Marriott and Gensler CEOs: good design is good for business

Hello and welcome to Modern CEO! I’m Stephanie Mehta, CEO and chief content officer of Mansueto Ventures. Each week this newsletter explores inclusive approaches to leadership drawn from conversations with executives and entrepreneurs, and from the pages of Inc. and Fast Company. If you received this newsletter from a friend, you can sign up to get it yourself every Monday morning. Jordan Goldstein and Anthony Capuano began working together 10 years ago on a pilot project and started collaborating in earnest about eight years ago when Marriott International selected Gensler to design its global headquarters building in Bethesda, Maryland. At the time, Goldstein led global design and was a co-regional managing principal for the architecture firm. Capuano was executive vice president and global chief development officer for the hotel giant. Today they are both CEOs of their respective companies (Goldstein is Gensler’s co-CEO with Elizabeth Brink), and they share a deep appreciation for the importance of creativity in business. At a time when “design thinking” seems to be on the wane, Goldstein and Capuano sat down with Modern CEO to talk about why CEOs should care about architecture. Edited excerpts follow. MODERN CEO: Jordan, what changes have you seen in the way that business thinks about architecture and design, and specifically, how do CEOs think about the role of architecture and design? JORDAN GOLDSTEIN: Fifteen or 20 years ago, when we would have these conversations with CEOs, it would really be about the cost of the building. Now it’s about the talent. It’s about how we draw people in, how we help people create platforms for innovation, collaboration, and learning. Case in point is [Marriott headquarters], where we’re sitting right now. During the eight years that we worked together on this project, Tony was engaged from the very beginning through the entire journey, and especially at the end, when we’re starting to think about a post-COVID return