Which companies will thrive in the coming years? Those that value ideas above all else

BusinessWeek had a great issue about the Creative Economy back in August, 2000. Most of the infomation is still relevant today. Some exerpts:

Now the Industrial Economy is giving way to the Creative Economy, and corporations are at another crossroads. Attributes that made them ideal for the 20th century could cripple them in the 21st. So they will have to change, dramatically. The Darwinian struggle of daily business will be won by the people--and the organizations-- that adapt most successfully to the new world that is unfolding.

I suggest it is also the communities that must adapt to the new world of the Creative Economy.

Let's start with the most important force of all: the growing power of ideas. In Adam Smith's time, most people worked on farms. Later, industry was ascendant. But the advanced economies have gotten so efficient at producing food and physical goods that most of the workforce has been freed up to provide services or to produce abstract goods: data, software, news, entertainment, advertising, and the like.

And finally

In the Creative Economy, the most important intellectual property isn't software or music or movies. It's the stuff inside employees' heads. When assets were physical things like coal mines, shareholders truly owned them. But when the vital assets are people, there can be no true ownership. The best that corporations can do is to create an environment that makes the best people want to stay.

So what are we doing to attract and retain the most creative people?

Full article here.