’s email. “I hope your wonderful broken heart is filled with gratitude and love today,” she wrote. I wasn’t sure what to make of her words. Were they a tribute to the prevailing wonderfulness of my heart or a lament Read More
Tim was a guest on the Go Out and Talk to Strangers podcast by Adi Cohen
Adi Cohen and Tim talked about the origins, mission, and gatherings of the House of Beautiful Business, his wildest “back-of-a-napkin” dream for the House (and me personally), the design principles of a transformative experience, the difference between real and pseudo community, the life-centered economy and why falling in love makes us feel alive, the key Read More
The OpenAI drama: Would AI have managed it better?
by Tim Leberecht & Martha Schabas The “crazy ones” are at it again. Dev Patnaik, CEO and founder of consultancy Jump Associates, recently blindsided Forbes subscribers with a provocative argument: The true heir to Steve Jobs isn’t Tim Cook, Elon Musk, or Sundar Pichai, but billionaire pop queen Taylor Swift. Meanwhile, all eyes are on Sam Altman Read More
by Tim Leberecht and Martha Schabas We’re living through a moment of dizzying contradiction. Our news feeds are saturated with images of the most horrific violence and suffering. Doom-scrolling through the worst of it, you’d be forgiven for wondering whether human progress is illusory. With ongoing wars in Europe and the Middle East, history can Read More
by Tim Leberecht “We do not exist in the majority of these times; in some you exist, and not I; in others I, and not you; in others, both of us.” — Jorge Luis Borges, from The Garden of Forking Paths Reality, as we knew it, has ended. It wasn’t a catastrophic event; rather, it was Read More
by Tim Leberecht The dream: AI will exponentially enhance our productivity and creativity. It will optimize everything that can be optimized, freeing us humans up to do work that truly matters. It will lead to new breakthroughs in science, scale up mental health services, detect and cure cancer, and more. It will finally enable Read More
Oppenheimer, Altman, and the order of the universe
by Tim Leberecht Already got your eyeballs scanned by Worldcoin so you can prove your humanhood? What sounds like a line from Spielberg’s 2002 film Minority Report refers in fact to Open AI Sam Altman’s new digital identification system and cryptocurrency. Touted by its founders as the savior of democracy, Worldcoin appears to have botched its launch, with European Read More
by Tim Leberecht My dear, First, I have a choice to make: am I writing this for you or for us? And is this “us” the world, or is it…us? Am I writing this just so that I can feel close to you? Am I writing because I believe, presumptuously, that you want my Read More
by Tim Leberecht AI is here to stay. Are we? In a recent interview, Mustafa Suleyman, co-founder of Google DeepMind, the company on a mission to generate Artificial General Intelligence (AGI), warned of the risks of AI — its “omni use” and “asymmetrical effects”, as well as its inherent rogue tendencies and those of AI-powered humans Read More
Tim was interviewed on silent dinners, 'coming alive' as a KPI, and poetry in corporate reports.
Field Notes Welcome explorers! Sometimes it seems that beauty – meaning art, design, dance, poetry, and philosophy – has no place in the day-to-day corporate world. But in this month’s issue, we have a conversation with Tim Leberecht, who has made beauty his business by reimagining the experience of how professionals gather, from Davos to the dinner table. Read More
The AI chatbot’s limitations allow us to appreciate our own.
by Tim Leberecht Jeannette Neustadt, a director at the Goethe Institute, the German cultural embassy, gave some opening remarks for an AI conference she hosted last week. As an experienced public speaker, a welcome speech was a common task for her. But this one was different. Instead of presenting the text herself, she played a Read More
by Tim Leberecht It was always going to end in tears. Argentina won the World Cup, the first time since 1986. Their captain, Lionel Messi, finally earned his crown as the greatest footballer of all time (as well as, more controversially, an Arabic bisht). I would have cried regardless of whether Messi’s team won or lost, Read More
Have we reached a peak in individual intelligence?
by Tim Leberecht Collective intelligence is on the rise—and it is, in fact, much more effective than our individual brains. That’s the main argument that neuroscientist and bestselling author Hannah Critchlow presents in her new book, Joined-Up Thinking, in which she claims that a connected group of brains will almost always produce better results than the so-called lone genius: in how we Read More
A truly human workplace is not one that wants to make us happy all the time, contends Tim Leberecht.
by Tim Leberecht Emotions are energy in motion. Without them, we wouldn’t feel compelled to act, create, or move an inch. This is why they are so vital, not just in our personal lives, but also in the workplace. A company’s formal organizational structure is always invisibly overlaid with an informal network of relationships fueled by Read More
by Tim Leberecht Summer travel, travel from hell. I just flew with United Airlines from Berlin, Germany, to Atlanta, Georgia, and it took me exactly 24 hours door to door, due to some weather-related delay during my stopover in New York. My journey was not helped by the notorious Great Resignation-caused staff shortage in the Read More
Tim was interviewed as part of the Allwork.Space "Future of Work" podcast series.
In discussion with Allwork.Space’s Future of Work podcast, Tim Leberecht explains that his namesake “means right to live or live the right life.” It’s fitting, as Leberecht has spent the last several years exploring what it means to create a meaningful, beautiful life, and how the workplace plays a role in doing so. That’s why he Read More
Tim was referenced in the essay “Routine Maintenance” by Meghan O’Gieblyn that appeared in Harper’s Magazine in December 2021. Illustrations by Miriam Martincic
The rush into the virtual world must be accompanied by a return to the natural, physical, and spiritual.
by Tim Leberecht and Monika Jiang Our world is undergoing profound changes: global warming and loss of species, growing social division and far-right populism, toxic tech culture and looming cyberwars, the pandemic, a crisis of loneliness, The Great Resignation. And business is changing fast, too. Out: Old-school bosses, command-and-control, binaries, profit first, win-win, an obsession Read More
At the workplace and beyond, humiliation presents an opportunity to learn and grow.
by Tim Leberecht In an in-depth main-stage conversation at Concrete Love, this year’s festival of the House of Beautiful Business that I co-curated, philosophers Bayo Akomolafe and Charles Eisenstein spoke about humiliation as a prerequisite of humility, and called for “technologies of humiliation.” I was struck by this coinage. In 2020, I published a book (in German) right into the Read More
Take a hard stance on Russia, but accompany it with a softening of your culture.
by Tim Leberecht and Monika Jiang The Russian invasion of Ukraine is a watershed moment not only for the geopolitical order but also for business. After decades of struggling with finding proper responses to dynamic social norms, and wavering in light of ethically questionable clients and practices, it seems as if business has finally woken up to a world that Read More
The world is facing an unprecedented pace of change. In a day of talks and performances, a diverse group of experts explored how to stay ahead of the curve — covering everything from the value of purpose in business to the democratization of storytelling and the exciting potential of human-AI collaboration. TED@BCG 2022 was the Read More
Tim was quoted in an article by WorkHuman providing an overview of how COVID has changed the workplace.
Tim was quoted in this article by WorkHuman that was published in Quartz: “To help workers cope with the dynamic nature of business, whether it’s a new vacation policy, a pivot in strategy, or a change in leadership, you’ve got to increase employee engagement and communication now and be extra cognizant of those who never get the Read More
It was unimaginable and is heartbreaking, but it had to end like this.
No matter how hard I’ve tried, how stubbornly I’ve denied the facts or claimed indifference, I just couldn’t stop thinking about it over the past few days: Lionel Messi, the GOAT (greatest of all time) footballer, is leaving his lifelong club, FC Barcelona — Barca, as the fans, and I’m one of them, call it. Read More
As we gather again, we realize what we missed most is feeling together.
by Tim Leberecht First things first: the annual gathering of the House of Beautiful Business will return this fall, in Lisbon (“the capital of beautiful business”) and around the world, for five glorious days of CONCRETE LOVE. Please save these dates: Thursday, October 28 — Monday, November 1, 2021 and go to concretelove.house for details on everything there is to know at this Read More
by Tim Leberecht In the business world, the idea of “literacy” is often taken for granted. We like to think we know what we’re looking at, that we’re in touch with our customers, and up-to-date on trends. But we often judge a book by its cover, and that is often not good enough. Business can Read More
To attract and retain a post-pandemic workforce, nomadism must transcend lifestyle to become an organizational quality.
by Tim Leberecht Now that the vaccination campaigns, in developed nations at least, are gaining speed, we, the privileged ones, are erasing the pandemic like a bad memory, shaking it off our clothes and bodies and souls like the flu. Despite all the talk about a great reset, we are more or less returning to Read More
Instead of better listeners, we must become more intentional speakers.
by Tim Leberecht “Everything that needed to be said was said, but no one was listening, so it needs to be said again,” the French writer André Gide once observed. For decades, business literature has been replete with calls to elevate listening skills. From “Chief Listening Officers” to the Listen-Thinking methodology of the startup Tirezio, a plethora Read More
The map of moral leadership at work has been redrawn.
by Tim Leberecht Basecamp was one of those companies known for “getting it.” It had long prided itself on being a unique moral and strategic voice among same-same tech with a keen ear for customer and employee needs. Jason Fried and David Heinemeier Hansson, the two founders, were seen as progressive voices on the future Read More
by Tim Leberecht An entrepreneur and mother of a seven-year-old son once told me something she admitted she would never share publicly: “My company is my second child.” “I know this may sound frivolous if not unacceptable,” she explained, “not just because of gender expectations, but because it may seem naïve to equate actual human Read More
What are their cultural implications for business?
by Tim Leberecht Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs) are the latest craze of the crypto economy — but unlike previous hypes, e.g. Bitcoin, they appear to be moving into the mainstream much faster. They are exciting, game-changing, empowering. They are the latest example of group-think, the new bragging rights of the wealthy. They finally give creators and artists the Read More
by Tim Leberecht “I can’t wait to hear from you” is the ultimate compliment. That’s why I was intrigued when Casper ter Kuile, author of The Power of Rituals, recently reached out to me. Seeking some feedback on a new initiative of his, he sent me a voice memo, and asked me to share my response Read More
Delivered, the magazine of DHL with a global readership of nearly half a million customers, published Tim's article on "How to become a successful loser."
by Tim Leberecht From our earliest days, we are told that there is no good alternative to winning. As kids, we compete for attention in our families, for grades and friends at school, and for victories in sports. Later, as we enter the world of work, we learn we must succeed, or aim for success Read More
Friendship may be the only retreat from the all-encompassing market society.
by Tim Leberecht What is the deal you and I have? It’s a slightly uncomfortable question to ask, especially for me. Deals and I don’t make for good bedfellows. I’m a self-proclaimed romantic and can’t think of a more obvious counterpoint to my worldview than the cut-and-dried, matter-of-fact nature of deals. Transaction versus transcendence is never a Read More
Paying attention is a start, regenerating attention is the end.
by Tim Leberecht Can I please have 5 minutes of your undivided attention? Attention is the currency of love — and of the digital economy. Both intersect (in fact, collide) at the very moment when the primary challenge for anyone in a relationship is to be more compelling than the partner’s smartphone, as the writer Read More
It is time to re-think — and re-feel — the king’s discipline of business.
by Tim Leberecht If I’m honest, I make most decisions with my gut, and then I come up with a strategy to post-rationalize them. So I can wholeheartedly relate to what the entrepreneur and writer Luke Burgis says: “Show me your strategy, and I show you your desire.” Burgis is the author of the upcoming book Wanting that explores how Read More
Turns out, people behave (and feel) like people, writes Tim Leberecht.
by Tim Leberecht A few years ago, I went to my barber shop in San Francisco’s Noe Valley, and as my barber, Arvin, cut my hair I observed his colleague, Jane, who was serving a customer, an elderly woman. When she was done with the haircut and after the woman had paid, Jane took her and Read More
The future workplace won’t be hybrid. Liquid is more like it.
by Tim Leberecht Conferences may be dead, but the panel discussion is alive and kicking — on Clubhouse. The much-hyped social app connects members (one still needs to be invited to join) via audio-only conversation rooms where they can either host, contribute to, or simply listen to a conversation. What started last year as an exclusive Read More
We need to build workplaces where you can lose without being considered a “loser.”
by Tim Leberecht Leaders – whether in politics or business – are understandably focused on winning. To come out on top is an inherent human desire; it shows we have impact and yields both financial and psychological rewards. Countless management books preach about how to win customers, form winning teams, and beat the competition. Losing Read More
We can practice the antidote to "overwork, overdoing, and underliving."
by Tim Leberecht Me: “What did you do at school today?” My 11-year daughter: “Nothing.” One of the toughest things in these lockdown days is coming to terms with doing nothing. I feel like I’ve exhausted myself simply by doing nothing. Sure, this period is a chance for introspection, to explore our interior lives, but Read More
Twitter and Facebook suspended Trump’s accounts. It’s the right thing to do, albeit more than four years too late, and yet still truly disturbing.
by Tim Leberecht Wikipedia CEO Katherine Maher tweeted: “It must be satisfying to de-platform fascists. Even more satisfying: not platforming them in the first place.” Indeed, when social media companies suddenly pretend to discover their conscience, like those Trump-enabling Republican leaders — from Betsy DeVos to Mitch McConnell — who are jumping ship after it has sunk, Read More
To make material and immaterial improvements to business, let’s cut to the heart of the matter.
by Tim Leberecht Love. I have always tiptoed around it. It’s the most important, most delicate matter. Nothing is more interesting, more essential, but for that very reason there is nothing more trivial. This is especially true in business, where the use of “love” has become inflationary. From brands as “Lovemarks” to the self-motivational motto Read More
Tim appeared in an episode of the Impact Journey podcast series.
Conversations with hidden heroes making big societal change. Many of us want to make life better for others and the planet. Few people devote their life to it. Even fewer try to tackle the big systemic issues, like climate change, inequality, consumerism. In years working at the intersection of impact and strategy, Julia S. has Read More
Life between two kingdoms, the loss of control, the end of winning, the microbiocene, intimacy — and silence.
by Tim Leberecht Yuri van Geest, Canay Atalay, and Rudy de Waele, the founders of the Conscious Learning Tribe, asked me to contribute to their last Un-Conference of the year. It was great to see Canay and Rudy again — they had spoken and run workshops at the first two House of Beautiful Business gatherings in 2017 — Read More
This has been a year of super-recognition: seeing things we hadn’t seen before and understanding how we see.
by Tim Leberecht Can you still remember the face of the person who sold you your first iPhone way back when? If you answered yes, then you might indeed be a so-called super-recognizer. Think you’ve got what it takes? Take the online test to find out. James Dunn, a cognitive psychologist at the University of New South Wales Read More
The story of the Pfizer/BioNTech partnership shows us what is possible.
by Tim Leberecht My dad will receive a vaccine long before me. He’s 80, a three-time cancer survivor, and easily the most vulnerable member of our family. Alas, I’m also secretly jealous that he will be able to return to life as we knew it sooner while I’m still more or less isolated at home. A German satire Read More
From the Getting Things Done movement to Microsoft’s Productivity Score, when personal productivity meets digital surveillance, it does real harm to workers. Is it time to move beyond it?
by Tim Leberecht A recent article in The New Yorker by Cal Newport, author of Deep Work, titled “The Rise and Fall of Getting Things Done,” pinpointed the discomfort I’ve always felt with one of the main skills required of the “knowledge worker”: personal productivity. Google it and you’ll find hundreds of thousands of articles and blog posts Read More
Will Joe Biden’s victory usher in a new brand of leadership?
by Tim Leberecht In her New York Times review of Barack Obama’s memoir, A Promised Land, the writer Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie calls him “an overwhelmingly decent man.” And by all accounts, that’s an accurate verdict. Decency has also been referred to quite often in the past few days and weeks to describe the president-elect of the U.S., Joe Read More
To lead beautifully means finding the right words for someone else’s work.
by Tim Leberecht This week has been one of the darkest of the year: sunsets at 4 PM here in Berlin where I live, and in the U.S. alone the number of COVID cases is growing exponentially, with as many as one in 300 Americans now testing positive. But there is light, too. Along with Read More
After the US election, in between champagne and pepper spray, there is hope and a need for “a more beautiful everything.”
by Tim Leberecht Just a few weeks after I, a privileged German immigrant, became an American citizen in September 2008, I cast my vote in California for Barack Obama to become the first African-American president of the United States. I remember watching his acceptance speech with friends in San Francisco’s Noe Valley district, and took Read More
An interview with Tim Leberecht about the House of Beautiful Business, new leadership, and intimacy in pandemic times
Kaj Lofgren, Head of Strategy at Small Giants Academy, speaks with Tim Leberecht, the founder of the House of Beautiful Business, a global think tank and community for making humans more human and business more beautiful. KAJ LOFGREN: I feel like I have to start with the obvious question of where do you find yourself Read More
Companies, too, must move beyond the Anthropocene.
by Tim Leberecht Nature is excellent business. The World Economic Forum projects that if countries and businesses prioritize nature, they could generate $10.1 trillion in annual value and create 395 million jobs by the end of 2030. McKinsey touts the “bio revolution,” and BCG views “Deep Tech” as “the third wave of innovation,” referring to the combination of advanced bio-fabrication and machine Read More
Tim was a guest at the Corporate Unplugged podcast
Tim Leberecht helps organisations and individuals create transformative visions, stories and experiences. He’s also the co-founder and co-curator of the House Of Beautiful Business, a global think tank and a community for leaders and changemakers with a mission to humanise business. Having spent 15 years in Silicon Valley, he began to see its cracks. He Read More
Tim was featured in the podcast series "The World Needs Magic"
The World Needs Magic by Abracademy is a podcast series about the magic of people, teams, and organizations, and the episode with Tim is all about beauty, romance, and magic in the workplace. Tim spoke about the need for a new culture of losing, why we tend to overstay our tenures and relationships, and what Read More
From UBI, to Doughnut Economics, the Long-Term Stock Exchange, Humanocracy, Exit To Community, Zebra Startups, and Steward Ownership
by Tim Leberecht Wherever we look these days, capitalism — late capitalism or even zombie-capitalism, some would say — is showing its ugly results. Horrendous wildfires on the US West Coast, obscenely high levels of social inequality everywhere, structural racism, growing political polarization, declining support for democracy, and (mostly) lip service by top CEOs, who, Read More
From holding a space for grief, talking politics, to entering the Multiverse.
by Tim Leberecht Doom-and-gloom is alien to a function that is expected to attract talent, enhance employee wellbeing, and promote a positive story of development and growth. Trauma, sadness, depression, uncertainty, and doubt are not part of HR’s usual repertoire. However, the events of this year, from the pandemic to the protests against structural racism, Read More
When the world is on fire, how do we build community?
by Tim Leberecht As a former long-time Bay Area resident, I find it heartbreaking to watch the images from this past week. The fact that the Burning Man festival, the quintessential West Coast gathering — an event “that is Silicon Valley,” as Elon Musk once described it — ended just a few days before yet another wave Read More
Tim was featured on the Catching The Next Great Wave podcast, along with House of Beautiful Business co-curator Monika Jiang.
On data and romanticism, the myth of “alignment,” infinite games, emotional intimacy, beautiful business, and the shape of The Great Wave , Tim was a guest on the Catching The Next Wave podcast with his colleague, House of Beautiful Business co-curator Monika Jiang.: In the age of machines business needs more romanticism. In this bonus episode we talk to Tim Leberecht, the author Read More
Tim gave an online talk as part of the Future Generali Masters Speak series.
There is no going back to business-as-usual after the COVID-19 pandemic. Tim Leberecht, the founder of the House of Beautiful Business, believes that businesses do better when they are soft, soulful, and socially responsible. He presented his vision of Beautiful Business as part of the Future Generali Masters Speak series, which also featured Tom Peters, Read More
Authenticity can come from what you hide, not just what you show.
by Tim Leberecht Without doubt, the object of the year is the mask. Covering many faces and missing from some, the pandemic has made the mask a prominent feature of daily life, becoming both a fashion statement and locus of culture wars, straddling fraught ideological fault lines. Some find it unmanly to wear one, others Read More
The pandemic has shown us that the future of humanity is more-than-human community.
by Tim Leberecht This week, my new book, Against the Tyranny of Winners: How We Can Lose Without Being Losers, was published in Germany (the English edition should be released next year). It’s my second book (after The Business Romantic in 2015) and the most personal and political text I’ve ever written. Unlike The Business Romantic, I wrote the Read More
The pandemic has catapulted us into the quantum age of non-binaries
by Tim Leberecht When astronauts look down on planet earth from space, their feeling of awe is often described as the “overview effect.” The experience is reportedly quite moving and leads to bigger-picture thinking, including a sense of intimate responsibility for the planet’s wellbeing as well as a deep connection with its citizens. The COVID-19 Read More
Your main task: create intimacy and presence from a distance
by Tim Leberecht Twitter, Facebook, and even good old Siemens have done it: allowing large parts of their workforce to work from home. Whether remote work is the new normal or not, it certainly feels somewhat antiquated these days to let the workplace—and your talent strategy—be limited by physical location. Companies allowing their employees to work from home Read More
Tim was a guest at the Transformation Universe podcast and spoke about profit and purpose, business romanticism, the magnifying glass and overview effect of COVID-19, and the challenge of hiring the right people.
Christina Boesenberg and Daniel Breitwieser interviewed Tim for their Transformation Universe podcast, and they had a far-reaching conversation about: – hiring fuck ups – the death of humanism – romanticism in business – imagination, resilience and the lack of smart decisions during crises – the collective mid-life crises imposed by COVID-19 and its possibilities for Read More
The act of noticing is the beginning of social change.
Last week I had a new experience which was actually a deja vu. I visited the same art exhibit twice within a few days: Lee Mingwei’s “禮 Li, Gifts and Rituals” in Berlin. The show features several in-person and digital performances, one of which, Sonic Blossom — a song received by one visitor the singer selects. In Read More
by Tim Leberecht If we want a true reset after this crisis, and not go back to “normal,” we need to do much more than reexamine shareholder value, profit maximization, and other business fundamentals. We need to loosen our attachments to money and power. Deeper still, we need to rethink winning — and turn the Read More
by Tim Leberecht In 2011 the French philosopher Anne Dufourmantelle published her book In Praise of Risk. In 2017 she died in rough waves in the Mediterranean Sea near Saint-Tropez after attempting to rescue two children from drowning (they survived). But it would be foolish to consider her tragic death an all-too-literal irony of fate. Hers is not a book Read More
Tim read two pages from "The Business Romantic" at this LinkedIn Live all-day event on July 9, alongside fellow authors Seth Godin, Erica Dhawan, Casper ter Kuile, and others
Tim read two pages from “The Business Romantic” at this LinkedIn Live all-day event, alongside fellow authors Seth Godin, Erica Dhawan, Casper ter Kuile, Aaron Dignan, and others. On July 9, various business writers read two pages from one of their books. The festival was the creation of bestselling author and coach Michael Bungay Stanier Read More
Read a recap and listen to all episodes of the first season of the podcast series Tim co-hosted with the House of Beautiful Business and Porsche
Together with Porsche’s head of company building, Christian Knoerle, Tim co-hosted the Next Visions podcast series by the House of Beautiful Business and Forward31 | by Porsche Digital, featuring 1:1 conversations between ten visionaries and leading practitioners, covering a broad range of topics, from the value of radical career changes to the EQ of AI. Read the recap of all Read More
Susan Sontag, Cancel Culture, and the Sacred Alphabet
by Tim Leberecht “Is there space among the woke for the still-waking?”, the writer Anand Giridharadas asked in his speech at the Obama Foundation Summit, and I thought of his question during this week’s online Living Room Session conversation with Benjamin Moser, Pulitzer Prize winning author of Sontag: Her Life and Work, who invited us to travel into the mind of the iconic Read More
by Tim Leberecht In Berlin, where I live, thousands were marching last weekend to show solidarity with the fight against racism and white supremacy. I grew up in Germany and spent the majority of my life here, but I also called L.A. and San Francisco my home for 14 years. I’m an American citizen through Read More
Finding our way back after the crisis can present unique challenges.
In space travel, re-entry is considered the most difficult part of the flight. A spacecraft gets only one chance to hit the earth’s atmosphere at exactly the right angle. Speed is key too: If an object re-enters too quickly, it will burn up like a meteor. Satellites sometimes re-enter the atmosphere and crash on the Read More
At the workplace and beyond, we need new language, new leadership — and more time.
by Tim Leberecht Restrictions are being lifted in several countries, schools and shops are re-opening, and some workers are returning to the workplace. “The summer vacation is safe!”, one German Sunday newspaper’s front-page headline exclaimed. While this whiff of normalcy is reassuring and comforting for some, it stands in stark contrast to the economic reality Read More
The COVID-19 pandemic is incubating new forms of intimacy.
by Tim Leberecht As we are confined to our four walls, we witness pent-up frustration, aggression, and even violence. Reports indicate that domestic abuse has increased since the lockdown worldwide. But there is also a lot of pent-up love. In fact, so much love has accumulated that it will be bursting at the seams soon. It Read More
…and why only letting go might let us win the fight in the end.
by Tim Leberecht A friend of mine who works as a conflict mediator once told me about a social experiment, or rather, a simulation he ran at the annual meeting of the World Economic Forum in Davos. Convening about 100 politicians, business, and civil society leaders, he explained the rules of the game: an unknown Read More
Insights from a House of Beautiful Business Living Room Session
by Tim Leberecht A lot has already been written about the world after coronavirus. Right now, it’s hard to imagine that there will be a new normal and what it might look like. But since “a crisis is a terrible thing to waste,” as the Stanford economist Paul Romer once noted, it is worth discussing Read More
by Tim Leberecht UN General Secretary António Guterres reckons that “recovery from the coronavirus crisis must lead to a better world.” For all of us to collectively imagine a better future, each of us must envision their own. That’s not an easy task these days, because it seems we’re in a present and future-shock at once, incapable Read More
As “social distancing” confines us to our four walls, what can we do and from whom can we learn?
by Tim Leberecht Schools are closing. Cultural life is canceled. Restaurants are expanding the space between tables. In-person contact is discouraged. All of this in the name of “social distancing,” the second-runner in the contest for word-of-the-year (“corona” takes the crown, obviously). And yet Berlin, the city I live in, is still somewhat in denial. Read More
by Tim Leberecht The outbreak of the novel coronavirus is like a real-life sci-fi movie, except we don’t know yet whether it’s The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy or Alien. At least that’s how I feel, as I find myself in a state of anxiety in which “oh my god” can mean everything from “what a hype” to Read More
by Tim Leberecht At the recent DLD conference, a leading gathering for the digital elite taking place in Munich every year on the eve of the World Economic Forum in Davos, the curator, Steffi Czerny, was assertive in her opening remarks: ideas are no longer good enough. What we need in times like these, she said, Read More
Nature and me, it’s complicated — but The Great Wave is coming anyway.
by Tim Leberecht On New Year’s in 2015, a few weeks before the release of my book, The Business Romantic, I gave a talk at an event in Charleston, SC. Afterwards, a man approached me and wondered: “You spoke about romance, but you never mentioned nature.” He thought it was an inexcusable omission. On Portugal’s Algarve Read More
It is not just the new uncluttering but also the latest brand of intimacy.
by Tim Leberecht Depression and suicide rates are rising sharply among young Americans. One factor is social media enhancing anxiety, as users exhaust themselves in the dopamine rat race on Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter; it’s an unregulated and boundless marketplace that puts them in 24-hour competition for recognition with everybody else in the world, leading not only Read More
“The Great Wave” is the theme of this year’s annual gathering of the House of Beautiful Business, taking place from October 31 through November 3, 2020 in Lisbon.
by Till Grusche, Monika Jiang und Tim Leberecht In the early 1960s, when 16-year-old Eddie Aikau got his first paycheck from the pineapple cannery where he worked, he bought a surfboard. It was the start of his career as a legendary surfer and the first official lifeguard at Waimea Bay, a beach on the North Read More
Tim was portrayed in the December issue of leading design and architecture magazine Domus.
By Walter Mariotti Tim Leberecht is a German-American author, entrepreneur and former consultant. He is also a prolific and passionate voice on the humanisation of business. The co-founder and CEO of The Business Romantic Society, a consulting firm, which helps organisations and leaders make their strategy more human in the age of AI and automation, Read More
During the recent House of Beautiful Business 2019, Tim appeared for an interview on the award-winning morning show The Globalist on Monocle 24 Radio.
Tim talked about the origins and the mission of the House of Beautiful Business, what makes it so special, the importance of a “sentimental education” in business, and the future direction of the House community. The interview begins at 31’31” at the start of the 2nd half hour of program. Listen here
After his keynote at the Sime conference in Stockholm, Tim was interviewed for an episode of the popular Heja Framtiden podcast.
“Tim Leberecht is the co-founder and CEO of The Business Romantic Society, and has written a book called The Business Romantic. He argues that human values will be increasingly important in a world – and business environment – dominated by algorithms, big data and hard profit. In other words, we need to step up our Read More
You might not realize it, but you are in transition.
by Tim Leberecht First things first: the time between Christmas or Chanukah and New Year’s is the time you should spend with your loved ones. So, do that — and stop reading! But….just in case you have some extra hours (or for those rare moments your family might be getting on your nerves), here are Read More
An anthology of more than 40 voices sharing theories, best practices, opinions, rants, essays, and stories about the why, what, how, and when of Beautiful Business.
Since the release of Tim’s first book, The Business Romantic (Harper Collins, 2015), and the launch of House of Beautiful Business in 2017, a global think tank and community with an annual gathering taking place in Lisbon, Portugal that Tim founded and curates, followed by Chambers of Beautiful Business in 17 cities around the world this year, the principles of Beautiful Read More
A somatic approach to management can help us become leaders who are fully alive.
by Tim Leberecht We spend the majority of our waking hours at work, but for the most part, we do it as disembodied brains that we carry from meeting to meeting. In assessing the performance of knowledge workers, we rave about bright minds and leveled heads. Moreover, it has become fashionable recently for us to Read More
Tim opened this year's Sime conference in Stockholm with a talk and took part in panels on the future of work, customer excellence, and AI.
Sime has since 1996 been the destination for leaders interested in digital transformation and counts as one of the leading tech and business conference in the Nordics. Tim gave the opening keynote and presented “Four Ways to Lead and Live Beautifully in a New Romantic Age” at this year’s edition, providing a whimsical and humanities-infused vision Read More
The French literature term that will usurp emotional intelligence, Tim argues in this piece for Quartz.
by Tim Leberecht Study after study insists that soft skills are the new hard factors. From the LinkedIn skill ranking to the WEF Future of Jobs Report to the Pearson Global Learner Survey 2019, 21st-century workers are being consoled that their inherently human qualities will be key differentiators in AI-shaped economies. But instead of teaching soft skills, what’s truly needed Read More
An ethical and ecologically conscious AI must transcend the kind of anthropocentrism shaped by rationalist and dualist thinking.
by Tim Leberecht On July 20, 1969, the first human landed on the moon. Fifty years later we are in desperate need for another “moonshot” to tackle some of the pressing and overwhelmingly big issues of our time — from the climate crisis to the decline of democracy to the upheavals to our labor markets Read More
Invest in marketing and R&D--and keep those perks.
by Tim Leberecht Worries over an imminent economic downturn are on the rise. Growth in China is stalling; Germany, the bellwether of the EU economy, is on the brink of recession; stock markets are volatile; and the bonds in the US are showing “inverted yield curves,” an anomaly that some consider a historical precursor to troubles ahead. As a result, not Read More
In these sometimes ugly times, we must celebrate ethics, aesthetics, and emotions. Tim will curate the House of Beautiful Business in Lisbon from November 2–6, 2019.
by Tim Leberecht Beauty is whatever puts me outside of myself,” the writer Pico Iyer told me in our recent podcast conversation, and “a beautiful business is one that is devoted to making this world a better place.” That also perfectly describes what we are aiming to do with the House of Beautiful Business: creating a transformative experience Read More
At a TED event in London, hosted by Capita, Tim spoke about the role of beauty in creating a more humane economy and work culture.
It can sometimes feel like our hyper-connected world is spinning off its axis. Rapid advances in fields such as technology, business, and science mean that the world as we know it is destined to continue its incessant (r)evolution. But remember that advances – even in bleeding-edge areas such as artificial intelligence and digital media – Read More
Tim gave the opening keynote at the Adobe Experience House in Sao Paulo.
Tim was invited to give the opening keynote at the Adobe Experience House in Sao Paulo. The software maker’s event convened more than 1,000 executives from customer and partner organizations in Latin and South America and presented talks, panel discussions, and workshops focused on brand and marketing trends, digital transformation, and the role of leadership Read More
For a new episode of the Masters of Business Arts podcast series, Tim hosted a conversation with the writer Pico Iyer.
Tim hosted a conversation with Pico Iyer for a new episode of the Masters of Business Arts podcast series. Pico is a British-born American essayist and novelist who made Japan his chosen home 32 years ago. He is the author of 14 books including The Lady and the Monk, The Global Soul, The Art of Stillness, and most recently Autumn Light. He Read More
After the declaration by top CEO's, here's a checklist to help you and your company find out.
By Tim Leberecht When Larry Fink, chairman and CEO of Blackrock, the world’s biggest asset management firm, declared that companies needed to reconcile profit and purpose in his letter to business leaders earlier this year, Twitter feeds, news articles, and Powerpoint charts were quickly filled with his words as they helped support the welcome narrative of purpose-driven, do-good business. Read More
Some musings about the holy grail of digital transformation: “how to change”—that is, how to motivate employees to adapt to disruptive technologies and business models and truly embrace the new, the unknown.
Last week, I was invited to join one of the daily boat rides T-Systems organized for clients and partners, shuttling them conveniently from Berlin’s historical harbor to the site of Tech Open Air (TOA), a leading European tech festival—and one that is a bit friendlier and less aggressive than your standard industry event. On board the boat were chief Read More
Avoid "action bias" and "quantification bias," pause -- and, most important, listen.
by Tim Leberecht “The business of business,” according to management guru Peter Drucker, “is to create a customer.” Sounds like a no-brainer: Of course the customer should be at the center of any business, because otherwise, well, there wouldn’t be a business in the first place. And yet, it is a banality that needs frequent Read More
Tim was invited to speak at the Global Communications Council of global insurance group Generali in Rome.
On July 5, Tim gave the closing 45-minute keynote at the Global Communications Council of global insurance group Generali, speaking about the changing role and responsibility of external and internal communicators in an age of AI and algorithmic manipulation. Tim started by giving an overview of the state of the art of AI. In the Read More
Tim gave the closing keynote at the LinkedIn Talent Intelligence Experience in Singapore on June 19.
Hosted at the iconic Victoria Concert & Theatre Hall in Singapore, the LinkedIn Talent Intelligence Experience gathered – for the first time in Southeast Asia – 350 talent and learning professionals to explore the power of data-driven talent strategies, the future of learning, best practices in successful leadership and hiring, building a great company culture, and Read More
It's much more radical than what Chobani CEO Hamdi Ulukaya proposes.
By Tim Leberecht According to an analysis by the New York Times, CEO compensation grew at double the pace of ordinary workers’ wages in 2018. Topping the list: Tesla’s Elon Musk, with a $2.3 billion package, which is 40,668 times more than what the company’s median worker earns in a year. Disney CEO Bob Iger’s pay ratio Read More
What the heroic British football teams in the Champions League, the Uber IPO, and the UN extinction report tell us about the changing nature of failure.
“The end is in the beginning, and yet you go on.” ― Samuel Beckett, Endgame Last week, a string of seemingly disparate events — the heroics of British football teams in the Champions League, the Uber IPO, and the UN extinction report — gave us a glimpse into the changing nature of failure and why it matters. Epic comebacks For starters, British Read More
Leaders who are too thoughtful can come across as detached.
By Tim Leberecht The times they are a-changing. Just a couple of years ago it would have been unimaginable for a British journalist to attack the titans of Silicon Valley from the main stage of TED, the living room of optimistic, exuberant tech. But that’s exactly what happened last week in Vancouver when Carole Cadwalladr, who Read More
By Tim Leberecht Writers are told by their editors to “kill their darlings,” as William Faulkner famously put it. Artists and designers know “less is more.” Even neuroscientists agree: a new study by Cardiff University has found that the human brain may require fewer initial cells to grow than that of mice and monkeys. And Japanese bestselling Read More
Tim spoke at the Unleash19 conference in London to leading talent professionals about businesses' power to create intimacy and meaning in an age of volatility and exponential change.
Tim spoke at the Unleash19 conference to talent professionals from all over the world about the businesses power to create intimacy and meaning in an age of volatility and exponential change, and the Personnel Today magazine’s Ashleigh Webber reported. Work is at risk of losing its human side as technology takes over many aspects of our Read More
Speaking to international HR leaders about the human future of work at the leading industry conference and trade show in London.
Are People Analytics evil? Can we overcome the “Efficiency Paradox”? And can we truly “unleash” human potential without losing control? These are some of the questions Tim will tackle in his keynote at Unleash 19, one of the world’s largest HR shows, in London on March 20. Tim will speak to 5,000 HR and L&D Read More
Tim took part in the "Mind, Meaning, and Machine" Tech & Early Ed Catalyst event in Chicago that brought together experts from AI, brain science, and early childhood education.
How can the intersection of neuroscience and artificial intelligence enable young children to flourish? Tim took part in the “Mind, Meaning, and Machine” Tech & Early Ed Catalyst event hosted by the HeadStarter Network in Chicago on March 14 and 15. The first few years of our lives are formative and a crucial factor of a Read More
Following our annual gathering (the House) in Lisbon, we are poised to bring the conversation about “beautiful business” to more people worldwide — through Chambers and a Book.
by Tim Leberecht It takes a village and starts with a House. That’s how the entrepreneur and book author Andrea Kates recently referred to the House of Beautiful Business, a global think tank and community I co-founded that is dedicated to making business more human in the age of machines. Going into its third year, the Read More
Efficiency has served us well, but now its returns are diminishing.
by Tim Leberecht The Italian designer Brunello Cucinelli, creator of the eponymous clothing line, is known not only for beautiful cashmere clothes but also his company’s office culture, especially the on-site restaurant where workers can enjoy extended, 90-minute lunch breaks. Alternatively, they may also eat at home with their families. And afterwards, they are free to Read More
Conventional wisdom states that for leaders sincerity and transparency are key to building trust. Not anymore.
One could say that President Donald Trump is authentically false rather than falsely authentic. That would explain the strange appeal of Trump’s off-the-cuff rawness, and why his base doesn’t seem to bother about his, to put it mildly, loose relationship to the truth. Salena Zito observes in The Atlantic: “The press takes [Trump] literally, but not seriously; his Read More
Tim will speak about the future of work at the The Next Web conference in Amsterdam on May 9.
Tim will return to The Next Web stage, the leading tech festival in Amsterdam taking place on May 9-10 this year, to feature in a track on the Future of Work, along with “Getting Things Done” author David Allen and others. In his talk on May 9, he will explore “What It Really Means to Read More
The conversation in Davos showed that CEOs are struggling with conflicting agendas: fairness or growth, humanization or efficiency, government or business power.
by Tim Leberecht Business leaders today must constantly wrestle with opposing forces: They must embrace data and at the same time listen to their gut feelings. They must cater to efficiency pressures and also create a culture of trust and creativity. They must ensure short-term profit while thinking about the long-term impact of their business, Read More
An extended and free-flowing video conversation with Tim, covering topics from business romanticism to seduction to happiness vs. meaning.
Ahead of his appearance at the Gallery of Ideas (GOI) “Seduce” event on May 11 in Barcelona, Tim spent an afternoon with GOI founder and curator Patricia Curty, discussing his book, The Business Romantic, the vision behind the House of Beautiful Business, and many more topics. Watch the video here
AI, blockchain, and community--in the new year, it is time to become exponential-tech literate.
by Tim Leberecht When I read about the tech trend predictions for 2019, I feel a strong sense of déjà vu. So many of them sound exactly like the future we envisioned five years ago. Big data is big business. AI is the new electricity, and smart machine learning algorithms will empower consumers, personalize their Read More
Whether in business or personal life, we overrate the importance of intentionality.
by Tim Leberecht It’s that time of the year again, and everyone’s getting busy making new year’s resolutions: more of this, less of that; this year I’m really going to do x; and so on. New year’s resolutions make us reflect on the past year, our role in the world and the location in our Read More
The magazine's annual rundown begins with those "leading innovative teams and diverse ways of thinking."
Here’s what Silicon Republic has to say about Tim: “A self-proclaimed business romantic and founder of the Business Romantic Society, Tim Leberecht is passionate about nurturing the humanity at the heart of every organisation. Speaking at Inspirefest2018, he told a rapt audience that the innate romance in humans is what makes every person and every organisation unique. “If Read More
What is the medium’s power and responsibility to foster our humanity?
By Tim Leberecht A couple of months ago, I was invited to speak at the Edinburgh TV Festival, as part of the “How to Win the Future” session with futurist Monika Bielskyte and blockchain-for-TV startup founder Ashley Turing, moderated by the Irish comedian and TV show host Dara O’Briain. I spoke about the need for romanticism in business, which was Read More
Tim spoke at the annual Marketeer conference in Lisbon.
After being profiled by leading Portuguese marketing magazine Marketeer earlier this year, Tim was invited to give the closing keynote at the publication’s annual conference in Lisbon, convening more than 1,000 marketing professionals from global and local brands. Tim spoke about why human brands will win the future and cited examples from IKEA to Nike, Airbnb Read More
Tim gave keynotes at three conferences in Germany devoted to innovation and digital transformation.
From the House of Beautiful Business in Lisbon, Tim went to Germany where he spoke at several “Kongresse”: the Hessen Innovation Congress (exploring how to best unlock innovation in German industry and ‘mittelstand’), Change Congress (digital transformation as personal transformation), and Sweets Global Congress (the home sweet home of confectionery professionals). At each of these conferences, Read More
At the workplace, we acquire more than just knowledge -- we form an identity.
Management guru and Fifth Discipline author Peter Senge was ahead of his time when he postulated that companies are learning organizations. Thirty years later, that thought-provoking notion is accepted wisdom, and organizations’ capacity to learn is considered crucial to their vitality and longevity. Furthermore, they will only be able to attract and retain top talent if they offer Read More
Can companies be the most powerful vehicles for embracing otherness?
The Other Arrives For me, the most beautiful house in the world is the house I grew up in, my parent’s house in Berkheim, a small town near Stuttgart, Germany. My dad, who is 78 years old, has lived there alone since my mom died seven years ago. While waiting for one of his cancer radiation Read More
Tim gave the opening keynote to 4,000 talent professionals at LinkedIn's Talent Connect conference in Anaheim, CA.
LinkedIn’s Talent Connect conference, a multi-day gathering of the world’s top leaders, innovators, and influencers in the talent space, brought more than 4,000 international talent professionals to Anaheim from October 9-11. Attendees of the annual event shared best practices around the key challenges and trends shaping the future of work and the role of humans in Read More
Tim gave two keynotes at industry events on Reunion Island in the French Ocean.
Invited by ADIR, the regional association to promote Reunion’s (mostly SME/industrial) business, and NxSE, the local alliance of digital entrepreneurs, Tim visited the French island of Reunion in the Indian Ocean for two keynote talks to local business leaders and politicians. As European territory, Reunion enjoys the benefits of membership in the European Union, and Read More
Tim gave the opening keynote at the abas Global Conference.
Tim gave the opening keynote at the abas Global Conference in Karlsruhe on September 20 in front of an audience of 1,000 abas partners, clients, and employees. Emphasizing the need to foster human cultures and create delightful, not just efficient customer and workplace experiences, Tim made the case for B2B as equally emotionally rich as Read More
Tim and The Business Romantic Society are hosting the third House of Beautiful Business on November 3–8, 2018 in Lisbon.
by Tim Leberecht “In order to enter the room, you must hum a tune. Any tune will do,” is written on the wall at the entrance of Adrian Piper’s recent show at the Museum of Modern Art in New York. Priya Parker, the author of the new book The Art of Gathering, pointed out on her Instagram feed Read More
Tim reflects on the state of HR and corporate learning ahead of his keynote at LinkedIn's Talent Connect conference in Anaheim on October 9.
By Tim Leberecht Speaking, learning, and linking at Talent Connect 2018, October 9-11, in Anaheim, CA. More than 4,000 talent professionals will gather in Anaheim, CA from October 9-11 in a few weeks for LinkedIn’s Talent Connect conference. Attendees of the annual event will share best practices around the key challenges and trends shaping the future of work Read More
Tim spoke about purpose and activating it at an internal event of healthcare and life sciences company Merck.
Tim gave the keynote at an internal leadership event of Merck at the company’s headquarters in Darmstadt, Germany. He spoke about business romanticism and healthcare, and how to activate a strong sense of purpose among your employees by bringing it to life everyday at work. Tim also recorded a hologram-version of his talk that will Read More
Tim held the keynote at this year's ECR Awards hosted by the global product standards (barcode) organization GS1.
The ECR Awards dinner gala, hosted by standards provider GS1 and held this year in German spa town Wiesbaden, gathered 400 CEOs of leading fast-moving-consumer-goods and nutrition companies to award the most successful and innovative entrepreneurs and cross-industry collaborations in the realm of customer response. Tim was invited to give the keynote and spoke about Read More
Sadness is one of the most powerful emotions--we should embrace it in business, too.
When it comes to art and creativity, sadness is one of the most fruitful emotional states (just ask any artist). So why is it so often sequestered outside the stoic walls of professional life, why do we seem to treat it as the ultimate taboo in business? Harvard psychologist Susan David describes this status quo Read More
Tim gave a Future Talk at IAA, the world's leading trade show for commercial vehicles, in Hanover.
As part of the main-stage Future Talks series presented by Mercedes Vans, Tim spoke at IAA, the international auto show for commercial vehicles, in Hanover. He explored the opportunities (and perils) of automation and argued that we need to foster our emotional capacities to thrive in an age of atomized societies, exponential change, and fluid identities. Read More
Together with T-Systems, The Business Romantic Society launched the AI Society to explore a broader, more human-centered vision for the future of AI.
Can AI be beautiful? On behalf of The Business Romantic Society, Tim launched the AI Society initiative this week, in partnership with T-Systems, with an animated, wide-ranging, three-hour long dinner debate with European founders, executives, academics, journalists, and technologists on the eve of the Demexco digital conference in Cologne, Germany. Participants included German AI experts Sarah Read More
Tim spoke at Google's Executive Summit in Oxfordshire, UK.
Tim spoke in the closing session of the Google UK Executive Summit in Oxfordshire, sharing the stage, among others, with trust researcher Rachel Botsman, 2018 Tour de France winner Geraint Thomas, and Gareth Southgate, the manager of the English national soccer team that had won so many new fans at the recent World Cup in Read More
Tim gave the opening keynote at Techfestival in Copenhagen, "where humans and technology meet."
Lollapalooza-like stage at Techfestival! Tim spoke at the opening night to an audience of 1,000 in Copenhagen, followed by a more intimate Q&A in the meatpacking district. Here’s the abstract of Tim’s talk: “Workers replaced by automation, refugees and migrants, fluid identities, or artificial intelligence: there are more and more who are not like us, which Read More
Tim was quoted in this piece, making the case for the growing importance of emotions at work.
By Eva Short In discussions about the future of work, there are a few myths that have stubbornly prevailed, despite the fact that there is mounting evidence to suggest they won’t come to pass. These myths inspire anxiety about the future that is likely unfounded. In some extreme cases, this anxiety is having undue influence Read More
Tim spoke at the Edinburgh TV Festival about the power of TV to connect us with the other.
Tim gave a talk and took part in the panel “How to Win the Future” at the Edinburgh TV Festival, along with with futurist Monika Bielskyte and blockchain-for-TV startup founder Ashley Turing, moderated by the prolific Irish comedian and TV show host Dara O’Briain. Watch a video of the session Tim writes about his experience: Read More
As we look ahead to a world with less work, or even no work, we can take control — by using our hours with greater meaning and purpose.
iStock By Tim Leberecht As we look ahead to a world with less work, or even no work, we can take control — by using our hours with greater meaning and purpose. Many of us divide our days into 8 hours of work, 8 hours of leisure and 8 hours of sleep. But what will happen when Read More
Tim was interviewed in the first episode of the new podcast "This Human Business"
This Human Business is a new podcast produced and hosted by the ethnographer Jonathan Cook that explores the growing movement to reassert the value of human subjectivity in an age dominated by dreams of digital innovation. Cook writes: “To aspire to genuinely human business seems unreasonable to some. They claim that business can never achieve anything Read More
An inquiry into human flourishing in the age of machines
Just three months to go until the House of Beautiful Business, an event Tim is co-curating and co-hosting on behalf of The Business Romantic Society and together with the BCG Henderson Institute and other partners in Lisbon from November 3–8, 2018. The hosts expect more than 300 participants, among them 75 speakers and performers. Leading up to the House, Tim will Read More
With big tech no longer the shining star, it's time to change the playbook of digital transformation
By Tim Leberecht What if you are in the middle of a digital transformation, and you realize the digital age has just ended? It certainly looks like the thrill is gone, given the recent scandals and subsequent techlash(Uber, Theranos, Cambridge Analytica), the crash and burn of Facebook’s stock, and the mishaps of everybody’s ex-darling, Elon Musk, who has Read More
Four ways for business leaders to enable their workforce for the Fourth Industrial Revolution.
By Tim Leberecht While some cry foul and worry about the woes of a ‘useless class,’ as the historian Yuval Noah Harari puts it, others welcome widespread automation because they consider most current human labour mind-numbing. The economist David Graeber even speaks of ‘bulls**t jobs,’ claiming that capitalism has created a system of faux jobs Read More
Will AI and robots change how and what we can feel?
Apollo and Daphne by Bernini (Villa Borghese, Rome); Source: Andrea Jemolo/Scala / Art Resource, NY By Tim Leberecht At the World Economic Forum in Davos this year, Alibaba co-founder and chairman Jack Ma made the case for investing in our emotional capacities and even proposed a “love quotient.” Management thinkers believe that socio-emotional skills are going to be a key Read More
Four things the World Cup can teach us about winning in the workplace.
By Tim Leberecht Soccer is simple: “Eleven players compete against 11 players, and Germany wins,” as former British soccer player Gary Lineker famously put it. Last week though, Germany got knocked out from the World Cup in Russia—in the first round, for the first time in modern German soccer history. But some basic truths remain: Despite experts Read More
During the first day of Inspirefest 2018, in Dublin Tim spoke about the importance of living and working beautifully.
by Jenny Darmody The Inspiresfest audience were prepped for two days of phenomenal speakers and inspiring panel discussions around all facets of STEAM, including automation, AI and the age of machines. However, in the rapidly growing world of technology, connectivity and efficiency, it’s important to still go back to basics and look at what makes Read More
Tim gave the closing keynote at LinkedIn's Talent Intelligence conference in Paris.
LinkedIn’s first Talent Intelligence conference in Europe took place on June 12 at the legendary music hall Le Trianon in Paris-Montmartre, and it convened 400 European HR heads, heads of recruiting, and professional development and learning professionals for a one-day program devoted to the future of talent and the workforce in the age of AI Read More
After speaking at its conference on the future of employment in Barcelona, Tim was interviewed for a special profile in Spanish weekly XL Semanal.
Nació en 1972 en Alemania, donde estudió Arte. Máster en Comunicación y Management en California, trabajó en Silicon Valley. Es autor del libro ‘The business romantic’. Acaba de participar en el Foro XLDesafío Empleo, celebrado en Barcelona, puedes ver el video aquí. Por Daniel Méndez XLSemanal. Ha vuelto a Berlín tras años en Silicon Valley. Qué diferencia a Read More
Tim Leberecht is a "business romantic". But what exactly does that mean? And why is it so important for the future of work?
By Jenny Darmody When I first heard about The Business Romantic Society, I was intrigued. It sounded like such a nice concept, especially as we rocket further into the automated future of the working world. With so many thought leaders, experts and other key influencers within the future of work space, many are scrambling to talk Read More
By Tim Leberecht Well, maybe it’s not just our work meetings that leave us wanting, it’s actually most meetings in our lives. I’m not insinuating that we are inept social animals, but let’s be honest, how often do we attend or host a birthday party, a wedding, a baby shower, a lunch, or a dinner Read More
We cannot be fully human in organizations that have few rituals and little space for stillness, silence, and sadness.
by Tim Leberecht and Gianpiero Petriglieri The game had ended. The applause had died down, and people had gone home. His work was done, now he could rest. So he took off his cleats and he sat down. Someone took a picture, and it went viral. Andrés Iniesta, one of the most gifted and successful soccer players of Read More
Tim spoke at the annual Acumen Business Convention in Brighton about the future of work, the implications of AI on our wellbeing, and the renaissance of emotions.
As part of his Business Romance by the Sea tour, Tim stopped by Brighton, UK, the beach town south of London known for its vibrant music and club scene, to give a keynote at the Acumen Business Convention, an annual trends gathering for SME owners and executives hosted by the law firm Acumen Business Law. Read More
In an interview ahead of his keynote at the XLDesafio Summit in Barcelona, Tim speaks about romanticism versus cynicism, robots as colleagues, and why purpose and passion do not go far enough.
Ahead of his keynote at the XLDesafio Summit on the Future of Employment and Skills in Barcelona on Thursday, May 17, Tim was interviewed by one of the event organizers, Fundación Telefónica (other partners include the weekly newspaper XLSemanal, the Human Age Institute, and the Inserta Fundación ONCE). Read the English translation here: In your TED Read More
From May 8 to 17, Tim will go on a European mini-tour for keynote talks at various famous beach towns, from Cascais to Brighton to Marbella, Sylt, and Barcelona.
The “Business Romance By The Sea” mini-tour will feature keynote talks at the Cascais Tourism Forum in Cascais, Portugal on May 8; the Acumen Business Convention at the British sea bath of Brighton on May 9; the annual customer conference of Kao Group in Marbella, Spain on May 14; the annual meeting of Mercedes on Read More
Execution, execution, execution. It matters--here's how to do it well.
by Tim Leberecht At the recent management retreat of a leading logistics provider, the CEO ended his opening remarks, which were intended to be inspirational, with a slide that simply stated “execution“–not once, but three times. “If there’s only one thing I’d like you to take away from my talk, then it is operational excellence. Just remember these three Read More
Tim spoke at the Art Directors Club Congress in Hamburg, Germany
From April 16-29, the annual Art Directors Club (ADC) Festival gathered leading German-speaking art directors, designers, marketing executives, and agency heads to explore “Visions of Tomorrow” – key trends and innovations affecting the ever-changing field of advertising. The time for new visions is ripe: With AI and automation disrupting existing paradigms and business models – and Read More
As TED proclaims “The Age of Amazement,” how can business walk the talk(s)
by Tim Leberecht Are we indeed entering an “Age of Amazement,” as the theme of this year’s TED conference taking place two weeks ago in Vancouver, suggested? When it comes to business, one could argue that is an exaggeration, if not an outright illusion, at least if you take the term amazement at face value. Clearly, marketers Read More
by Tim Leberecht I’ve been in San Francisco for the last week, and I’m feeling torn: Silicon Valley is dead; Silicon Valley is alive and kicking. Everything is more extreme: the unbridled optimism as well as the gulf between those who can and can’t afford to live here. At a recent event, I met Andrew Yang who Read More
Tim was interviewed by The Innovator about the recent Facebook scandal, the erosion of trust in business, and a humane future of work.
By Jennifer L. Schenker Tim Leberecht is a German-American author and the co-founder and co-CEO of The Business Romantic Society, a strategy firm that helps leaders and organizations foster their humanity to thrive in an age of machines. His book, The Business Romantic (HarperCollins, 2015) has been translated into nine languages . He is a frequent Read More
Tim will speak at Inspire Live, the flagship conference of the UK's Marketing Academy Foundation on April 26 in London.
The Marketing Academy’s Inspire Live conference returns on 26 April, and this year will look at how marketers can future-proof their skills in a job market where the rise of automation, remote and flexible working, and ‘side-hustles’ are shaking up the world of work. Now in its fifth year, the leadership conference will take place at the Read More
Why worry, intrigue, boredom, and annoyance are as natural and important to the #innovation process as inspiration.
By Martin Reeves, Tim Leberecht, and Jack Fuller Business is dominated by plans and analysis. But people are not moved by logic alone. According to the French philosopher Gaston Bachelard, behind every apparently sensible scientist is a child who was irrationally fascinated by fire.¹ Reason, when animated by the fire of emotion, has the power Read More
The great reckoning presents a huge opportunity: Facebook must transform — and so must we as business leaders
by Tim Leberecht When even in Silicon Valley the future doesn’t look all that bright anymore, it is fair to assume that things in the rest of the business world are not too rosy either. The recent Cambridge Analytica/Facebook scandal has shattered the data-driven digital economy at its core, both the reigning tech juggernauts and Read More
A review of Tim's keynote at the HfS FORA Summit in New York.
By John Reed “How to Thrive in the Robotic Age Without Losing Your Humanity“ was not your typical bloated enterprise keynote. In around 30 minutes, Tim Leberecht jolted an audience of operations experts at HfS FORA New York City. Though I have some minor intellectual quarrels with Leberecht (more on that in a bit), he places machines and humans at Read More
...and what can they possibly teach us about ourselves?
By Tim Leberecht Kate Darling, a robotics researcher at the MIT Media Lab, conducted an experiment: she asked the participants to hang out with robots (which were dressed up as cute baby dinosaurs), give them names, stare at them, and talk to them. After a couple of hours of human-machine “quality time,” she then surprised Read More
Tim held a keynote at the Global Marketing Conference of leading industrial robots manufacturer KUKA.
KUKA, one of the world’s leading manufacturers of industrial robots, known for its brand claim of “Orange Intelligence” and various appearances in Hollywood movies and other pop cultural events (i.e. the Paralympics), invited Tim to deliver a keynote to the company’s global marketing team at its headquarters in Augsburg, Germany. Tim spoke about the concept of Read More
Tim gave the keynote at the FORA Summit by analyst firm HfS Research in New York City.
Intelligent automation and beautiful business, robots and romance: these are rather odd couples, but Tim made their very dichotomy the whole point of his keynote presentation at the FORA (Future of Operations in a Robotic Age) Summit hosted by analyst firm HfS Research in New York City on March 7-8, 2018. In order to thrive Read More
Tim spoke at the International Craft Trades Fair in Munich about digital transformation and the romance of craftmanship.
With more than 1,000 exhibitors, the Internationale Handwerksmesse in Munich is the leading trade fair for the craft trades. This year it celebrated its 70th anniversary, and German chancellor Angela Merklel, among other visitors, paid tribute to both the rich tradition and innovation of the sector. As part of the opening session, Tim participated in Read More
Tim spoke at the MMM Kongress, the annual summit of Germany's fast-moving-consumer-goods industry in Munich.
Tim was one of the keynote speakers at the MMM Kongress, the annual gathering of Germany’s FMCG industry, in Munich. This year’s edition focused on the theme of “Human,” and Tim presented his thoughts on the future of FMCG and retail amidst the backdrop of platform thinking, disruptive digital technologies, and ever-changing consumer expectations. He Read More
By Tim Leberecht Lately, storytelling has become such a buzzword that famed designer Stefan Sagmeister recorded this scathing video, mocking a rollercoaster designer who called himself a storyteller. The moral of his harsh intervention: not everyone is a storyteller (nor do they need to be). But this doesn’t change the fact that one should acquire some basic form of narrative Read More
Tim delivered the opening keynote at Germany's premiere AI conference for marketing and e-commerce.
Tim gave the opening keynote and ran a workshop at the AI Masters conference in Berlin on January 25-26, 2018. The event, hosted by Publicis, is known as the premiere AI conference for marketing and e-commerce leaders in Germany. Tim believes that that “marketers have a tremendous responsibility to project and model a humanizing brand of AI. Read More
Tim gave the guest keynote at the leadership summit of energy company Galp in Lisbon.
Tim spoke at the annual leadership summit of Portuguese energy company Galp in Lisbon on January 30, 2018, to an audience of over 700 Galp employees, emphasizing the importance of building and becoming a human company in the age of machines. Galp consists of over 100 companies within the energy sector. The company’s activities include the production of Read More
It's fair to assume that Ikea will never launch a fully automated store like Amazon Go.
By Tim Leberecht More than eighty five years ago, a boy by the name of Ingvar Kamprad began selling matches in the Swedish countryside. Slowly, the five-year-old entrepreneur expanded his offering, setting in motion developments that would become a global empire. Today, IKEA may not be a verb, but it has affected our lives in Read More
Tim Leberecht will speak at the HfS Research FORA Summit in New York on March 8.
Tim will be speaking at The Future of Operations in the Robotic Age (FORA) Summit, an event presented by HfS Research, March 7-8, 2018, in New York City. The FORA Summit brings together the HfS team and their diverse community for a dynamic event that will challenge the way you think and work. FORA is all Read More
An excerpt from "The Business Romantic" opens Tom Peters' forthcoming book, "The Excellence Dividend."
An excerpt from The Business Romantic opens Tom Peters’ latest book, The Excellence Dividend: the Meeting the Tech Tide with Work That Wows and Jobs That Last. Peters, management guru and bestselling author, is back thirty-five years after the publication of his iconic work, In Search of Excellence. According to Peters in The Excellence Dividend, the only way to face Read More
Tim is featured in the new issue of Pullman magazine, the publication of the global hotel chain. He speaks about human companies, the future of work, and the romance of travel.
This article first appeared in Pullman Magazine (written by Jaimie Stettin) Tim Leberecht is a marketing consultant, a two-time TED Talk pro, an author of an international bestseller, and a hardcore romantic, especially when it comes to business and the future of work. With two master’s degrees (in applied cultural studies and communication management) and years of Read More
Tim was interviewed by the Danish magazine POV International.
Tim, thanks for agreeing to this interview. Let me start out by asking why you call yourself a “business romantic” – what does it mean? A romantic is someone who’s always looking for another truth, another world, another, deeper meaning. He or she believes that there are things in life that cannot be quantified, and that it’s Read More
From EAI to XAI, from Smart Contracts to empathy, next year will be all about building trust with you humans.
by Tim Leberecht After scanning the myriad new year’s predictions from professional and amateur futurists, I’ve come to the conclusion that 2018 will be the year in which AI will become mainstream. Duh…you really don’t need an AI for that insight. But hear me out. I like the idea of going mainstream, but it also Read More
Tim will be giving the opening keynote at the AI Masters conference on January 25, 2018 in Berlin.
Falling sales, programmatic advertising and automation, the power of digital platforms, algorithmic communication and analytical and increasingly creative tasks delegated to AI: the marketing industry is (again) in a crisis. This time it’s all about the big picture: who needs brand creators and marketers if supply and demand can be calculated precisely and artificially controlled? Read More
Tim gave a keynote at Sky's Future Leaders "Catalyst" summit in London.
Tim was one of the keynote speakers (along with Steve Martin; Oliviero Toscani, Benetton; Rana el Kaliouby, founder and CEO of Affectiva, and others) at the annual Sky Future Leaders summit in London that presented game-changing ideas and key trends to Sky’s cohort of high-potential leaders. Tim’s talk focused on the big issues surrounding the Read More
Tim was interviewed for the magazine Kairos during an annual luxury watchmaker congress in Lausanne and mused about the endearing imperfection of human work and why true craft cannot be automated.
The trade magazine Kairos interviewed Tim after his talk at the Forum de la Haute Horlogerie, the annual gathering of luxury watchmakers in Lausanne, about beauty and romance in an age of algorithms and AI. Kairos: You talked about beauty and emotions: two nouns strictly linked to human. How can machines ensure the same features for Read More
Tim gave a keynote at Xerocon, the annual community gathering of accounting software firm Xero, in Austin.
Tim completed his 2017 tour with Xero, the innovative global provider of cloud-based accounting software, with a keynote at the company’s Xerocon conference in Austin. Tim had already spoken at Xerocon in Australia and London earlier this year. Xero prides itself with having moved “from app to platform to community” and aspires to create “beautiful” Read More
Tim was the guest of the first episode of this new video series, hosted by "enterprise artist" Mykel Dixon.
Tim was the guest of the first episode of this new video series, hosted by the Australian “enterprise artist” Mykel Dixon. With oainoa and red wine as extras, Mykel and Tim are riffing f about “beautiful business” and digital feelings in an analog world….and vice versa.
Tim was one of the speakers at the 9th FHH Forum in Lausanne, devoted to "The Age of Meaning."
This November 7th in Lausanne, the Fondation de la Haute Horlogerie (the Association of Swiss luxury watchmakers) was hosting its 9th FHH Forum on “The Age of Meaning”. Artists, entrepreneurs, authors, economists, and politicians gathered to debate the challenges and questions that are shaping tomorrow. Bill Emmott, former editor-in-chief ofThe Economist, and Professor Arturo Bris presented their Read More
Innovation may not be rocket science, but it can surely benefit from some neuroscience.
by Tim Leberecht Stifled by a risk-averse culture? Worn out by collective brainstorms? Unable to move ideas into action? It doesn’t have to be that way. Hans-Werner Hagemann, co-author of the new book The Leading Brain, believes that neuroscientific insights can help teams and individuals throughout organizations come up with better ideas and implement them more effectively.I Read More
Tim was interviewed by Typeform for its Ask Awesomely series
by Eric Johnson Twenty strangers sitting around a table, shuffling waiters serving dinner in silence, and soft music floating through thick air. People smiled and glasses clinked—but for an hour and a half, not a word was spoken. That’s where I met Tim Leberecht. During this year’s World Mobile Congress in Barcelona, Tim hosted a series Read More
At Digital Copenhagen, Denmark's leading conference for marketing executives, Tim spoke about "advantage human."
In his opening keynote at Digital Copenhagen, Tim presented four principles of beautiful businesses and argued that “being human” will soon be the ultimate differentiator in a marketplace saturated by brands that are focused on maximizing and optimizing. Read the Storify recap
An interview with Tim appeared in leading Swiss newspaper Le Temps.
On the eve of the Forum de la Haute Horlogerie, the annual meeting of luxury watchmakers in Lausanne, Tim was interviewed by leading Swiss newspaper Le Temps about how exponential technologies are going to change business and what it means to be human in light of AI. Read the full interview (in French)
Tim delivered a keynote address at the DMI Awards Ceremony 2017 for the retail banking sector in Rome.
Tim delivered a keynote address at the DMI Awards Ceremony 2017 for the retail banking sector in Rome. The best innovation in each category is awarded during the event. The fifth Edition of the Efma–Accenture Distribution & Marketing Innovation Awards Ceremony brought together hundreds of bankers from all over the world to acknowledge, award, and foster awareness of the latest Read More
Why The Business Romantic Society is hosting a House of Beautiful Business at Web Summit in Lisbon.
By Tim Leberecht A new pop-up community that appears near large technology and business conferences, the House of Beautiful Business serves as a sandbox, stage, and salon for a growing community that wants to shape the very human future of business. The House of Beautiful Business is driven by the belief that as machines do things more Read More
Ahead of the exclusive "Beyond Retail" gathering in Stuttgart, Tim was interviewed about the romantic future of business.
Tim gave the opening keynote at the Beyond Retail conference hosted by German business daily Handelsblatt and brand retail experience firm Liganova, and ahead of the event in Stuttgart he spoke with Liganova’s Industry Insider magazine. The Business Romantic Society aims to “make us fall back in love with our work and our life.” Were we Read More
Tim recently spoke at Xerocon London, “the world’s most beautiful and innovative conference for leaders in cloud accounting.” The event took place on October 4-5, 2017 at ExCel London. For more info on the event, visit the Xerocon site.
Will art become more or less important in the future? Find out what Business Romantic Tim thinks about the future of art in this short “Outspoken” clip from the House of Beautiful Business in Barcelona, 2017. Learn about the upcoming House of Beautiful Business in Lisbon.
Tim's dinner series "15 Toasts" is mentioned in this article by Dutch creative director Marcel Kampman.
“Table Tales” by Marcel Kampman references Tim’s 15 Toasts dinner series. As Kampman begins his article: “Lately, ‘tables’, as a topic, have come to the table quite frequently. When I was in Portugal, over Christmas and New Year, that happened again. Before heading to Lisbon to celebrate New Year there, I stayed in Alejento’s countryside, Read More
"Everyone claims to be in the business of digital transformation… But it’s important to think about our transformation as human beings."
Here’s a short clip of Tim talking about staying human in the digital age, captured in the IXDS Blackbox series. Tim says, “Everyone claims to be in the business of digital transformation… But it’s important to think about our transformation as human beings.”
What if mistakes are actually good for creating a stronger bond with customers? Read Tim's new Inc column.
During a recent trip to Lisbon, I learned from local musicians that Fado, the traditional, melancholy Portuguese music, is a musical genre that cannot be automated by machines. Why? Fado is a collection of minor mistakes and small imperfections made by the musicians. Because there are no drums, the rhythm is mostly dictated by the singer, Read More
Tim gave a keynote at this new conference, co-organized by Mercedes and SXSW, in Frankfurt.
In his keynote, titled “Advantage Human: Live, Lead, and Work Beautifully,” Tim argued only humans can do things beautifully, and he made the case for combining AI and dataism with a new, radical humanism. The inaugural me Convention took place in Frankfurt, Germany during the IAA (International Motor Show) September 15-17, 2017. Tim was among a speaker line-up including astronaut and Read More
Tim was quoted in this Financial Times article on automation and the future of employment.
The article, by Richard Waters, asks what cobots, or collaborative robots, mean for the future of employment. Waters spoke to experts about the economic and psychological implications when cobots become a part of everyday work life. The article originally appeared in the Financial Times.
At Xero's annual conference. Tim illustrated the need for and the benefits of "beautiful business" in the age of machines.
Xerocon, hosted by cloud-based accounting software leader Xero, is one of the world’s largest conferences for accountants and book keepers, and Tim gave the 45-minute opening keynote in front of 3,000 attendees.
Instead of 'techsplaining' the future, we need radical humanism.
Tim’s article, “The Real Moonshot of our Time,” was published in (tt), a print publication of TID & tendenser, a branch of pej gruppen, a privately held Scandinavian company that spots, analyzes, and communicates future trends to professionals in lifestyle industries.
Tim’s book, The Business Romantic, has been translated into Korean and is now available in South Korea. Overall, the book has been published in 10 countries and translated into 6 different languages.
Tim was interviewed by Marketing Week on the romanticism in marketing, the world’s obsession with data, and why marketing teams should feel like “bands on tour”.
By Rachel Gee His book, The Business Romantic, looks at the importance of romance in everyday lives and business, urging people to design products, services and experiences that connect them to something that is “greater than themselves”. He has also given three TED talks, with the most recent, ‘4 ways to build a human company Read More
The key to better strategy? Think more, collaborate less.
by Tim Leberecht The most common outcome of meetings without outcomes?–“Let’s start a Slack channel.” Don’t get me wrong: Slack should be proud of having brought a more human voice and conversational tone to formerly stiff enterprise collaboration. It is a fantastic, easy-to-use alternative to email and project management software, and it’s a perfect tool for small, Read More
How will our concepts of identity, how will WE change, in this age of exponential technology? What if identity itself became a new (romantic) technology?
By Jonathan Cook and Tim Leberecht Our technologies have not only changed what we do, they have changed who we are. — Sherry Turkle Our future has been hacked. It used to be that when we thought of the future, we dreamed of the new and wonderful things people could be doing in it. Now, when we think Read More
The Thinkers50 are the "Oscars of management thinkers."
Every two years, Thinkers50 ranks the world’s top management thinkers. In addition, several individual awards are given for distinguished achievement in global thought leadership. Vote for Tim in the 2017 Ranking of Global Thinkers here (it takes 10 seconds)!
The original anti-industrial movement may give us some cues regarding the future of work, writes Tim in his column.
By Tim Leberecht “Suppose people… had few wants, almost no furniture for instance, and no servants, and studied the (difficult) arts of enjoying life, and finding out what they really wanted: then I think one might hope civilisation had really begun.” So wrote William Morris in 1874. At this point, the first industrial revolution was Read More
After already being translated into eight different languages, "The Business Romantic" is now also to be published in Arabic.
Following the international success of The Business Romantic, the book will now be translated and made available to the Arabic-speaking world. The Dubai-based firm Diwan Arabia is overseeing its publication and regional distribution. An era of anxious skepticism, overquantified experiences, and boredom at work has left us disenchanted. In The Business Romantic, Tim proposes an unexpected solution: Read More
Tim contributed to "Emergent," a new book by Stephen Scott Johnson
A consultant and thought leader in the organizational change space, Stephen Scott Robinson has now published a compilation of insights and actionable advice in a new book titled Emergent: Ignite Purpose, Transition Culture, Make Change Stick. Rather than a conceptual model or an oversimplified checklist, the book outlines an actionable framework to support leaders in facilitating cultural Read More
Virgin Pacific's in-flight magazine Voyeur takes a peek at business romance.
By Dan F. Stapleton According to corporate consultant and author Tim Leberecht, “Feeling is the new thinking”, especially in this dawning age of big data and automation. He argues that the companies that will thrive will be those that prioritise creativity, individuality and, above all, romance. “We’re facing a new age of disenchantment,” says Leberecht. Read More
Tim shared his vision for the future of marketing as a keynote speaker.
Disruption, intelligent assistants, and the warp-speed of everyday life: what does it mean for the modern marketer? That was the question raised at Evolve17. The evening event was hosted by Oystercatchers, a London-based consultancy specialized in optimizing marketing models to accelerate brand performance. Since 2011, they have also brought together a niche community of high-level marketing Read More
Tim spoke at Sky Group's FutureNow leadership summit at the majestic Schloss Elmau.
Nestled into a valley at the foot of the Bavarian Alps, the Schloss Elmau is a sight to behold. First built by the philosopher and theologist Dr. Johannes Müller in 1916, the “castle” was intended as an inspiring escape where members of the public could come and be rejuvenated wonders both natural and artistic. In Read More
The "why" of your business is more important than ever, but how you get there requires less logic and planning, and more giving up control.
By Tim Leberecht After several sessions of wrangling and wordsmithing, your company’s mission statement is ready to roll. There’s just one thing: it’s not inspiring. Many mission statements fail to “stick”; they are often boring, banal, even farcical. A Boston University survey showed that 70 percent of management teams believe their employees are inspired by their mission, but Read More
Tim joins workplace happiness expert Samantha Clarke on her Conversations podcast.
When we think of romance we don’t automatically think of business. But Tim is on a mission to get us thinking about how we can create more enchantment, love and romance into our work especially in a time of rising automation. I came across Tim and I was instantly keen to get him onto the Read More
Tim will speak at the me Convention, SXSW's first conference in Europe
SXSW in collaboration with Mercedes-Benz announced the initial programming for a first event in Europe. The inaugural me Convention will take place in Frankfurt, Germany during the IAA (International Motor Show) September 15-17, 2017. Tim will be among a speaker line-up including astronaut and rocket scientist Buzz Aldrin; Head of Industrial Design at X – The Moonshot Read More
Tim provided insight into the emotional businesses of tomorrow as part of Future Day 2017 in Frankfurt.
For most of modern memory, visions of the future have been dominated by economy and technology. We’ve come to expect a faster, shinier, more developed world lit by the glow of yet-undiscovered inventions, be it for better or worse. Many of the futuristic pipe dreams of years passed have been realized and integrated in our Read More
Tim gave a a keynote at the Experience Fighters conference in Madrid.
For two days in Madrid, an international cohort of user experience and innovation fighters converged. Billed as the premier Spanish-language meeting point for innovators and user experience professionals, Experience Fighters (#EFX17) is a two-day conference in Madrid. Held at the Spain’s national museum of modern art, the Museo Reina Sofía, the two-day conference schedule was Read More
Tim joined Reinvent founder Peter Leyden for a conversation about The Future of Sharing.
Author and entrepreneur Tim Leberecht wrote the international bestseller The Business Romantic: Give Everything, Quantify Nothing, and Create Something Greater Than Yourself two years ago, in part as a response to our rampant tendency to over-quantify ourselves and our work. Leberecht said that because he used the term “romance” in the title, some people confused his message with Read More
In an age of machines, it’s imperative that companies find their romantic side, says Tim Leberecht in this profile in DHL's "Delivered" magazine.
by Tony Greenway Tim Leberecht is on a mission to bring more “romance” into business. He’s not – emphatically not – encouraging office affairs. Instead, he believes that organizations have to make their operations more exciting, dramatic, mysterious… and human. The human side of business is increasingly vital in a world where artificial intelligence and Read More
Tim spoke at Typeform in Barcelona as a part of the company's "Conversations" series.
What does it mean for a technology-focused company to be “human”? Typeform, a Barcelona-based software company, explores exactly this and calls it HX (Human Experience). The intention is to make digital interactions between individuals and organizations “a little more human,” and the company’s notable growth is testament to the value of this approach. Typeform helps Read More
What is the future of the human organization, and how can we work towards that ideal?
In the fall of 2015, I was part of a group of 15 professionals — corporate executives, NGO leaders, social entrepreneurs, software engineers, agency folks, artists, and writers — who had come together for a weekend in London to explore the following questions: In an age of AI, data, and automation, what will the future human organization look like? Read More
By Tim Leberecht At the recent TED Conference in Vancouver, visionary and entrepreneur extraordinaire Elon Musk, founder and CEO of Tesla, SpaceX, and most recently The Boring Company, was interviewed by TED curator Chris Anderson. Although it was a fairly friendly interview, at one point Anderson pressed Musk on the criticism he’s received regarding his vision for colonizing Read More
Tim spoke at a Accenture's LATAM high-potential leaders summit in Sao Paulo
Tim was invited to give a presentation on “Inspirational Leadership” to a group of high-potential leaders of Accenture Latin America in Sao Paulo. In his 45-minute talk, he emphasized the importance of vulnerability, empathy, and critical thinking as key traits of future leaders, especially against the backdrop of AI and automation. Tim encouraged the participants Read More
Tim gave the closing keynote at ForgeRock's Identity Live summit in Dusseldorf.
In this age of exponential technologies, even things as fundamental-seeming as our selves are no longer as straightforward as they used to be. Our presence is now spread across an increasing number of platforms, accounts, and devices, and this proliferation of identities is poised to increase exponentially. So what does “identity” mean in this time Read More
Tim was one of the guest speakers at the car maker's big Leadership 2020 Summit in Frankfurt.
How can giants of the “Old Economy” survive the Fourth Industrial Revolution – and thrive in the future? Leading automotive manufacturer Daimler is bracing for change by proactively creating it, transforming itself and its industry from the inside out, and understanding transformation as culture change. The initiative is called Leadership 2020, and the changes are Read More
In an episode focused on how organizations can retain a human touch in the face of automation and digitalization, Tim offered guidance on thriving in the Age of Machines. To combat “widespread disenchantment” and to compete with progressively more capable AIs, both organizations and individuals need to embrace that which makes them most human.
Tim addressed Italian business leaders in a seminar at the The European House Ambrosetti in Milan.
In the face of exponential technological development and fundamental shifts in the world of work, change is the only certainty. What might it mean to be a professional, organization or employer when half of the human workforce is expected to be replaced by robots or software in the next 20 years? [Without work, what will Read More
Tim was the featured guest speaker at the annual summit of Shirlaws Group in Oxford.
Tim joined Shirlaws Group for a discussion of leadership in uncertain times. Shirlaws’ motto is “Love Enterprise,” and the company is a global network of experienced coaches helping founders and CEOs of small- and medium-sized businesses grow while maintaining a human-centric culture. In an age when investing in organizational culture is increasingly recognized as a Read More
Exploring the implications of a post-work future at TED2017
What are we going to do with our lives when robots and software replace half of the human workforce and work is no longer the center of our lives? How will we build and cultivate society, form our identities and derive meaning in a post-work world? At the TED2017 conference in Vancouver, Tim Leberecht and Read More
By Jillian Richardson Our jobs give us purpose, not just a paycheck. (AP Photo/Katsumi Kasahara) I recently interviewed Dr. Zev Eigen, the global director of analytics at Littler, for an article about artificial intelligence and workplace communication. About halfway through the conversation, I jokingly asked, “Do you think my writing job could be taken Read More
For this author, Tim's TED Talk raises some important questions
The heart is central to the survival of human beings. If our heart stops beating we die. We know this, so we take good care of it. We exercise, we eat healthily, we avoid stress and ensure a well balance happy life – at least this is what most of us strive for. So what Read More
Jerry Ruff applies Tim's principles of beautiful organizations to nursing homes.
By Jerry Ruff A stroke had limited Albert’s mobility to one arm, one hand, limited head movement, and tracking with his eyes. He always showed pleasure in his eyes when I visited him, but whatever he may have been thinking, he could only articulate five words: “Too much for these times.” During high school and Read More
Tim Leberecht's article was featured as part of LinkedIn's special TED2017 coverage,
By Tim Leberecht Photo: TED Conferences by Tim Leberecht The theme of the TED2017 conference I’m attending this week in Vancouver is a curious pick. Rather than whistling to Silicon Valley’s favorite tune—self-optimization, performance enhancement, and transhumanism—“The Future You” addresses the question of how we will form our identities and find purpose when much of Read More
Tim was interviewed for the Globe and Mail's Future of Work column
Tim was interviewed for Leah Eichler’s Future of Work column and quoted as follows: So what does this mean for employees in the work force? While conventional wisdom dictates that everyone must hone their coding skills, that might not be the case. In fact, it’s the soft skills that will assume greater value, according to Read More
The bad news: Simply getting better or knowing more won't cut it. The good news: Being more human will.
By Tim Leberecht You’ve heard the rumblings of the robots, right? When I make a customer service call and get an eerily nuanced answer from a chatbot, I hear the rumbling of the robots. When I call out to my digital assistant and Siri/Alexa/Cortana makes a wise-cracking response, I feel the rumblings. I can’t help Read More
Why the removal of a passenger is such a big deal—and a sign of our times.
By Tim Leberecht There is a memorable scene in the movie Magnolia, when Julianne Moore’s enraged character confronts an indiscreet pharmacy clerk: “Where’s your f……. decency?” This is exactly how I felt after watching that United Airlines video. Fights over armrest territory, special devices to block the person in front of you from reclining, and in-flight freak-outs have become all-too-common Read More
How Melbourne "took a chance on Business Romance" - an account by Frederic Etiemble.
By Frederic Etiemble For one second, picture yourself as a researcher 20 years down the line, trying to find the root event that started a profound shift in the business world in Australia. You should be able to trace it back to one guy reading one book. In 2015 Mykel Dixon read the Business Romantic Read More
Simon Waller reflects on the The Business Romantic Tour in Australia and the call for a new radical humanism.
By Simon Waller In a month or so I’m delivering a keynote entitled ‘Will technology make us more human?’ It’s a keynote I’ve had in my speaker guide for over a year but until now, no one has actually booked me to deliver it. I’m not sure why that is. It feels like a discussion Read More
"A unique conference experience exploring the radical humanization of the workplace," with events in Sydney and Melbourne
Dedicated to exploring the “radical rehumanization of the workplace,” The Business Romantic 2017 Oz Tour kicked off on March 27, with a full-day conference in Sydney, followed by two 15 Toasts dinners, private workshops, and a full-day conference in Melbourne on March 31. Tim was joined by a stellar line-up of Australian entrepreneurs, business leaders, Read More
Tim Leberecht was included in a list published by Catalant.
Tim was named one of the “10 Movers and Shakers Who Are Driving the Future of Work” by Catalant, an honor he shared with Simon Sinek (author of “Start with Why”); Charlene Li (Founder and CEO of Altimeter Group); Andrew McAfee, Principal Research Scientist, MIT; or Diane Mulcahy (author of “The Gig Economy”). Throughout his career, Read More
Tim spoke at and facilitated a dinner conversation in New York hosted by the NationSwell Council.
The dinner gathered 25 business, government, and nonprofit leaders for a rich discussion on what it means to run a business (or organization) beautifully. Over dinner, Tim shared a new framework that defines a “beautiful organization” as open, mindful, caring, and artistic. NationSwell dinners are intimate gatherings of Council members, a few special guests, and leading Read More
In a time of constant chatter, silence is not only golden - it can be disruptive.
by Tim Leberecht I am fascinated by public moments of silence to commemorate the dead. In Spain, it seems as if every other first-league football game starts with one. Shushing as many as 80,000 people, ready to cheer for their team with raw emotion, has always struck me as quite an accomplishment, and the resulting Read More
Together with co-curator Carmen Boronat Badia, Tim was interviewed by Spanish magazine The Objective about his House of Beautiful Business initiative.
Mientras las compañías tecnológicas reunidas en el Mobile World Congress enarbolan la bandera de la inteligencia artificial y el internet de las cosas, una comunidad de filósofos, artistas, visionarios e innovadores debaten sobre la necesidad un nuevo humanismo radical que nos permita abrazar el futuro sin acabar convertidos en máquinas. ‘The Objective’ ha hablado con Read More
Tim in conversation with Mykel Dixon ahead of The Business Romantic Oz Tour
Ahead of The Business Romantic Oz Tour (March 27-April 5, 2017) that will lead Tim to Sydney and Melbourne for a series of events, he and co-organizer Mykel Dixon spoke on Skype about the relevance of romance, advise for the early adopters of business romance, radical experiments at work, the value of mystery, as well as Read More
Tim gave the closing keynote at medtech leader Getinge Group's EMEA Sales Summit in Prague
Customer-centricity is an overused buzzword. Every can agree on its importance—but what does it really mean? In his closing keynote at Getinge Group’s EMEA Sales Summit in Prague, Tim explored four principles of what he called culture-based customer-centricity: 1) Understand your customers as human beings; 2) Make them suffer (a little); 3) The journey is Read More
Tim Leberecht to speak at the ADP ReThink Global HCM Conference in Barcelona
Tim Leberecht will be one of the speakers, alongside Laszlo Bock (former Head of HR at Google), Amal Clooney, Marcus Buckingham, and others, at the ADP ReThink Global Conference, an invitation-only Human Capital Management event held in Barcelona, Jan 31- Feb 2, 2017. Every year, the event assembles “top-level HR, Finance, IT and Security executives to Read More
Making a mental shift for the uncertain future of work
By Tim Leberecht We’re all scrambling for practical solutions for the uncertain future of work. But there’s a mental shift we need to make, too. We live in a winner-take-all world. As kids, we grow up competing for attention in our families, for grades and friends at school and for triumph in sports and debates. Read More
By Tim Leberecht Casa de la Seda in Barcelona (photo credit: Barcelona Film Commission) “As machines take our jobs and do them more efficiently, the only work remaining for us humans will be the kind of work that must be done beautifully rather than efficiently.” This was the main argument of my recent TED Talk on Read More
The leading Dutch business daily quotes Tim and touts Business Romanticism as a key trend.
Leading Dutch business daily FD featured Tim and The Business Romantic in its special Trends for 2017 outlook (print only), as part of the Personal Leadership section.
The French law points to bigger questions about the role of work in our lives.
By Tim Leberecht As was widely reported, French workers have won the “right to disconnect.” In other words, their employers can no longer demand they stay tethered to their devices and answer email after work hours. Source: Yahoo Sports This “right to disconnect” must be seen in the context of other European policies designed to protect Read More
It is an irony of history that it took a nihilistic businessman like Trump to brutally expose a forgotten, profound human desire.
By Tim Leberecht Caspar David Friedrich, “Woman Before the Rising Sun” “Is Trumpism a form of romanticism?” That was the first audience question I received after giving a talk on humanizing the workplace, based on my book, The Business Romantic, to 3,000 Brazilian business leaders at a management forum in Sao Paulo. I felt nervous on Read More
In his new TED Talk, Tim argues that we need "beautiful organizations" and a new radical humanism.
Beauty is exactly what the world needs right now. And there’s no better place to start than business. Half of the human workforce is expected to be replaced by robots and software in the next two decades. As machines take our jobs and do them more efficiently, the only work left for us humans is the kind Read More
Tim will head up a "unique conference experience exploring the radical humanization of the workplace," with events in Sydney and Melbourne
As individuals and organizations, we need a radical humanization of the workplace. The companies courageous enough to explore and embrace a fresh approach to business that is not just efficient and purposeful, but beautiful, are positioning themselves as market, industry, and global leaders. Tim will bring this message and experience to Australia as part of Read More
by Rui Miguel Ferreira More and more we see the words Agile and Strategy mentioned in the same phrase or title. Tim Leberecht, author of the book “The Business Romantic: Give Everything, Quantify Nothing, and Create Something Greater Than Yourself”, wrote an article for the Harvard Business Review on how to make your strategy more Read More
Instead of “techsplaining” the future, we need radical humanism
By Tim Leberecht Illustration: Streetwise Media As we adjust to living digital cheek by digital jowl in our hyper-connected world, we’re rapidly approaching a technological shift that will be even bigger than the Internet — the union of man and machine. Some would say that day has already come, as we go about our business tethered to Read More
Tim's TED University talk from 2015 is now also online as part of the TED Archive.
In February 2015, Tim gave a short talk during TED University at the TED Conference in Vancouver. The talk was now posted to the TED Archive, and you can watch it here.
Fortune and StartupSmart recommend them as critical for business owners and those who want to be "saved from disruption."
Last week, both of Tim’s TED Talks were highlighted individually as essential for any business owner. First, Fortune featured Tim’s original TED Talk, “3 Ways to (Usefully) Lose Control of Your Brand,” in an article titled, “5 TED Talks Every Business Owner Needs to Watch.” In the article, Polina Marinova writes that this innovative selection Read More
Read Tim's interview with the French fashion magazine Nebula
How would you describe your relationship with luxury, whether it refers to luxury as a concrete object or merely a concept? To me, luxury is almost never an object and almost always an experience, if not merely an abstract concept, an image or perception. At any rate, it is so much more than just an Read More
“Challenge the Future” was the theme of this year’s DHL Innovation Day, at which Tim delivered a keynote address introducing the audience to Business Romanticism. Tim focused on the challenge and the necessity of building romance and beauty into business, especially in this age of increasing automation. The event, held at the DHL Innovation Center in Troisdorf, Read More
By Tim Leberecht Over the past few years, I have worked with a number of organizations—from architecture firms to call centers, from tech start-ups to aircraft manufacturers to government agencies and cancer researchers. And the thing that surprised me most was a widespread search for beauty. Many leaders told me how important it was for Read More
At the conference in Newcastle, Tim presented the four principles of human organizations.
Tim spoke at Thinking Digital Women, a conference designed by Thinking Digital to feature the contributions of women around the world in science, tech, innovation, engineering, and entrepreneurship. Taking place in Newcastle upon Tyne, TDC Women (open to women and men alike) felt at once like a global, broad-reaching conference and an intimate community event. Founder Read More
Tim writes about "vision sprints" and how they allow you to run fast and go deep at the same time
By Tim Leberecht Can you run fast and go deep at the same time? Originating from agile software development, the sprint has entered the business mainstream as an increasingly popular means to accelerate business model, product, or service innovation. Sprints break an otherwise long, complex process into sizable, achievable chunks that can be accomplished at Read More
A conversation with Lorna Davis, Chief Manifesto Catalyst at food company Danone
By Tim Leberecht I met Lorna Davis for the first time in July 2015 at the inaugural Danone Day in Paris, a special event at which all of Danone’s (marketed in the US as ‘Dannon’) 100,000 employees worldwide convened virtually (and in person) to launch the Danone Manifesto, which described the food multinational’s lode star, its purpose and Read More
Tim will speak at this leading management forum in Sao Paulo along Tom Peters, Oliver Stone, Leandro Kamal, and Roger Martin
This November, Tim will be speaking at the 13th annual HSM Expomanagement in Sao Paulo, Brazil. The HSM Expo is a major event in the Brazil, bringing thousands of executives together with global business thinkers in order to learn about the latest trends in management. This year’s expo takes place November 7-9 at the Transamerica Read More
Reflections on the TV-documentary “End of Shift” and the future of work
Credit: ARD/ARTE By Tim Leberecht “Will work still be the place where we integrate individuals into societies?“ asks End of Shift — The Robots Are Taking Over, a new documentary on the future of work by filmmaker Klaus Martens that premiered last week on German and French public television (I make a brief appearance in it as well). It Read More
We must develop empathy marketplaces to address a looming mental health crisis.
Migration and automation: Western society is facing two mega-trends that will transform the way we live and work in the years ahead. The first sees Europe facing the largest refugee crisis since World War II, with more than a million refugees seeking asylum in Germany alone. This has caused tense policy debates and thrown the Read More
Tim gave the closing keynote at the etailment Summit in Frankfurt
Every year, Germany’s leading online retailers, including Zalando, Otto Group, and Lidl, meet in Frankfurt at the etailment Summit to discuss the latest technology and business trends affecting their industry. Tim gave the closing keynote and encouraged the 500 attendees not to compete merely on efficiency and convenience terms, but to honor their companies’ heritage Read More
A conversation on vulnerability, authenticity, and the beauty of commuting between two worlds
When Tim’s book came out last year in the Netherlands, the prolific Dutch curator and film maker Marcel Kampman filmed him for his Happyplaces series in a little backyard on a sunny spring day in Amsterdam. Watch the full video conversation and read the accompanying blog post. By Marcel Kampman “Actually and honestly, this is the most Read More
Tim Leberecht interviewed by Digital Deloitte and Emerce in Amsterdam
Tim gave the opening keynote at the Emerce eDay conference in Amsterdam, one of Europe’s largest gathering for tech innovators, and he was interviewed by both Deloitte Digital and Emerce on the strategic importance of being human in business.
Tim spoke at MIT's EmTech Europe conference in Toulouse
“Towards a better society” was the theme of this year’s EmTech Europe conference in Toulouse, France, and Tim gave the closing keynote to an audience of European founders, corporate executives, academics, and policy makers. Watch the summary video here.
Tim Leberecht advises on the importance of romance in our life, especially with the rise of big data
Combining the efficiency of a conference with the fun of a festival, eDay is an annual event where digital innovation takes the stage. Thinkers, doers, and makers from all over the world gather in Amsterdam (as part of the city’s “E-week”) to learn about fresh ideas, strategies, and concepts in tech and how all of that Read More
Hundreds of companies offer marketing analytics, planning and automatization tools. And you plead for intuition and romance…why are the others all wrong? They are not wrong—they are just a bit one-sided if they think they can only rely on automation and analytics. I’m not opposed to these technologies. They can be extremely effective in streamlining Read More
By Content Orange Contributor It’s alright to ask the question. Tim Leberecht has set himself up to hear it all the time. “Is the romance gone from today’s branding efforts?” Leberecht says no. In fact, the acclaimed author and founder of The Business Romantic Society says there is a new wave of smart and romantic Read More
Tim in conversation with Amy Whitaker, author of the new book, Art Thinking: How to Carve Out Creative Space in a World of Schedules, Budgets, and Bosses
by Tim Leberecht A conversation with Amy Whitaker, author of the new book, Art Thinking: How to Carve Out Creative Space in a World of Schedules, Budgets, and Bosses. Even the most fervent defender of the corporate mainstream will have realized by now that business-as-usual is broken. Employee engagement remains scandalously low, and companies are Read More
Tim contributed an essay to the Stress Report by DO Lectures
The DO Lectures series asked me a few months ago to contribute a piece to a collection of essays on stress (of course on a tight, stressful deadline), which it just released as The Stress Report, “a modern compass for a new, smarter, more productive way of working.” The 134-page report examines the stress levels Read More
For the third year in a row, Tim spoke at this exclusive gathering devoted to "exponential experiences and accelerated brands"
Harald Neidhardt, the prolific founder and curator of M Forum, had invited 100 handpicked tech and corporate leaders, digital innovators, artists, and start-up founders to this exclusive gathering taking place at the German spa resort of Heiligendamm, right by the Baltic Sea. The main themes of the three-day event were AI, mind-hacking, exponential organizations, connected Read More
How content creators can understand the impact of virtual reality on our psyche
Tim was quoted throughout this article on the new responsibilities of marketers as they begin to incorporate VR into their marketing mix. The ability of VR to give us presence in a virtual context opens up a world of opportunities for brands and content creators, but what does it mean for our minds? The immersive Read More
At the TEDSummit in Banff, Tim spoke about the "four principles of beautiful organizations"
Tim was one of the mainstage speakers at the TEDSummit in Banff, Canada last week, and his talk on “the four principles of beautiful organizations” was received with a standing ovation. TEDSummit gathered “the 1,000 most engaged members of the global TED community” for brainstorms, discussions, performances, workshops, outdoor activities and mainstage talks in the Read More
During a brief visit to Mexico City, Tim gave keynotes at the World Of Business Ideas conference and Oracle Cloudworld
The World of Business Ideas Conference in Mexico City – organized by Latin America’s largest business media group, WOBI – was devoted to the theme of Purpose, and fellow speakers included Sir Ken Robinson, Chip Conley (Chief Hospitality Officer, Airbnb), Mark Hurd (co-CEO, Oracle), George Kohlrieser (IMD Business School), Freya Williams (CEO, Futerra America del Norte), Read More
Tim was interviewed for an episode on WNYC's "Money Talking" program
Listen to the interview here. by Seth Kelley Data is everywhere. And as companies become and more and more data-obsessed, things that can’t be measured — like romance and loneliness — are often ignored.”I’m not against data,” says Tim Leberecht, a marketing and brand consultant at Leberecht & Partners and author of “The Business Romantic” which Read More
Five things business leaders can learn from conference curators.
In this digital age, attending real-world conferences is a welcome deviation from hours in the office and an opportunity both for networking and professional growth. While conferences seem to be stimulating us in a way the daily workplace doesn’t, in many ways they are also vibrant large co-working spaces. At a recent Web Summit, many Read More
Tim went on a brief Europe tour last week, speaking at OuiShare Fest, The Next Web in Amsterdam, and Campus Party Europe in Utrecht.
Tim went on a quick Europe tour last week, speaking at OuiShare Fest in Paris, The Next Web in Amsterdam, and Campus Party Europe in Utrecht. OuiShare Fest is one of the most acclaimed conferences on the collaborative economy (with 3,000 attendees, +200 sessions in 7 spaces during 4 days this year), and Tim gave a keynote on business Read More
A write-up of Tim's talk at The Next Web in Amsterdam
As aFrogleap we have been writing about robots and chat bots, AI (Artificial Intelligence), data and, endlessly, about how to make a personal and contextually relevant experience. As you might agree with me, this is all driven by gathering, measuring, analyzing and enriching data. When we recently peeked into the future, we also explored the ideas Read More
Start-ups wanting to create “beautiful organizations” (as so many founders claim these days) should visit 59-year old Swiss furniture maker Vitra — not just to buy sleek designer office chairs, but to learn from a company culture that actually deserves its title.
Start-ups wanting to create “beautiful organizations” (as so many founders claim these days) should visit 59-year old Swiss furniture maker Vitra — not just to buy sleek designer office chairs, but to learn from a company culture that actually deserves its title. Culture is a hot topic as many tech founders are increasingly aware that it is Read More
In his new HBR post, Tim argues that happiness at work is not enough.
by Tim Leberecht The word “enchantment” originally meant to surround with song or incantation, to cast a spell with sounds. The modern-day definition is a bit broader: to engage the senses, elevate the spirit, and leave a person “transfixed in a simultaneously pleasurable and uncanny state of wonder,” as Jane Bennett writes in her book Enchantment. Read More
Radiohead has disrupted our attention economies with the radical move of erasing its entire web and social media presence.
Radiohead has done the impossible and once again disrupted our attention economies with the radical move of erasing its entire web and social media presence in advance of the release of its new album (scheduled for May 8, 2016, 7 pm BST). It’s an act of quite aggression, insisting on the artist’s right to be Read More
Tim was profiled and interviewed on leadership, millennials, and a new need for enchantment
Challenging conventional business wisdom, leadership pundit Tim Leberecht shows why being human at work might be the secret to a productive and meaningful career. “You’re not innovative enough? Maybe you’re not foolish, nor romantic enough about imagining the possibilities of another world. Your customers don’t love you? Give them more than just solutions to problems. Read More
The Business Romantic world tour continues! In May and June, Tim will be speaking at Ouishare Fest in Paris, The Next Web in Amsterdam, Campus Party in Utrecht, the Fifteen Seconds Festival in Graz, the WOBI Leadership Conference in Mexico City, and at the TED Summit in Banff, among other events. Here’s an overview of Read More
Tim was quoted in this article on the future of work and the evolving role of today's HR leaders
By Meghan M. Biro Historically, business strategies have focused on production and business outcomes. Human capital was considered nothing more than a means to an end. The world is changing, however, with “the growing realization that somehow amidst efficiency, productivity, and career advancement, our very humanity has lost out,” as author Tim Leberecht describes it. Today Read More
Tim spoke at the legendary furniture design's "Think Future" Summit on the Vitra Campus near Basel
Tim gave a keynote at Vitra Design’s “Think Future” Summit that took place on March 9 and 10 on the famous Vitra Campus in Weil am Rhein near Basel, Switzerland. The global high-end office and home furniture firm had invited 500 retail partners for two days of inspiration, workshopping, and networking devoted to how digital Read More
Tim gave a keynote at the marketing and innovation festival in Graz.
Tim gave a keynote at the Fifteen Seconds Festival in Graz, Austria, on June 16, one of Europe’s leading tech, marketing, and innovation events. 3,000 visitors attended the combined trade show and conference that addressed topics such as “green is the new green,” marketing trends, virtual reality, and mindfulness.
In a dual talk with John C. Havens, Tim spoke about how automation will affect brands
What are we going to do when 1/3 or more of the population will be out of work due to automation (as many predict will be the case in 10 years)? Together with “Heartificial Intelligence” author John C. Havens, Tim spoke about “The Dispensables: Automation, Humans, and Brands” at SXSW Interactive in Austin. He discussed the Read More
Nine years after the massive adoption of the Social Web, think is worth doing taking a bit of perspective and reflect about the use we are doing to it, either as individual bloggers and as professionals of Social Media Marketing.
I was a lucky guy meeting through the blogosphere to Tim Leberecht, a German living in San Francisco, who is the author of the theory and book The Business Romantic.Everything started reading a post at his Medium blog titled The Beauty of Things That Don´t Scale. Leberecht convey, defend and justify that brands, within the Read More
Tim gave a keynote in front of 4,000 German corporate marketers and agency owners in Hamburg.
Tim gave a keynote at the Online Marketing Rockstars Conference in Hamburg in front of 4,000 corporate marketers and agency owners. Other speakers included Scott Galloway (NYU), Fany Péchiodat (My Little Paris), Skater-legend Tony Hawk and “Growth Hacker” Neil Patel. Articles (in German): Onlinemarketing.de BILD fvw Blog
Edition Rocco publishes local Portuguese edition: "Romantize seus negocios"
After the UK, Australia, India, Germany, the Netherlands, Turkey, Russia, and Taiwan, “The Business Romantic” has now also been translated into Portuguese and was released by the prestigious Edition Rocco in March in Brazil. You can buy it here.
Tim was interviewed for the Leadershift podcast series
Tim was interviewed by Tanvi Gautam for the Leadershift podcast series, discussing why smart leaders must also be romantic, and how to create enchantment at work. Listen to the podcast here
"A playful and probing book about how to re-think and re-enchant business and our engagement with work."
by David Slocum The last 12 months have seen a wide range of new titles on leadership, teams, organizations, strategy and decision-making. We have also seen some works on creativity, talent, and the far-reaching changes underway in technology, economics, and the ways we work. Many of these books offer compelling new perspectives and constructive lessons for creative Read More
This books turns the entire idea of “work is toil” on its head and reveals that work can be (and frequently is) is a source of great pleasure in our lives.
During this month and next, I’m revealing my picks for the best business books of the year, first by category and finally (on December 15th) the very best of the best. The categories I’ve already posted are: Top 10 “Start Your Own Business” Books of 2015 Top 10 Leadership Books of 2015 This column reveals Read More
1. Now is the time for a humanist perspective on technology and a new romantic era in business. As big data, artificial intelligence, and virtual reality are shaping tomorrow’s business, inherently human qualities such as creativity, empathy, passion, and love are becoming ever more critical success factors. The more human capacity you build, the more Read More
Tim appeared on the popular SoulFeed podcast to talk about the romance of starting a business - and how to keep it alive.
How can you make your work or business romantic? Our Guest: Tim Leberecht, the author of the book The Business Romantic (Harper Collins, 2015), and the founder of The Business Romantic Society, a collective of marketers, researchers, and artists who help leaders build human and soulful businesses. Previously, he served as the chief marketing officer Read More
The word “enchantment” originally meant to surround with song or incantation, to cast a spell with sounds. The modern-day definition is a bit broader: to engage the senses, elevate the spirit, and leave a person “transfixed in a simultaneously pleasurable and uncanny state of wonder,” as Jane Bennett writes in her book Enchantment. We often find Read More
Marketing trade Connect interviewed Tim on the power of "romantic brands"
What are some of the key components that make marketing successful? Marketing is an art and a science, and it is most successful when it balances the two. Obviously, with an unprecedented amount of data at their fingertips, today’s marketers are intelligent almost by default. They know now which half of their marketing budget is Read More
TED Talks are the gold standard when it comes to inspiration and learning more about the world we live in. While some TED Talks center around marketing and social media explicitly, other TED talks focus on topics like creativity and shifting perspective. These talks can be just as effective when it comes to generating ideas and forming a well-rounded understanding of social marketing Read More
Entrepreneur Magazine reviews "The Business Romantic"
When you think of business, is your first thought of how romantic it can be or how you can apply the principles of romance to your business career? No? I thought not. Tim Leberecht feels that in a world that has become mistrustful of capitalism and everything that comes with it, the application of romantic thinking Read More
In this article in Canvas, Tim argues that in order to innovate, you must "build a culture that can afford to say no to the pressures of efficiency."
It is the resounding cry of businesses today. Despite prevailing imperatives, the list of companies that fail to innovate and subsequently perish continues to grow. Add Radio Shack and Sears to the doomed trilogy that includes Borders, Blackberry and Blockbuster. These companies perhaps talked about innovating, they planned to innovate, even invested time and money. Read More
During a recent trip to Madrid, the Spanish marketing blog Grasp interviewed Tim Leberecht
I was surprised when I found out that The Business Romantic—a book with such a mysterious and evocative title—had not been written by a rebellious and extravagant consultant who had broken all conventional rules. Quite the opposite. Its author, Tim Leberecht, is, under all parameters, what the system considers a winner. He has been Read More
Even "contact centers" allow for genuine human connections
In my undergraduate days I was a part-time telemarketer handling calls in response to TV commercials that advertised everything from medals to stamps. Armed with a script, I cold-called strangers of all ages and educational backgrounds. Once, I called more than 50 women in an attempt to sell just one pair of anti-cellulite tights. It Read More
A bustling week in Istanbul, rich with events and media coverage
After having given a talk at TEDx Istanbul in May this year, Tim Leberecht returned to Istanbul in September for the Turkish release of The Business Romantic (“Business Romantik” is the title of the local edition, published by Okuyanus). Tim spent a busy week in the city, speaking at an international conference on touring exhibitions, Read More
Healthcare can be a matter of life and death, and while one likely considers it to be work of significance, can it possibly also be considered romantic?
Hospitals are at the heart of this very dichotomy. On the one hand, they are utterly practical facilities that are required to consistently perform at the highest level, with robustness and yet the flexibility to adapt to ever-changing circumstances, including extreme crisis situations. There is absolutely no — zero — room for error. Hospitals are designed for perfection; they Read More
Becoming mainstream, VR can be a new arena for imagination, empathy and play.
Source: Upsourceit Virtual Reality (VR) has reached the mainstream: several major hardware-makers and content publishers are preparing big mass-market device and content releases in the next few months, from Samsung, Sony, HTC, and Facebook to the Hollywood studios, cable networks, and news media. The New York Times dedicated a whole spread on the phenomenon recently (citing a report Read More
Tim Leberecht interviewed by French-speaking newspaper Le Temps
by Amanda Castillo Dans son livre The Business Romantic récemment paru aux éditions HarperCollins, Tim Leberecht s’est donné pour mission d’introduire davantage de romance dans le monde des affaires et du travail grâce à dix règles simples. Rencontre avec un homme d’affaires épris de romantisme. Le Temps: Dans votre livre, vous rappelez que la part des salariés réellement Read More
Keynote at the BBVA Ideagoras conference in Madrid and extensive media coverage, including a feature interview in leading daily El Mundo
Tim Leberecht was invited to give a keynote at the annual BBVA Ideagoras conference, hosted at the BBVA Innovation Center in Madrid and organized and curated by Ideagoras, the prolific Madrid-based marketing boutique firm specialized in social media marketing for healthcare brands (and other B2B sectors). The theme of the one-day conference was “Designing Romantic Read More
In response to the Paris attacks, we must embrace tolerance and multiple truths.
1. White The evening before the attacks in Paris, I stood in the penthouse apartment on the 72nd floor of a skyscraper in downtown Manhattan and gazed through the massive window at the nearby Freedom Tower. The apartment was the residence of the Danish Consul General in New York who, together with Performa 15, was Read More
Tim Leberecht interviewed at the BBVA Ideagoras Innovation Conference in Madrid
Tim Leberecht gave the keynote at this year’s BBVA Ideagoras Innovation Conference in Madrid and was interviewed on the need for romance in branding and marketing in the age of big data. Tim Leberecht being interviewed by the BBVA Center of Innovation from Ideagoras on Vimeo.
This is the first post in a new series in which I examine the state of (business) romance in various industries and professions.
Architecture is my old flame. When I was in college in Germany, many of my friends studied architecture, and they fulfilled all of the clichés: they wore black turtlenecks and angular glasses, read fancy British design magazines like Wallpaper or intellectual discourse publications like Arch+, had a copy of Delirious New York on the shelf Read More
Does the sound of your boss’s monotone already have you dreaming about the weekend? It’s time to fall back in love with your job with these three rules of enchantment from Tim Leberecht, author of The Business Romantic, and The List’s Holly Morgan. Make the Familiar Strange According to Leberecht the key is to bring Read More
Tim Leberecht was invited to give a President's Lecture at the Berlin School for Creative Leadership
Is your business romantic, and if not, why not? It’s a question asked by Tim Leberecht in his most recent book, The Business Romantic, which encourages us to reconsider how we approach the world of work. Tim argues that we are moving from a smart age to a new romantic era in which only organizations Read More
The leading Spanish newspaper El Mundo interviewed Tim Leberecht on the occasion of his speaking at the BBVA-Ideagoras conference in Madrid. Read the English translation.
Let me start talking about the flame and the passion. A lot of people still think that work is the place where you hold your emotions in order to be predictable and productive. Do you think that this mindset is really changing in the digital economy? According to a 2013 Gallup survey, more than 70 Read More
Lots of autonomy, less mastery, and little purpose: We're about to be in a difficult spot.
The digital transformation of the global workforce is nothing new. For decades, digital innovation has replaced humans on factory lines, in retail stores, and in nearly every avenue of customer service, but in the last few years, technology has evolved so quickly, it’s prompted a big question: What is the human role in a digital Read More
Social Media Week London featured a mixture of major brands, agencies, and tech companies holding events to discuss the latest trends, practices, and campaigns in social media. We even held one of our own. Now that we’ve recovered from an action-packed week of sessions, we’ve rounded together some of the best ideas or points that Read More
Tim Leberecht spoke at the Cusp Conference in Chicago about the uncanny valley of digital technology
At the Cusp Conference in Chicago, the annual gathering of technologists, designers, and entrepreneurs, Tim Leberecht described the perils of our super-quantified selves in this new brave algorithmic age and argued that we need to reclaim uncertainty, mystery, and vulnerability as the cornerstones of a truly human society. On the heels of his talk, he Read More
Tim Leberecht spoke on the main stage of NEXT15, one of Europe’s leading digital technology conferences, which this year returned to its home town Hamburg, Germany. 1,300 decision-makers from various industries gathered to discuss the future of work, commerce, and life. In addition to his talk, Tim also took part in panel on “Productivity 4.0” Read More
Watch Tim being interviewed by David Slocum from the Berlin School of Creative Leadership
5 Questions with Tim Leberecht about his recently published book ‘The Business Romantic – Give Everything, Quantify Nothing, and Create Something Greater Than Yourself”.
Total predictability is ultimately bad for business.
In business, the rise of the algorithm has led to a new management trend: the algorithmic corporation. No matter which publication you open these days, “the algorithmic CEO,” “algorithmic marketing,” or “algorithmic HR” are all the rage. The adage “You can only manage what you measure”—the lowest common denominator of all modern management—seems no longer Read More
Recognize This! – Deep, personal connections with others is what makes us human. How connected are you? No, I mean how reallyconnected are you? To actual people, not Facebook friends or Twitter followers. I ask because this is a growing and troubling illusion in our ever more hyper-connected state. We’re “always on” and sharing far Read More
Loneliness is a feeling we’d all like to avoid. Research shows it’s terrible for our health; it diminishes cognitive performance and the immune system, increases the risk of heart disease and dementia and hastens early death. And the psychological effects are just as bad; studies show that people need strong social connections to feel happy and Read More
Tim Leberecht spoke at Social Media Week London and was interviewed by Ogily & Mather
Tim Leberecht, author of The Business Romantic talks about embracing emotion as a counter for excessive quantification in this digital age and shares his rules of enchantment.
A quick recap of Tim Leberecht's talk at Social Media Week London
Even though Tim Leberecht just published a book called The Business Romantic, his first date with the Social Media Week London crowd got off to a rocky start. He was just, he announced, recovering from a bad bout of food poisoning and hoped the audience would forgive him for low energy or even outright unconsciousness. Read More
In this Sep-Oct 2015 edition of MONDAY*, the Drucker Institute’s digital magazine, Phalana Tiller talks with Tim Leberecht, author of The Business Romantic, about why–even in this era of Big Data–companies shouldn’t rely on numbers alone. MONDAY*: Big Data from Drucker Institute on Youtube.
There was a time when a great brand could be considered your best friend — someone who was a close confidante, even part of your family. In the future, the hallmark of a great brand will be that it’s your best robot. Going forward we’re going to see the rise of a new class of brand — the “post-human Read More
In my undergraduate days I was a part-time telemarketer handling calls in response to TV commercials that advertised everything from medals to stamps. Armed with a script, I cold-called strangers of all ages and educational backgrounds. Once, I called more than 50 women in an attempt to sell just one pair of anti-cellulite tights. It Read More
Technology gives us so much, and yet: Do we risk losing our humanity as we build a data-driven, algorithm-worshiping society? As we quantify, automate and strive to predict, well, everything, are we losing something in the process? We’re losing our romance, says Tim Leberecht, future thinker and author of The Business Romantic, an impassioned, intelligent Read More
If you hesitate to agree then you’re not alone. In business, we often call someone a “romantic” if we view them as naïve or idealistic, if they are overly optimistic or have outlandish ideas. Sometimes, in meetings, we are told to “stop romanticising.” So we do – but that is a huge mistake. Romance is Read More
Episode 5 features Tania Luna, the founder of Surprise Industries and the co-author of the book "Surprise: Embrace the Unpredictable and Engineer the Unexpected
Business Romantics are people who consider business the ultimate human adventure and find mystery, wonder, and meaning in the mundane of their day-to-day routines. Meet Tania Luna, the founder of Surprise Industries and the co-author of the book “Surprise: Embrace the Unpredictable and Engineer the Unexpected.”
A conversation with Tim Leberecht, author of the book “The Business Romantic: Give Everything, Quantify Nothing, and Create Something Greater Than Yourself” Isn’t the modern style of management more comparable with the Enlightenment: rational, objective, measurable? Following the axioms of the age of reason and enlightenment, modern management is bent on constantly reducing the space Read More
They take us out of our heads and put us back into our hearts.
In 1816, a group of English tourists spent the summer at Lake Geneva, in the Swiss Alps. Their single goal was to experience the sublime. The tourists pledged to celebrate the spirit of carpe diem—“seize the day”—and through the written word, as well as copious amounts of alcohol and liquid opium, they sought to establish Read More
In Episode 4, you'll meet Rasanath Das and Haari Prasad from Upbuild, a former Wall Street Banker and a former filmmaker who met in a monastery and decided to build human capacity in business.
Business Romantics are people who consider business the ultimate human adventure and find mystery, wonder, and meaning in the mundane of their day-to-day routines. Meet Rasunath Das and Hari Prasad from Upbuild who combine their unique work and life experiences on Wall Street, at film school, and in a Buddhist monastery to help organizations “build Read More
Tim Leberecht speaks at The Conference in Malmo, Sweden
Watch this video from Tim’s talk at The Conference in Malmo, Sweden, where he spoke about romanticism as a way to embrace complexity in an algorithmic world, as the ultimate humanizer in a market society driven by maximization and optimization.
Brigid Schulte interviews Tim Leberecht for her "Inspired Life" column in the Washington Post
Author Tim Leberecht argues that we can learn to re-engage with work by introducing emotion, surprise, intimacy and other ‘romantic’ qualities At a time when Gallup polls consistently show that about 70 percent of the U.S. workforce feels disengaged from work, and research shows that boredom has become the second most commonly-hidden emotion on the Read More
Watch Tim Leberecht's talk at the Thinking Digital Conference 2015
Tim Leberecht, author of “The Business Romantic”, gives a fabulous talk calling upon us to “give everything, quantify nothing and create something of value” greater than ourselves.
How to live with less stress and greater meaning—at work and beyond
We may talk a good game about how we want to achieve the ever-elusive work/life balance—but what do we do about it? How many of us approach it with the kind of profound urgency that marks the conundrums we attempt to solve at work? I had the chance recently to sit down with Brigid Schulte, Read More
Trust in business leadership is at historic lows, according to surveys by Edelman and the World Economic Forum. One reason might be what INSEAD professors Gianpiero and Jennifer Petriglieri call the “dehumanization of leadership”— that is, our tendency to think of leaders as either instrumental (pursuing a particular business goal) or heroic (pursuing a unique Read More
Despite living in a hyper-connected age, a sense of mystery is more important than ever. Businesses are now tapping into this trend.
The consultancy Landor in November 2014 touted TMI, or “too much information,” as the new paradigm for brands. But the opposite—NEI, or “not enough information”—is far more intriguing. NEI is a trend that’s becoming popular with Bay Area tech startups, some of which have adopted secret rooms in their offices. Escape games have also become Read More
"A far-reaching call to re-think business and work"
The opening months of 2015 brought important and helpful new titles for creative leaders. Among the works providing fresh ideas have been Herminia Ibarra’s Act Like a Leader, Think Like a Leader, Google VP for People Operations Laszlo Bock’s manifesto, Work Rules!, Tim Leberecht’s similarly far-reaching call to re-think business and work, The Business Romantic, and Brent Schlender Read More
Tim Leberecht, author of the book The Business Romantic and chief marketing officer of global design firm NBBJ, worries that big data, algorithms, and self-tracking technologies are engineering the romance out of our lives. He argues that we can find and create more meaning, and even magic, by designing experiences that connect us with something Read More
A conversation with Brigid Schulte, author of "Overwhelmed"
Last year Brigid Schulte’s book Overwhelmed: How to Work, Love, and Play When No One Has the Time was greeted with wide acclaim and bestseller status — and for good reason. Despite the technological amenities at our disposal, we feel more stretched than ever, clinging to the idea that we can find balance — even Read More
A couple of years ago a came across an article by Tim Leberecht on what entrepreneurs can learn from artists which made it immediately into my list of top reads of that year. I was fascinated by the ease at which Tim connected multiple somewhat known but not necessarily related points into a coherent whole. Read More
A conversation about the romance of not fitting in, not optimizing, and not scaling.
Romance As The Ultimate Disruptor Tim Leberecht, author of the new book “The Business Romantic,” asks for more romanticism in our work lives to counter the pervasive regime of data and efficiency. At digital agency HUGE in Brooklyn, he led a conversation about the romance of not fitting in, not optimizing, and not scaling, featuring Read More
From time to time, I am invited to give a keynote presentation. More and more i am adding multimedia elements to that: video, audio, even silence. This transmedia approach is also something that keeps inspiring me when doing my day job, where i am architect and content curator of “events”. I always say that i Read More
Human emotion is the beating heart of enterprise, writes Tim Leberecht
Business and romance make unlikely bedfellows but according to the author of this book, romance is an important, if all too elusive, quality in the world of work. An unapologetic romantic, Leberecht says that as a marketing executive, he views business as one of the great adventures of the human enterprise. The world would be Read More
Mindfulness, values, play, and other themes from the inaugural WorkHuman Summit
It was about time. As Derek Irvine, Vice President, Client Strategy and Consulting at Globoforce, pointed out in a quick historical office tour stretching from the Ancient Greeks to the knowledge age, we have “2,000 years of experience in removing humanity from the workplace.” And the window for the human workplace, barely a crack open nowadays, Read More
As I’m writing this, I’m watching the game for the third time: Futbol Club Barcelona(or Barça, as the fans call it), the world’s best football club (I’m going to stick with “football” and not “soccer” here, since it’s in the club’s name) winning the Champions League, football’s most prestigious international club trophy. The victory over Read More
Perhaps we need more romance when we consider that all businesses are under constant assault from technology and its distancing effects.
By Petra Zlatevska He thinks of himself as the Shakespeare of business – writing prose and sonnets for those star-crossed lovers who need to put more heart and soul into what they are doing whether for their corporation or their customers. At first blush, Leberecht’s book The Business Romantic – Give Everything, Quantify Nothing, and Create Read More
We’re launching a new video series called “The Business Romantics” that features, well, Business Romantics. Starring in the first episode: the remarkable Tolulope Ilesanmi, a cleaner.
Notes from a conversation with Tim Leberecht, Tolu Ilesanmi, Alexa Clay
Yesterday, I had the pleasure of joining Alexa Clay, Tolulope Ilesanmi, andTim Leberecht for a panel discussion at HUGE Inc. Tim had invited us to discuss our experiences as business romantics, an identity he explores and promotes in his recent book by the same name. Here are a few ideas and shared stories I took Read More
Leading Turkish marketing magazine Campaign interviewed Tim Leberecht on the occasion of his speaking at TEDx Istanbul
You were a guest speaker at TEDx Istanbul. What did you focus on in your session? I spoke about what I call “business romance” and argued that we are entering a new romantic era in business and tech – as a countermovement to the pervasive use of “smart” technologies that now allow us to connect Read More
The Business Romantic was mentioned in this piece on the Huffington Post
Last week, I attended the graduation ceremony of Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs (SIPA), where I teach and lead several educational initiatives. In her graduation address to SIPA’s class of 2015, Ambassador Caroline Kennedy shared a story about her father, President John F. Kennedy, and Kohei Hanami, the commander of the Japanese Read More
Art has the power to give us back our humanity where it’s needed most — at work.
“I understood businesses were run with meetings, but I am really shocked at how unproductive they can be! When you’re part of a dance ensemble in order to know much about whether something will work, you have to stop talking about it and try it out. Rehearsals represent an opportunity to physically test ideas — face-time means Read More
This isn’t about office romance. It’s a different type of romance. It’s the kind of romance that evokes a passion for the work that people are head over heels crazy about what they’re doing. Who couldn’t use more mystery in their work? Why not more emotion over reason or curiosity and intrigue in your work? Read More
More companies are discovering that being kind feels good--and pays off.
At my daughter’s pre-school there is a “kindness jar.” When students are caught in the act of performing a good deed, they are allowed to drop a small plastic gem into the jar. When it’s full, the teachers organize a “kindness party,” featuring various themes, each one unique and special. The last party was the Read More
An author and marketer brought entrepreneurs together to talk about how ideas from 19th-century Romantics could enhance today's workplace.
The world of startups and technology is loaded with romantic ideas. Tim Leberecht, a marketer and author of The Business Romantic, came out to Huge to lead a discussion about romantic ideas in the world of business and how older notions of emotions and mystery can enhance work. The romantic ideas about technology are those of being Read More
In the May issue of Fast Company, Helene Gayle, CEO of CARE International, recommends The Business Romantic by Tim Leberecht because “it reminds us to ‘create something greater than ourselves.’” Link
Tim Leberecht is the chief marketing officer of the global design and architecture firm NBBJ, which has helped Amazon, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Samsung, Tencent and others create meaningful places and experiences. He is also the author of the book The Business Romantic: Give Everything, Quantify Nothing, and Create Something Greater than Yourself (Harper Business).We asked Tim, Read More
Otherwise, we run the risk of progressive disenchantment.
In tomorrow’s workplace, we should expect radical changes. While structure will matter much less, culture and intrinsic motivation will mean more than ever. Modern workplaces increasingly resemble living rooms and social clubs. We spend most of our waking hours at work, so employers want us to feel at home. These changes are caused by shifting Read More
Closing the chapter on a job is not easy, especially if you want to do it well.
Although I believe the first 100 days on the job are the most critical—not just the very first one—much has been written about the importance of starting that initial day(link is external) on the right foot. Most of us, at some point, learned the basic protocol of “day one”(link is external): arrive early, be friendly, ask Read More
Mad Men, math men, and the the age-old question: Where are you aching to go (back to)?
“It’s a twinge in your heart far more powerful than memory alone. This device isn’t a spaceship, it’s a time machine. It goes backwards, and forwards…it takes us to a place where we ache to go again. It’s not called the ‘wheel,’ it’s called the ‘carousel.’ It lets us travel the way a child travels — around Read More
Every week, CIO Journal offers a glimpse into the mind of the CEO, whose view of technology is shaped by stories in management journals, general interest magazines and, of course, in-flight publications.
Don’t Snapchat board meetings. Remember several years ago how executives were encouraged to become active in social media? One idea was that a healthy Twitter feed could help humanize the CEO—as well as the organization. Here’s another suggestion: Please stop. Consider the fate of Rory Cullinan, an executive at Royal Bank of Scotland Group plc, Read More
I’m an advocate for romance at work—but that’s not what you think. I’m referring to the state of being in which we feel thrillingly alive, as if all of our senses are on over-drive. Romance makes everything feel new, exciting, and full of possibility. But romance is at just about the other end of the Read More
The phrase “it’s just business” marks our times, capturing the emotionless approach we are supposed to take in the office. And not just in corporate offices; non-profits and governments are expected these days to assume a business-like approach. It’s an era of big data and fact-based decision-making. Mr. Spock would be in his element. But Read More
Field service executives can be described in many ways — strategic, visionary or even heroic. But those lofty terms can overshadow a trait that’s critical to effective leadership — humanity — driving a wedge between executives and the employees they lead. Tim Leberecht, CMO of design firm NBBJ and author of “The Business Romantic: Give Read More
HUMANIZE YOUR BUSINESS – WITH ROMANCE! Guest: Tim Leberecht, San Francisco based CMO of design firm NBBJ and author of the book ‘The Business Romantic’.; Moderator: Pamela DeCesare, VC+D
Regular readers here know we have long championed the critical importance of the “human” aspects of data and marketing. We frequently stress that to be successful, today’s marketing campaigns must be data-driven and, at the same time, more personable, more individualized, more “real” than ever before. Is it possible to data-driven and yet human? Sure. Read More
According to a report by the Center for American Progress, women of color “are a principal force behind one of the most important components of America’s current marketplace and our nation’s future economy: entrepreneurship.” Specifically, from 1997 to 2013 women-owned firms grew by 59 percent overall and African American women-owned firms grew by 258 percent! Read More
Tim Leberecht is the author of the book The Business Romantic: Give Everything, Quantify Nothing, and Create Something Greater Than Yourself (HarperCollins, 2015) and the chief marketing officer of NBBJ, a global design and architecture firm that helps organizations such as Amazon, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Boeing, Samsung, Starbucks, and Tencent create meaningful experiences. Previously, Read More
Audience members give talks during a session of TED University. From Ebola to better businesses, from diabetes to disasters, the talks took on big topics: A type-A response to Type 2 diabetes. Kicking off the session, Laurie Coots shares her personal story of how she beat Type 2 diabetes and regained control over her Read More
Tim Leberecht is the author of the book The Business Romantic (HarperCollins, 2015) and the founder of The Business Romantic Society. He is the chief marketing officer of NBBJ, a global design and architecture firm that helps organizations such as Amazon, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Boeing, Google, Samsung, Starbucks, and Tencent create meaningful experiences. Read More
A lyrical, inspiring book that aims to re-ignite the spark of passion in the work we do.
Do you view yourself as a corporate rat on a non-stop treadmill? Marketer and TED speaker Tim Leberecht’s lovingly-crafted book will make you look at work and life in a whole new way. He presents office as a wondrous place full of mysteries, interesting relationships, and offering a diversity of experiences and rewards. Even the Read More
When you ask a marketer about the future of the business these days, you get very different answers. One person will tell you that marketing is a precise science that defies the concept of the “big idea” and relies on big data, while another will insist that marketing is defined by the quality of listening Read More
What we're losing when we're quantifying everything
Put the body-monitoring tool down, turn around, and slowly walk away. Just because something is measurable doesn’t mean you should measure it, especially if there’s no guarantee it will improve your quality of life. I’m not a technophobe—far from it. These days, I juggle many professional balls, so I gladly rely on my arsenal of Read More
When I walked in the door to start a new chapter in my career, my tenure was unblemished. And yet, only one hour into my new job as the CMO at a design firm, I wasn’t sure if I was off to a good start. After chatting with my new colleague, John, for 10 minutes, Read More
Tim Leberecht, author of The Business Romantic, shares his tips for keeping that startup spark alive.
By Leigh Buchanan With his new book, The Business Romantic, Tim Leberecht wants to light a fire in the hearts and loins of business people. Everyone understands heart: It’s the passion for mission, customers, or wealth creation that at once motivates and ennobles. Loins are edgier, wilder, a little bit dangerous. Heart is Tony Hsieh. Read More
Consider the concept of thick presence, which is being present with someone, unplugged and untethered to phones, for several hours at a stretch.
One of my resolutions this New Year is to popularize the term “thick presence.” It sounds lurid, but it’s not. The phrase isn’t mine—it belongs to Tim Leberecht, author of the soon-to-be released The Business Romantic. But the moment I heard it, I recognized the phenomenon. It describes an effect I’ve experienced several times but Read More
We confronted Mr Leberecht with quotes from Donald Trump’s 2007 bestselling book “Think Big and Kick Ass in Business and Life”
Donald Trump says, “It’s not personal, it’s business”, but in your book The Business Romantic you argue that, actually, it’s through the personal that success in business can be found. What would you say as a counterpoint to Trump? Business is extremely personal. The products and services we buy define and connect us. At work, Read More
When the romance is gone from your work, try commitment
Committing oneself in service to a corporation requires a great deal of courage. It means we bring our fullest selves, including our autonomy, to the job. Unlike the grand gesture of quitting to become an entrepreneur, or, on the opposite extreme, giving over one’s identity to office politics and corporate dogma, autonomy within a committed Read More
As advance press chief for the Athens Olympic Torch Relay in 2004, Tim Leberecht got a taste of how it feels to be emotionally fulfilled and thrilled at work. Ever since, he’s pursued a career he’s passionate about, one that transcends the daily tasks and connects to something much greater. Now, he’s on a mission Read More
1. Come out as a Business Romantic If you feel that the workplace or a brand does not accommodate your full range of spiritual, emotional, and intellectual needs, it is time to come out as a Business Romantic. It is imperative that you don’t just “confess” (for example, don’t open the conversation by stating that you think your Read More
For most entrepreneurs, your work is your life, your passion. But over time, when the initial spark dies down, you can lose that romantic flame you initially had when you opened your company’s doors. “The first six months [of a business] are always riveting, adventurous, and then at some point when you need to scale Read More
THE BUSINESS ROMANTIC: Fall Back in Love With Your Work and Your Life
The Business Romantic provides surprising insights into the emotional and social aspects of business and also presents ‘Rules of Enchantment’ that will help individuals and organisations. The book offers a radically- different view of the good life, and encourages readers to expect more from companies, to give more of themselves, and to fall back in Read More
Traditional intelligence, or what we would refer to as raw, cerebral horsepower, has never really been enough. Sure, it can help you do well on tests, remember your boss’ spouse’s name (hopefully at the perfect time), and possibly help your kids with their geometry homework, but it’s never been a guarantor of career success, or an Read More
In today’s marketplace, companies strive to accumulate maximum knowledge about their customers in order to then deliver to them with the utmost precision. Near real-time adaptation is the Holy Grail. Sentiments, perceptions, behaviors, and reputations can change in an instant. This means that the marketing mix needs to change every week, perhaps even every day. Read More
“Culture eats strategy for breakfast,” management guru Peter Drucker famously said. Etsy, the peer-to-peer e-commerce site for handcrafted and vintage items, is a compelling case in point. The company is reportedly preparing for an IPO this year, aiming to raise $300 million. The key to Etsy’s remarkable growth strategy is its distinctive culture, attracting and Read More
These days, sci-fi movies can hardly catch up with reality. We are woken up by our Pebble smartwatch, set our Fitbit, order an Uber to get to work (where we use Kloutto gauge our influence, Meeting Mediator to manage social dynamics in meetings, and mood sensors that tell us when we’re happiest). We outsource our Read More
Mindfulness mantras are the latest tool of corporate control
The world of management has discovered the human soul. Each new dawn brings with it another survey, article, or TED Talk emphasizing the need to restore meaning to work. Whether laboring at a bike shop, mounting hostile takeovers, or psychoanalyzing house pets, older workers want it, and millennials demand it. No one can seem to Read More
Moe and Tim Leberecht discuss how to better meet one’s own desires as well as those of customers, employees, and society
The Business Romantic The act of leadership is a highly personal pursuit; some do it with an iron fist, others do it with charisma; but, the most admired ones seem to share such a deep respect for human potential that they make it their highest priority to help others grow. If you’ve been around such Read More
In his book, The Business Romantic: Give Everything, Quantify Nothing, and Create Something Greater Than Yourself, author Tim Leberecht argues that we underestimate the importance of romance in our lives, and that we can find it in and through business by designing products, services, and experiences that connect us with something greater than ourselves. Leberecht, Read More
Surprise And Unpredictability In Business – The Business Romantic
We’ve all been taught to look for the measurable and eliminate risk in our businesses. But Tim Leberecht says it’s time to do the surprising and unpredictable! Author of The Business Romantic, Tim shares how creating, and appreciating, those unquantifiable moments can lead to increased devotion from customers AND employees. We talk about how interacting Read More
In this episode Tim Leberecht takes a deep dive into his book, The Business Romantic, where he argues that we underestimate the importance of romance and that it can be found through business. In his book Leberecht takes an intriguing yet challenging look into the emotional side of business through the compelling stories of very Read More
I worry about love. A strange concern for a workplace columnist, I know, but after watching movies like Her, where the lonely protagonist played by Joaquin Phoenix falls in love with his computer’s operating system, and reading about new apps that conjure up fake boyfriends who send you text messages, I wonder about the lovelorn Read More
Customer service is typically referred to using many terms other than “romantic”. By viewing the world through fresh eyes, we can become Customer Service Romantics and see how intelligent self-service can transcend traditional business-case-oriented metrics and allow our customers to more fully express their humanity, to expect more, to give more, and to fall back in love with customer service.
I just finished reading The Business Romantic by Tim Leberecht. In the inside cover of the book, it explains that “business [often] seems divorced from the full expression of our humanity. For many of us, something is missing, something both essential and immeasurable that lets us see the world with fresh eyes every day: romance Read More
Are you bold enough to be a business romantic? And no, we’re not referring to workplace Cupids… Author Tim Leberecht, who coins the terms in his new book, The Business Romantic: Give Everything, Quantify Nothing, and Create Something Greater Than Yourself (Harper Business, 2014), explains that business romantics are first and foremost humanists. They’re bold Read More
A 20 minute interview with author Tim Leberecht about his new book The Business Romantic and how to bring romance of your job to your job. This post first appeared on BookBuzz Startup.
I’m not afraid to say it — we need more romance at work. I don’t mean romance in the literal, romantic-love sense. What I’m advocating for is reframing the way many employees view their jobs: a pressure-cooker means to an end. Given that employees spend an average of 70 percent of their time at work, Read More
Review of "The Business Romantic" by Tim Leberecht
With banners, posters and badges, a film training school near where I live urges its students to “Do What You Love”. The point of The Business Romantic is a corollary; Tim Leberecht wants us to try really hard to love what we do. Aged only six, Leberecht started his own imaginary corporation. He is now Read More
Innovation Navigation delivers invaluable advice for executives or managers who want to boost their organization’s ability to innovate.
In this episode, Dave Robertson talks Mark Barden, who encourages business leaders to celebrate limits and work through the challenges of reduced resources in the book he co-wrote, A Beautiful Constraint. We get a view of using less data and more heart from Tim Leberecht, author of The Business Romantic. Dave finishes with a playful look at robotics Read More
When you ask a marketer about the future of the business these days, you get very different answers. One person will tell you that marketing is a precise science that defies the idea of the “big idea” and relies on big data, while another will insist that marketing is defined by the quality of listening Read More
Aspiring to lead their company’s digital transformation, CIOs often get bogged down by the demands of day-to-day business. If they want to strengthen IT as a strategic function that has a seat at the table, then they must lead and not just serve. They must move from information to imagination. But how? Being a business-savvy Read More
Marketing can help create and lead a romantic counter-culture that posits intuition and creativity, as well as genuine human-to-human connections, against the regime of the machine.
Tim Leberecht believes in the power of romance. The CMO of global design and architecture firm NBBJ even wrote a business book extolling the power that romantic marketing holds in making connections with today’s consumers. The book, “The Business Romantic: Give Everything, Quantify Nothing, and Create Something Greater Than Yourself,” shows how small, everyday actions can help build a Read More
We fall in love and then we spend the rest of our lives and careers recapturing what it felt like.
Gondolier or florist, wedding planner or poet. Dancer, restaurateur, sommelier: those are some of the professions that typically come to mind when one thinks of a romantic job. But romance can be found in some unlikely places — even an airport. While in college, I also worked at the international airport in my hometown of Stuttgart, Germany, Read More
Author Tim Leberecht says that we're quickly reaching the point where we only value what we measure. That's bad for business, he argues.
by Laura Montini Businesses everywhere could use a little less data and a little more romance, according to Tim Leberecht, author of The Business Romantic. “I’m not talking about about office flirts,” Leberecht, CMO at architecture firm NBBJ and former Frog Design CMO, said during a recent presentation. “I’m also not talking about loving what you Read More
What is a business romantic? We can think of ourselves as sailors crossing an ocean or as teammates with our skin in the game. Romantics know that life’s riches are only realized when we share a history with something greater than ourselves. This is easy if our work and careers give us satisfaction. But it Read More
No, we don’t mean seduce Steve in accounts — to nail January you need to fall back in love with your job, says Phoebe Luckhurst
Monday was the most unpleasant day of the year. Enshrined in pop lore as D-Day — when unhappy couples drop the rictus grins and file for divorce — and, aptly, a preternaturally dark and gloomy one, it was also back to school for London’s professionals. Obviously, by 10am, after a blisteringly passive-aggressive catch-up with the Read More
View this video of Tim Leberecht’s appearance on the Total Picture radio show. Tim speaks with host Peter Clayton about the limits of openness, the power of mystery in an age of radical transparency, and some of the Business Romantic principles featured in his new book. Featured image credit: Daily Excelsior
I wrote The Business Romantic because I believe we need more romance in our lives and that we can find it in and through business. My book argues that all the intense and mostly positive feelings we experience in love—mystery, intimacy, vulnerability, even a bit of suffering, and yes, the loss of control—are crucibles of Read More
Music SYLVAIN CHAVEAU – The Black Book of Capitalism Sylvain Chaveau is a French electronic music artist, and this 2000 work of his celebrates noir-esque meditations that draw from eclectic styles. The album’s title is inspired by Le Livre noir du capitalisme (The Black Book of Capitalism), a book that was published in France in 1998 in Read More
This new year, if you are bored or unhappy with work, know that it doesn’t have to be that way.
The New Year means an opportunity to start fresh. But despite the new page on the calendar, you may simply dread going back to work tomorrow. Work isn’t typically rated as a favorite activity; in fact, one study found that it is as far down the list as being sick with the flu. Only 13% Read More
How small moments of delight can add up to a full year of enchantment
As the year winds down and the constant thrumming of the workday has relaxed a bit, it’s a perfect time to reflect on the year ahead and the direction you would like it to take. Whether you have a formal custom of creating New Year’s resolutions to greet January 1st, or simply abide by a Read More
Forget using big data, statistics and ratings all the time, according to Tim Leberecht’s new book, “The Business Romantic.” Relying on numbers to determine how we work and what we work on is not only cold and calculating, it doesn’t feel good, either. No wonder only 13 percent of employees are fully engaged in their Read More
I always thought that speaking in public is a matter of life and death. I’m probably not alone in being afraid of audiences, but at the same time, I find them extremely energizing. An evolutionary psychologist once taught me about the importance of “critical events.” He pointed out that since we humans now live in Read More
Watch the video: Tim Leberecht, the author of the book THE BUSINESS ROMANTIC, makes the case for a new romantic age in business and beyond.
How can we make work more meaningful–even magical? Tim Leberecht, the author of the new book THE BUSINESS ROMANTIC, makes the case for a new romantic age in business and beyond.
Workplaces should move from cubicles to serendipity to deep connections
In today’s modern workplaces, employees’ desks are wherever their laptops happen to be perched. A growing number of companies are surrendering their traditional office set-ups, which have long included individual offices and cubicles farms, in favor of open floor plans, alternative workspaces, and flexible hours. At the heart of this bold change in office design Read More
The Business Romantic Society is looking for a full-time Business Romantic to join its global team!
Reporting to the Chief Business Romantic Officer, the Business Romantic will help colleagues, customers, partners, and society at large see the beauty of the business world with fresh eyes. Embracing hope as a strategy, the Business Romantic is a humanist who presents cohesive narratives that make sense of evermore complex and fragmented workplace and market conversations. Read More
Any organization with grand ambitions must be built around a humanist soul
As business leaders speak of the “Human Age” and claim that capitalism is being replaced by “talentism”—defined as access to talent as a key resource and differentiator—many companies have embarked on initiatives to “unleash their human potential.” Those are big words and noble ambitions, and naturally they seem worth striving for. But as one of Read More
Viktor Frankl published his seminal book, Man’s Search for Meaning, more than 60 years ago, but it is only recently that presence of meaning and purpose have become a workplace and work-life focus. Today we expect more from our job than a paycheck. We expect a sense of fulfillment — a sense that we are Read More
Whether you're a business leader, entrepreneur, employee, or consumer, may these rules help you find magic in business and fall back in love with your work and your life.
1. Find the Big in the Small 2. Be a Stranger 3. Give More Than You Take 4. Lose Control 5. Suffer (A Little) 6. Be an Amateur 7. Fake It! 8. Keep the Mystique 9. Break Up 10. Sail the Ocean 11. (Re)-connect to a Profound Truth 12. Stand Alone, Stand By, Stand Still Download the Rules as Read More
Comfort is comforting, but it might narrow our experience at work - and beyond.
In our modern world, discomfort is considered a terrible thing. If not terrible, at least a thing of the past. Dishwashers, washing machines, computers, remote controls—yes, they add convenience, but also a level of comfort our forefathers did not enjoy. Pain of any kind thwarts happiness, we tend to reason, and so anything that compromises Read More
How wedding announcements spurred my desire for a marriage of business and romance
The wedding announcements in the New York Times provide a socially acceptable portal through which we can peer into the private lives of our neighbors — an opportunity to romanticize about strangers’ love lives and impressive professional accomplishments. I find them irresistible reading, a perfect recipe that combines the revealing with the opaque to cook up intrigue. Read More
Tim Leberecht, CMO of design firm NBBJ, believes that we need more romance in our lives—and in business. He spoke at the MLOVEConFestival in June, and we had a chance to ask him about his forthcoming book, “The Business Romantic” (HarperCollins).
Tim, in a nutshell, what is “The Business Romantic” about? The book’s main argument is that we underestimate the role of romance in our lives, and that we can find romance in and through business: by designing products, services, and experiences that enchant us and connect us with something greater than ourselves. It’s a story Read More
An inspiring treatise on the hold that work has over us — and our ability to re-frame the world of work in a way that keeps us engaged and energized. Do you remember your first job? Think back on that day. What comes to mind? For me, it’s working at the Penn State computer lab Read More
Business Romance at call centers? It seems like a tall order, if not a mission impossible, but as a former call center agent (I worked as one during my undergrad studies in Hamburg, Germany, and telemarketed, among other items, anti-cellulite pants), I couldn’t resist the challenge to ponder how romantic principles apply to the seemingly Read More
Business must embrace the full range of human emotions, even if some seem too sweet.
Recently, online fashion retailer Net-a-Porter caused a viral sensation with its #WorldMostLovedCEO video that featured an over-the-top farewell celebration for its departing CEO, Mark Sebba. In a flash-mob-esque event that was performed and broadcast across its offices worldwide, thousands of employees were joined by a choir, samba dancers, a mariachi band, and more to give Sebba Read More
Start-ups like Somewhere redefine our professional identities and put more of our selves at stake.
According to a 2013 study by the Centre for Economic Performance at the London School of Economics and Political Science paid work was ranked lower than any of the other 39 specific activities the survey respondents quantified, with the exception of being sick in bed. The researchers found that there is only one aspect of Read More
The “art” of business becomes ever more important as the “science” gets ever more ubiquitous.
Andy Warhol knew it all along: “Good business is the best art.” And lately, a number of business thinkers and leaders have begun to embrace the arts, not as an escapist notion, a parallel world after office hours, or a creative asset, but as an integral part of the human enterprise that ought to be Read More
Masks are transformative devices. Religions and cults have long understood their power as symbols of beauty and honesty, and in many cultures they are used in rituals of initiation, reverence, mourning, and inclusion, but also to express shame, guilt, and exclusion, as the totems of secret societies. Masks are the epitome of the literal and Read More
Big Data might well be “the new oil,” but it must not be the new religion.
Big Data is big business. Sensors, GPS tracking, math modeling, and artificial intelligence offer companies real-time market insights at massive scale and open the door to unprecedented ways of monitoring, targeting, and measuring employees and customers. Analyst firm Gartner predicts that enterprises adopting Big Data technologies will “outperform competitors by 20 percent in every available Read More
Before your business is threatened by external competition, court the opposition within your own walls
“Choose your enemies carefully, ’cause they will define you Make them interesting ’cause in some ways they will mind you They’re not there in the beginning but when your story ends Gonna last with you longer than your friends.” —U2, “Cedars of Lebanon” We know that opposition is an integral part of the creative process. Read More
Our products and experiences must recognize that we are all aching from an "old wound"
Against an accelerating backdrop of datafication, a “retro-innovation” trend is emerging. New products and services are designed to connect us with the past in ways that are both nostalgic and interactive. Retro-innovations roughly fall into three categories: Innovations that authentically mimic a product or experience of the past to transport the user back into a Read More
Notes from the World Economic Forum Summit on the Global Agenda in Abu Dhabi
I arrived in Abu Dhabi late at night, as most international flights land after dark, and immediately lost my footing. That’s what cities built on desert sand do to you — they take your jet lag and play mind games with it. They empty your brain, challenge your assumptions, and trick you into believing that Read More
A Photo-Essay from the Purpose City Workshop in Dallas, Texas
NBBJ was an active participant in the New Cities Summit (June 17–19), the annual conference of the New Cities Foundation (of which we became a member last year), a leading global platform on the future of cities. With the theme “Re-Imagining Cities: Transforming the 21st Century Metropolis,” the summit, held this year in Dallas, Texas, convened more Read More
When We’re Alone Together, Are We Leaving Community Out in the Cold?
When you stroll through San Francisco’s Mission District these days, throngs of young knowledge workers laboring in coffee shops are a common sight. Some of these digital nomads are working on their first start-up, some on their latest; others are freelancers or employees working remotely (unless they’re with Yahoo!, that is). In ergonomically dubious postures, Read More
New Values Like Purpose and Happiness Are Reshaping Urban Living — For the Better?
Aristotle once famously remarked, “People gather in cities first for security, then for economic opportunity, and then stay for ‘the good life.’” In today’s Western societies, this pattern may have been reversed. It seems people now move to cities first and foremost for “the good life,” or, to be more precise, “a good life”: a Read More
At the Futurist CMO conference 2011 in New Delhi, I was interviewed by NDTV about the latest trends in marketing: http://www.ndtv.com/video/player/all-about-ads/paul-writer-s-futurist-cmo-conference/210233
What happens when a ‘personality brand' and a ‘performance brand' come together and are re-branded as one new brand?
What happens when a ‘personality brand’ and a ‘performance brand’ come together and are re-branded as one new brand? “Hopefully, it becomes a well performing, personality brand,” quips Mr Tim Leberecht, Chief Marketing Officer of Aricent Group. Aricent Group is the new brand identity that the New Jersey-headquartered global innovation and technology services company is Read More
In the Age of Digital, how have the rules and mantras of the old marketing masters changed - are Kotler's 4 Ps passé now?
Mahesh Murthy, founder and CEO of new age advertising firm Pinstorm, says marketing in the age of digital is a bit like being inside an air traffic control room. He paints a scene where marketers are bunched over computers watching news and events on their radar screens and based on whatever is trending, take instant Read More
Openness is the mega-trend for innovation in the 21st century, and it remains the topic du jour for businesses of all kinds. Granted, it has been on the agenda of every executive ever since Henry Chesbrough’s seminal Open Innovation came out in 2003. However, as several new books elaborate upon the concept from different perspectives, Read More
Impressions from the 2013 Annual Meeting of the World Economic Forum
“What is interesting and important happens mostly in secret, in places where there is no power,” novelist Michael Ondaatje writes in The Cat’s Table, and it was a strange coincidence that I came across this enigmatic line on the descent down from Davos, the Swiss ski resort that had just convened some of the world’s Read More
Only if we make the moral economy tangible for users, can we make it real.
The current economic crisis presents an opportunity to realign our collective moral compass. First, by understanding the values that underlie our economies. Second, by reconciling the agendas of business with the true needs of individuals. Clearly, the bond between society and business is broken, and the legitimacy of companies is at a new low point. Read More
Facing a crisis of corporate meaning, companies and their leaders must pursue a new definition of value.
From Occupy Wall Street to the publication of resignation letters in the New York Times, we cannot ignore the widening “trust gap” between business and society. Increasingly, consumers and citizens are demanding that companies match their actions to their words. Integrity must incorporate the values and principles of stakeholders, including society at large. Our current crises – Read More
The Internet of things is giving rise to “social” and “smart.” Is your brand ready to adapt?
Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and other social networks are yielding unprecedented actual and virtual valuations. Social media empowers and propels social revolutions, such as the ones we are witnessing in Arab countries. Enabled by broadband technologies and mobile devices, entire industries are connecting with customers and one another in entirely new ways. Clearly, the connected age Read More
Identifying and promoting shared values is important, but the real litmus test for a moral economy is the respect it can afford for the values of others.
When more than 800 leaders from business, academia, civil society and government convene at the World Economic Forum’s Summit on the Global Agenda in Dubainext week, the Global Agenda Council on Values hopes to serve as the glue between the more than 80 Councils that are addressing the most pressing issue of our time. By Read More
The Connected Age has arrived. A world connected through ubiquitous, real-time and social computing, with soon close to 100 billion devices on the Internet of Things. Products and services are increasingly multifunctional, multilayered and linked to ecosystems of surrounding products, applications and services. Everything is getting smarter by becoming highly connected and instantly adaptable. What Read More
How the new social power of marketing can transform business.
We live in times of major uncertainty. The doom and gloom of the economic crisis, the deterioration of mass markets, the pervasiveness of the digital lifestyle, and the fragmentation of traditional societal institutions are not only inducing anxiety but also inspiring a search for simplicity and noneconomic value systems. Consumption-driven wealth and status are being Read More
What may appear pointless can provide us with a ‘there, there’ that we have lost under the regime of hyper-connectivity.
“In skating over thin ice,” Ralph Waldo Emerson wrote, “our safety is in our speed.” But what if we can no longer cope with the speed? There are signs that technology innovation is outpacing not only our individual human capacity but also many of our social and institutional capabilities. At the individual level, the Internet Read More
