Friday 25 June 2010

Dave Stewart: how to run an ideas factory

Hear the name Dave Stewart and you’ll probably think of the co-founder of the Eurythmics or the producer/songwriter who has worked alongside such names as Mick Jagger, Joss Stone and Bob Dylan, in a musical career spanning more than 100 million album sales.


But you might not be aware of Dave’s role in business. Last year, Dave was named one of the 100 Most Creative People in Business by Fast Company magazine. He is a long-time friend of Microsoft cofounder Paul Allen with whom he co-founded The Hospital, a multimedia creative centre and members club in London; he runs a consulting business with Deepak Chopra called DeepStew; he’s the U.S. creative director for the international ad shop the Law Firm; he works with Nokia as an official Change Agent; and recently co-authored a book ‘The Business Playground: Where Creativity & Commerce Collide’.


At the heart of his business portfolio is his very own ideas factory Weapons Of Mass Entertainment, billed as a ‘media company for the new world’ (The LA Times). I met Dave in London last month and talked about his role as a polymath and how he makes ideas happen. Our conversation is in 2 short films. Part 1 is “How To Run An Ideas Factory” and Part 2 is “Putting ideas into action”. Pt 2 will be released in a couple of weeks; in the meantime here’s Pt 1 where he talks about developing ideas, prototyping them, creating ideas out of chaos, dealing with uncertainty and juggling.


1 comment:

Kim Willis said...

Cool vid - I love the concept of having a 'playroom' for developing ideas!