Insights from Remarkable Business People (Collections)

Clearing the Mind for Creativity

John Kao

Come with me to Harvard. My classroom is like many others at the business school. An amphitheater with five rows, it boasts a half-dozen blackboards and a screen that descends from the ceiling with the push of a button. The setting is casual and comfortable, yet also conducive to drama. I lower the lights and ask my students to shut their eyes. I begin to read a story that contains scenes depicting life in the not-too-distant future.

“Picture yourself in five years,” I tell the class. “Are you alone or with another person? Where do you live? Where do you work? What are you doing right now? What do you ...