The hidden power of peer-to-peer forums for CEOs

When Steve Jobs was the CEO of Pixar, and they were building a new multi-storey headquarters, he insisted that the toilets should all be together in the middle of the building. The idea was that people from different departments, spread across several floors, would constantly be crossing paths and talking to each other.

I think we can learn a few things from that story. One, Jobs wasn’t too hot on employee wellbeing. And, two, I bet his office had an en suite. But also, he was onto something. If you make a habit of speaking freely and openly with people who see things a bit differently, you can unlock some unexpected ideas.

The positioning of the Pixar toilets was an attempt to create what the entrepreneur Sahil Bloom calls ‘engineered serendipity’. If, as we all know from first-hand experience, chance discussions and offhand comments can lead to real breakthroughs, we should seek to expand our ‘serendipity surface area’ and make these fortuitous occurrences far more likely. ‘Your habits,’ says Bloom, ‘can put you in a position where “luck” is more likely to strike.’

At Business Leader, we believe it’s possible to achieve the same outcome without putting such a strain on people’s bladders. And that’s why we’ve put peer-to-peer at the heart of our new membership programme for founders and CEOs of mid-sized companies. Our members will be placed in focused Forum groups of no more than ten fellow founders/CEOs. They will meet eight times a year for three hours. During these meetings, which will include regular loo breaks, they will share their challenges and opportunities with people who fully understand what it means to be a leader.

It’s important to point out that this isn’t networking. These are focussed, business discussions chaired by expert leadership coaches who have worked with CEOs for years. What’s more, the membership is exclusively for people who run organisations with a turnover of £3m+ and a workforce of at least fifteen. The thinking here is that there is a great deal of support and advice out there for start-ups but very little for businesses that have actually proven themselves and now want to scale new heights.

In the UK we are fantastic at launching new businesses but not so good at turning mid-sized enterprises into large ones. A CEO in the US, where peer-to-peer Forums are much more prevalent, is almost twice as likely to make this leap compared with their UK equivalent.

If we want to generate growth in this country, need to get successful UK CEOs talking to each other and sharing ideas. And, no matter where they position the toilets in their HQs, this simply will not happen unless they leave their buildings and make peer-to-peer part of their regular routine.

Since I last wrote in these pages, many fascinating people have signed up to become founding members. And we’re looking to add more. If you’re interested, I’d love to hear from you.