Without creativity, there is no business. That is an idea that has guided Cirque du Soleil Executive Vice-Chairman Daniel Lamarre as he helped grow and pilot a billion-dollar business through stormy waters. In his new book ‘Balancing Acts‘, Daniel shares what it takes for anyone, regardless of position or industry, to embrace the value of creative leadership. Because Cirque du Soleil is an unusual business. It has no physical products, no factories or inventory, no pricey real estate. Instead, they have something far more valuable: the limitless creativity that springs from the minds, hearts, and bodies of their artists. Welcome to SuperCreativity Podcast, Daniel Lamarre.

The Power Of Regret

1. You call the idea of one having 'no regrets' as 'a delightful but dangerous doctrine'. Why do you believe this?
2. You have a background in politics and before we came on the call today I was watching a politician apologize for something he claimed he had no knowledge of happening and wasn't responsible for. So can we only truly feel regret for those situations that we are directly responsible for? For example, can I feel regret for actions my great-great-grandfather took?
3. I was reading a blog post recently written by a palliative care nurse. She was recounting the most common regrets that patients share with her in their final days. In your book you describe the four most common categories of regrets, we have in our lives. What are those?
4. Someone was telling me the other day that elephants, dogs, and rats display emotions of regret. For example, elephants cover those animals and humans with branches that they have killed in rage. Do you think that other non-humans, like machines with artificial intelligence, could learn to regret their decisions? I'm thinking here of the concept of 'reinforcement learning' in where a computer uses feedback from its actions and experiences to improve its algorithms.
5. In your book 'A Whole New Mind' you explored creativity. Which ideas and techniques in that book did you use when writing 'The Power of Regret'.
6. In creativity, we often hear of the concept of creative pairs. Jobs & Wozniak, Lennon & McCartney. In your creative work who is that person that helps you take your work to a higher level and how do they do that?
7. For the Power of Regret, you undertook extensive research and I'm assuming this required a team of people. Can you tell me what regrets you have had when it comes to creating with a team, and how reflecting on this has improved your decision-making in future projects?
8. How do you keep your thinking fresh? What influences do you try to surround yourself with?
9. Do you use technology in any ways that either free up your time for creativity or help you to augment your creativity? How so?