In a recent, much-referenced study conducted by IBM Global Business Services, a group of over 1,500 CEOs in 60 nations and 33 industries agreed that “creativity” is now the most important leadership quality for success in business.

Not “global focus,” not “integrity,” not even much heralded “sustainability.” But “creativity.”

Steven Tomasco, of IBM Global Business Services, found the result surprising, considering that we have just come out of (hopefully) an historic economic downturn the likes of which most of these CEOs have never experienced in their professional lives.

In terms of actual percentages, 60% of those surveyed ranked “creativity” in the #1 spot. Second was “integrity.” (With all due respect to Steven Tomasco,we would suggest this is the more surprising result in this era of “the end justifies the means” corporate management.)

In fact, for those fortunate enough to have had access to the crystal ball of business success over the past several years, in our new “innovation economy,” that “creativity” holds the #1 spot is hardly surprising. In fact, it is expected.

If there is a secret of business success today, it is the willingness and ability to continually reinvent one’s value proposition, deliver ever-increasing value to customers and recognize that the consumer calls the shots—every shot.

Consider that 88% of CEOs surveyed also ranked “getting closer to the customer” as the #1 area of focus, followed closely by “people skills” (81%) and “insights and intelligence” (76%).

Creativity, people skills, insights/intelligence… it all boils down to a consumer-driven success model.

The dominant businesses in today’s marketplace understand this. They work diligently to stay one step ahead of the consumer’s need. It’s no longer about the ability to respond—it’s about the need to anticipate. Give your customers what they want—before they even know they want it—and you will rise to the top of the competitive corporate food chain. Fail to do so, even for a moment, and prepare to fall, rapidly.

So what does creativity have to do with all of this? Why is it necessary to “think outside the box” in order to meet consumer demand?

Because your customers don’t have a clue what they will want tomorrow—even though they want it now. And they are not going to tell you; that’s too much work. They want you to tell them; and when they see it, they’ll know it. Tell them what they want, and if you are correct, you win the brass ring. And if you don’t, someone else most certainly will.

There’s a bit of alchemy involved in this, the ability to ask, “What if?”

“What if my customers had <fill in the blank>? How would it make their lives better, easier, more productive?”

This business model is not for the faint of heart. It is not built upon market data (backwards focused), proven successes (backwards focused) or established business practices (backwards focused). It is built upon vision…and the ability to manifest it.

Apple understands. So does Google. Microsoft did once. So did AOL and iomega and countless others who have tripped, stumbled and gone plummeting off the front pages of the business press. Business success means redefining oneself daily. These surveyed corporate leaders know this, even if they are not presently doing it. Those who will ultimately act upon it will be around to respond to the next IBM survey. Those who don’t???

What if? That is the pressing question. Can you provide the answer?

“When will things be back to normal?”

“What will it take to turn things around?”

“When the ‘recovery’ begins, will we be ready?”

Common questions these days. We all want to believe that  things will be “good” again, the way they used to be, when we all (or at least most of us) had our jobs and credit flowed freely and real estate was a surefire investment. People actually bought things, all kinds of things, and for the most part we felt reasonably secure.

But rather than, “How do we get back to where we came from?” perhaps a more valuable question to ask is “Where do we go from here?”

At lunch today with a senior executive from a top TV network, we discussed this very topic. So many people out of work. What jobs will they go ‘back’ to? So many organizations changing the way they do business. What will business look like in the year ahead? To assume that tomorrow’s landscape of opportunity will bear any more than a remote resemblance to that of the past is simply naive. Many of those who are currently displaced will never return to their former positions. Many business sectors that once flourished will never recover, or will at least remain out of favor for a very long time. Even real estate, as an investment, will be reconsidered.

The motivational book, Who Moved My Cheese? An Amazing Way to Deal with Change in Your Work and in Your Life (possibly the most I ever paid per word for a book in my life) took a somewhat whimsical look at this very issue — over a decade ago, when the last bubble was preparing to burst, the Internet bubble. The fabled mice that ultimately survived the much maligned cheese removal eleven years ago are the same variety who will flourish in 2009 and beyond.

The innovative ones.

Adaptability is a form of innovative thinking. (I’m sure this will be covered  in greater detail in a future post.) It requires creativity, flexibility and the ability unhook oneself from the past. In order to innovatively adapt, one must operate from a perspective of possibility rather than limitation: explore the potential in a given circumstance, rather than focus on the challenges.

I sometimes think this way about my hometown of New Orleans. Katrina was the cataclysmic event that transformed the city forever. People talk of it “coming back;” but it never will, at least not in the way we think of coming back. It will be something different, maybe “better,” maybe “worse.” It will retain some of the beauty and personality and characteristics of its former self, and take on other entirely new attributes. The city and those in it will innovatively adapt.

The world around us is no different.

Be innovative. Work within the context of your environment and the opportunities it presents. And when things “come back,” wherever they come back to, you’ll be right there with them.