Scott Wallace, Cirque du Soleil

Ten years ago, one company cropped up in all the business books – SouthWest Airlines. They’re still a brilliant company of course, but their story is well known. The new story is Cirque du Soleil, a 25 year old overnight success.

The Cirque recently visited Toronto for their marvelous and jaw-dropping show Ovo. Through a series of lucky coincidences, I got to interview Scott Wallace, the General Manger of that show. I’ve always wanted to peer under the Big Top and learn a little of how this amazing company worked.

Scott showed me around, and here’s what we discussed:

• The secret to how you manage 200+ people from 15 different countries
• How to balance providing support and removing responsibility
• How insights into a good village help to structure the running of the travelling troupe
• Ways of keeping things fresh when you’re running the same show night in and night out.

You can follow the amazing Cirque story at www.cirquedusoleil.com

Listen to my interview with Scott Wallace

0:16 Michael introduces Scott Wallace

5:08 The secret to how you manage 200+ people from 15 different countries

7:31 How to balance providing support and removing responsibility

8:34 How insights into a good village help to structure the running of the travelling troupe

12:11 Ways of keeping things fresh when you’re running the same show night in and night out.

22:50 How to find out more about Cirque du Soleil and Scott Wallace

23:07 Michael closes the interview

If you enjoyed this post, you'll also like:

1. Scott Stratten, UnMarketing
2. Scott Allen, The Virtual Handshake
3. Scott Belsky, Behance
4. Susan Scott, Fierce Conversations
5. Alan Webber, Fast Company