Episode 108
Pauline Brown | Aesthetic Intelligence: How to Boost it and Use it in Business and Beyond
Episode 108
Pauline Brown
Pauline Brown | Aesthetic Intelligence: How to Boost it and Use it in Business and Beyond
summary
In this week’s episode of Hidden Forces, Demetri Kofinas speaks with Pauline Brown, the former Chairman of North America for LVMH, the world’s leading luxury goods company. Pauline has over thirty years’ experience acquiring, building, and leading some of the world’s most influential, luxury brands. In this conversation, she shares insights about how anyone can strengthen and grow his or her own aesthetic intelligence and apply that intelligence towards enhancing the quality and prosperity of one’s life and business.
Pauline’s case for aesthetic intelligence rests on four basic points. The first is simply that aesthetics matter, not only in life but also in business. The second is that aesthetic intelligence can be cultivated. In fact, each of us possesses far more capacity than we use; aesthetic vision and leadership also have the power to transform companies and even entire sectors, as has been proven time and again by companies like Apple, Dyson, and others. Lastly, in the absence of aesthetics, most businesses are susceptible to potentially fatal challenges. In other words, when a company’s aesthetics fail, so does the company.
Her overall message is that aesthetics matter and that they can be cultivated. As Pauline says: “Although I believe that each of us has the potential to boost our aesthetic intelligence, it takes time and effort. It is just like developing other muscles.” In this episode, we learn approaches and concrete exercises for building one’s “aesthetic muscles” and using them to win over customers, starting with exercises for enhancing what Pauline Brown calls (1) attunement, which she defines as “developing a higher consciousness of one’s environment and the effect of its stimuli;” (2) interpretation, which means “translating one’s emotional reactions (both positive and negative) to sensorial stimuli into thoughts that form the basis of an aesthetic position, preference, or expression;” (3) articulation, or expressing the “aesthetic ideals for one’s brand, product, or service such that team members not only grasp the vision but can execute on it with precision;” and (4) curation, or “organizing, integrating, and editing a wide variety of inputs and ideals to achieve maximum impact.”
According to Pauline Brown: “When it comes to aesthetics, editorial command is all-important; as Coco Chanel said, “Elegance is refusal.”
You can access the transcript and rundown to this week’s episode through the Hidden Forces Supercast Page. All subscribers are granted access to our overtime feed, which can be easily added to your favorite podcast application.
Producer & Host: Demetri Kofinas
Editor & Engineer: Stylianos Nicolaou
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bio
Pauline Brown has (over the course of 30 years) acquired, built, and led the world’s most influential global luxury brands. Most recently, she served as the Chairman of North America for the world’s leading luxury goods company, LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton. In 2016, Pauline joined the faculty of the Harvard Business School, where she introduced a new interdisciplinary course for graduate students named “The Business of Aesthetics.” A book based on the learnings and insights from her HBS course, “Aesthetic Intelligence: How to Boost It and Use It in Business and Beyond,” will be released by HarperCollins this November. Since 2008, Pauline has been a Henry Crown Fellow of the Aspen Institute, a program that seeks to develop the next generation of community-spirited leaders. In 2013, she joined the board of the Henry Crown Fellowship Program. She also currently sits on the boards of the Parsons School of Design and is a former board member of the National Retail Federation, Fashion Group International, and Cosmetic Executive Women. Pauline received an M.B.A. from the Wharton School and a B.A. from Dartmouth College. She is a member of Wharton’s Executive Alumni Board and a former member of Dartmouth’s Alumni Council.
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Ex quo illud efficitur, qui bene cenent omnis libenter cenare, qui libenter, non continuo bene. Septem autem illi non suo, sed populorum suffragio omnium nominati sunt. Sed nimis multa. Summum ením bonum exposuit vacuitatem doloris; Bonum incolumis acies: misera caecitas. Facile est hoc cernere in primis puerorum aetatulis.
Progredientibus autem aetatibus sensim tardeve potius quasi nosmet ipsos cognoscimus. Quibus ego vehementer assentior. Quid est enim aliud esse versutum? Sed quanta sit alias, nunc tantum possitne esse tanta. Itaque et manendi in vita et migrandi ratio omnis iis rebus, quas supra dixi, metienda. Frater et T.
Sed quot homines, tot sententiae; Et certamen honestum et disputatio splendida! omnis est enim de virtutis dignitate contentio. Sed quid ages tandem, si utilitas ab amicitia, ut fit saepe, defecerit? Praeteritis, inquit, gaudeo. Ita est quoddam commune officium sapientis et insipientis, ex quo efficitur versari in iis, quae media dicamus. Illis videtur, qui illud non dubitant bonum dicere -;
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Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Illum mallem levares, quo optimum atque humanissimum virum, Cn. Omnium enim rerum principia parva sunt, sed suis progressionibus usa augentur nec sine causa; Haec quo modo conveniant, non sane intellego. Ac tamen, ne cui loco non videatur esse responsum, pauca etiam nunc dicam ad reliquam orationem tuam. Itaque mihi non satis videmini considerare quod iter sit naturae quaeque progressio. Satis est ad hoc responsum. Duo Reges: constructio interrete. Dolor ergo, id est summum malum, metuetur semper, etiamsi non aderit;
Quamquam non negatis nos intellegere quid sit voluptas, sed quid ille dicat. Itaque eos id agere, ut a se dolores, morbos, debilitates repellant. Re mihi non aeque satisfacit, et quidem locis pluribus. Hoc loco tenere se Triarius non potuit.
Beatus sibi videtur esse moriens. Nam adhuc, meo fortasse vitio, quid ego quaeram non perspicis. Sin tantum modo ad indicia veteris memoriae cognoscenda, curiosorum. Hoc positum in Phaedro a Platone probavit Epicurus sensitque in omni disputatione id fieri oportere. Qua ex cognitione facilior facta est investigatio rerum occultissimarum. Ex rebus enim timiditas, non ex vocabulis nascitur.
Non quaeritur autem quid naturae tuae consentaneum sit, sed quid disciplinae. Ad eas enim res ab Epicuro praecepta dantur. Alterum significari idem, ut si diceretur, officia media omnia aut pleraque servantem vivere. A quibus propter discendi cupiditatem videmus ultimas terras esse peragratas. Quaeque de virtutibus dicta sunt, quem ad modum eae semper voluptatibus inhaererent, eadem de amicitia dicenda sunt. In qua quid est boni praeter summam voluptatem, et eam sempiternam? Et quod est munus, quod opus sapientiae?
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Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. De vacuitate doloris eadem sententia erit. Hoc ipsum elegantius poni meliusque potuit. Quae duo sunt, unum facit. Quid enim est a Chrysippo praetermissum in Stoicis? Duo Reges: constructio interrete. Nam illud vehementer repugnat, eundem beatum esse et multis malis oppressum. An ea, quae per vinitorem antea consequebatur, per se ipsa curabit?
Facile est hoc cernere in primis puerorum aetatulis. Deinde prima illa, quae in congressu solemus: Quid tu, inquit, huc? Tu quidem reddes; Et quod est munus, quod opus sapientiae? Nonne videmus quanta perturbatio rerum omnium consequatur, quanta confusio? Nec hoc ille non vidit, sed verborum magnificentia est et gloria delectatus.
Quamquam id quidem licebit iis existimare, qui legerint. Virtutibus igitur rectissime mihi videris et ad consuetudinem nostrae orationis vitia posuisse contraria. Cupit enim dícere nihil posse ad beatam vitam deesse sapienti. Quorum sine causa fieri nihil putandum est. In his igitur partibus duabus nihil erat, quod Zeno commutare gestiret. Summus dolor plures dies manere non potest? At cum de plurimis eadem dicit, tum certe de maximis.
Dolor ergo, id est summum malum, metuetur semper, etiamsi non aderit; Cum id quoque, ut cupiebat, audivisset, evelli iussit eam, qua erat transfixus, hastam. Ego quoque, inquit, didicerim libentius si quid attuleris, quam te reprehenderim. Aliter homines, aliter philosophos loqui putas oportere? Ergo ita: non posse honeste vivi, nisi honeste vivatur? Quorum sine causa fieri nihil putandum est. Et non ex maxima parte de tota iudicabis?
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Sed tamen est aliquid, quod nobis non liceat, liceat illis. Mihi, inquam, qui te id ipsum rogavi? Egone non intellego, quid sit don Graece, Latine voluptas? Quodcumque in mentem incideret, et quodcumque tamquam occurreret. Iubet igitur nos Pythius Apollo noscere nosmet ipsos. Summum ením bonum exposuit vacuitatem doloris; Praeclare hoc quidem. Iam id ipsum absurdum, maximum malum neglegi. Apparet statim, quae sint officia, quae actiones.
Hoc enim identidem dicitis, non intellegere nos quam dicatis voluptatem. Te ipsum, dignissimum maioribus tuis, voluptasne induxit, ut adolescentulus eriperes P. At quicum ioca seria, ut dicitur, quicum arcana, quicum occulta omnia? Sed haec quidem liberius ab eo dicuntur et saepius. Quod si ita sit, cur opera philosophiae sit danda nescio. Hoc ipsum elegantius poni meliusque potuit. Duae sunt enim res quoque, ne tu verba solum putes. Prodest, inquit, mihi eo esse animo. Eiuro, inquit adridens, iniquum, hac quidem de re; Cum ageremus, inquit, vitae beatum et eundem supremum diem, scribebamus haec.
Nec vero alia sunt quaerenda contra Carneadeam illam sententiam. Nihilo beatiorem esse Metellum quam Regulum. Quasi ego id curem, quid ille aiat aut neget. Quod autem ratione actum est, id officium appellamus. Atque haec ita iustitiae propria sunt, ut sint virtutum reliquarum communia. Ampulla enim sit necne sit, quis non iure optimo irrideatur, si laboret? Respondent extrema primis, media utrisque, omnia omnibus. Fortasse id optimum, sed ubi illud: Plus semper voluptatis?