Creativity is not like the weather: You can do something about it. And you can measure it well enough to determine its effect on sales and profits.

The mark of the developed intellect is that it could accommodate two contradictory ideas at the same time.

If you come up with a new product, you can very easily track its contribution to the bottom line. But often the challenge can be both large and subtle.

I would argue that the management of creativity requires a skill set that's relatively different from the traditional management skill set that is appropriate to a large, complex, industrial-era organization.

Improvisation in the jazz sense - like the business sense - is not formless. It is built on a skill set. Jazz, for example, involves selecting a tune.

Jazz is not about getting and playing whatever notes you want. It is about reworking themes in a manner that sounds good, that can be followed by the other musicians and that the audience enjoys. You cannot do that without first acquiring skills.

Jazz has to work. It has to play with the audience and with the marketplace. I think that is relevant to business.