The manager's job - the impresario's job - is to preside over the company's efforts to jam so the business runs really well.

People must get respect for their new ideas.

Tunes have notes and tempos and rules. If the tune is "All the Things You Are," you have to adhere to its structure and to the tradition behind that structure.

The head of a record label sets up structures, but he also defines the sound of the label, which is to describe what is desirable, what fits and what is quality for that label and then to create an environment where that sound can thrive.

You need judgment, you need to utilize conventional resource-allocation analysis, you have to work backward from estimations of the market to the current investments and you have to do some benchmarking of your product and its potential against your competition.

The creative process is different from the traditional production and work-flow process. It is not so linear.

Conducting a creativity audit can be very illuminating because it can tell you how the process is working internally and against the competition.