I did an interview last week with Now Or Never Radio (noworneverradio.org) on the “green consumer.” It’s a short piece and worth a listen. Their point is that with all the talk by consumers about wanting to go green, the actual purchase process is still a complex series of trade-offs. How much are we willing to sacrifice? When you weigh all the costs of going green–convenience, price, familiarity, comfort, brand recognition, etc.–the “better” option for the planet doesn’t always win. This reality is important to acknowledge if we’re going to work our way towards models that actually do make sense–for the producers, the consumers, and the planet. Today, makers of eco-friendly products are fighting an uphill battle in categories where entrenched players have long ago worked out the logistics of least resistance; producing the most product for as little money and effort as possible. From household cleaning, to food, to cosmetics, to fashion, to textiles…new brands and genuinely decent options are looking for a foothold against some of the biggest marketers in the world. How does an upstart compete with the brands that have occupied a space in our homes and hearts for decades, generations? It’s tough, but it can be done. What’s more important than outspending or out-shouting the big brands, is finding a way to change the dynamics of the game completely so consumers have a new factor to figure into the mental/emotional calculus they do at the shelf. Companies like Whole Foods, Camper, Birkenstock, Seventh Generation, and 3M are making the decision to go green easier, chipping away at entrenched behaviors and beliefs.

Last night we mingled in the dark heat of a Brooklyn apartment. Sascha had extended an open invitation to an impromptu party and lots of people had taken him up on it. It was crowded, but not uncomfortable. We were sweating, but nobody cared much.

It had been two days since his ambitious event, Flavorpill’s Yoga On the Great Lawn (of Central Park), was rained out. As the sky opened up on the crowd, it didn’t seem possible that months of planning, preparations, and the mobilization of nearly 13,000 yogis could end so abruptly. Elena Brower, co-creator of the event, led the crowd through one sun salutation. Her characteristically calm and reassuring presence was enough to keep the field of yogis in down dog despite wet mats and ominous skies. As we finished the pose, she said, “We’ll be back together here again soon…” And it was announced that due to weather, the event was postponed…

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Leadership. Over the last decade we’ve entered a period of business (and life, for that matter) characterized by one dominant quality: chaos. We started the decade talking about speed. The conversation then centered around change and change management. For me, the next frontier and evolution of the management of business in a time of chaos is a turning of our collective attention to something that could actually help us orient ourselves and make solid progress: leadership.

For the first time in a long time, the quality and character of our leaders in business is being recognized as the critical success factor that it is. Emerging from the scandals of the last decade (beginning symbolically with Enron and culminating recently with Goldman-Sachs) we’ve stopped marveling at the corruption that can and often does plague the top brass and started recognizing the actual qualities that distinguish a good leader from a bad one.

Marketers love to talk about the tremendous success and unflappable confidence of one particular brand these days–Apple. The brand comes up so often at meetings and in brainstorms that it sometimes has to be taken off the table entirely lest the whole session devolve into an Apple-adoration fest. Steve Jobs is often given credit for the company’s meteoric rise and is seen by the media and fans as something of a demi-god. Books have been written about the man and his mind, his story and style of management, but a blog post I ran across this morning did a very efficient job of calling out something that is not often cited as a Jobs–and by extension, Apple–strength: lucid and reasoned thought…which presumably (and we have the $ evidence to support this) translates into lucid and reasoned action.

Watch these clips contrasting interviews with Steve Jobs and Microsoft’s Ballmer for a great example of how a great leader reasons. Jobs consistently demonstrates a quality more leaders of the next generation are going to have to cultivate in order to cope with the chaos of our operating environment: presence.

A great artist died Monday in Manhattan. She was 98. There is a lot to appreciate about this woman, but what I love most is the unapologetic way she lived her life…and the way she exposed herself–in spite of her fear–in her art.

For me, Louise Bourgeois was a true artist in that she channeled aspects of human existence–unfiltered–through her body, emotions, and experience and conveyed it accurately in the form of sculptures and images we can all relate to. This is one of the greatest services an artist can offer–a reflection of the unmediated experience of being alive conveyed through objects that stop us in our tracks because they remind us that we are not alone. “This is a collective experience,” they assure us, “What you are experiencing–no matter how great or how base–is not unique. It has been done. It has been felt. It is universal.” Our response: “Phew, that’s a relief.”

Artists like Bourgeois demonstrate what it means to live authentically as oneself. They demonstrate how to be open to the talents and visions we all have, but most of us ignore or neglect–sometimes because they are too frightening or overpowering–sometimes because they are too painful. What many of us spend our lives denying as we avoid the fleeting pains of day-to-day life is the truth that the greatest pain we can experience is the neglect of these gifts and the wasting of the precious time we have here. Bourgeois demonstrated through her perseverance–her drive to create without regard for consequences or concern for approval–that one must do what one is compelled to do. Even and especially when that thing frightens us. “I have a religious temperament,” she said, “I have not been educated to use it. I’m afraid of power. It makes me nervous. In real life, I identify with the victim. That’s why I went into art.”

Her obituary in the New York Times today is a good overview of the woman’s life. But, to really get a sense for her power–see her art.

Last year I did some ethnographies for a children’s entertainment brand. We went into homes to identify the distinctions between self-described “creative households” and those who do not value creativity as highly. It was fascinating to see how deep the differences ran.

One of the most striking observations for me was the absolute comfort with chaos we observed in the creative households. In these homes, children were not only allowed to do ‘unthinkable’ things like paint on the walls, they were actually encouraged to do so. Parents in the creative homes lived in and among the raw materials and fruits of their children’s creations. There was no separate playroom or area designed to corral kids, keeping the rest of the house neat and presentable. Toys were everywhere. Artwork was primarily handmade and displayed proudly in prominent locations, like the living room. Adult furniture was pushed aside or deconstructed (a dining room table’s legs were lopped off to make the table short enough for the children to work at while sitting on the floor) to give kids the run of the place.

While it seemed to me at the time (pre-children, myself) that living in such chaos might make one…uh, crazy. The effect was the opposite. The parents in these creative households were HAPPY and spoke clearly about the fact that they VALUE creativity–as part of their own life and the lives of their children. They had made a decision as individuals, as couples, and for the family, that a little chaos was the trade-off for celebrating a life full of color and creativity. They consciously embraced the chaos and saw it as something that fed their children’s developing minds.

Coming out of that research I thought a lot about the creative process in life and in business. I thought about how we’re always trying to impose order and process on creativity when we seek it in a business context. I thought about how few of my clients are comfortable with chaos and I contemplated ways I might be able to create a comfortably chaotic atmosphere in my own projects, in the interest of coming to more inspired solutions.

Shortly thereafter, I visited the Kandinsky exhibit at the Guggenheim. The work was stunning, enlightening. On the wall at one point in the exhibit, the artist gave me a further insight into the absolute necessity of chaos in the creative process. I share it with you here to see if it might inspire you to let go a little in your own work and see your next big “catastrophe” as a potential gift:

“Every work comes into being in the same way as the cosmos – by means of catastrophe. The creation of the work of art is the creation of the world.” –Kandinsky, 1913