"Our biggest goal is to continue to force ourselves to always start our creative work on a white page and not take advantage of past successes and challenging ourselves"
About this Quote
There is a strain of self-mythology in Guy Laliberte's line that feels very Cirque: the acrobat’s safety net gets removed in public, on purpose. “White page” isn’t just a creative metaphor; it’s a managerial doctrine. He’s describing a company that treats reinvention as a discipline, not a burst of inspiration, and he’s trying to codify that discipline as culture.
The intent is partly practical, partly prophylactic. Success is an intoxicant that makes teams start designing for the last applause instead of the next risk. Laliberte’s phrasing frames the real enemy as complacency: “not take advantage of past successes” reads like a refusal to cash in, to become a franchise that sells nostalgia with better lighting. In entertainment, that’s a business choice; in a brand built on surprise, it’s existential.
The subtext is also about power and fear. “Force ourselves” admits that the default behavior of any organization - especially a profitable one - is to repeat what works. By turning novelty into a mandate, he’s warning his own people: you don’t get to hide behind the legacy. The quote even stumbles in its grammar, as if the thought outruns the sentence, which oddly supports the point: creative momentum is messy, and comfort is the real editor.
Context matters: Laliberte built Cirque du Soleil by stripping circus of its tired mechanics and rebuilding it as high-concept spectacle. The “white page” posture is what made that leap possible, and what he’s betting can keep it from hardening into formula.
The intent is partly practical, partly prophylactic. Success is an intoxicant that makes teams start designing for the last applause instead of the next risk. Laliberte’s phrasing frames the real enemy as complacency: “not take advantage of past successes” reads like a refusal to cash in, to become a franchise that sells nostalgia with better lighting. In entertainment, that’s a business choice; in a brand built on surprise, it’s existential.
The subtext is also about power and fear. “Force ourselves” admits that the default behavior of any organization - especially a profitable one - is to repeat what works. By turning novelty into a mandate, he’s warning his own people: you don’t get to hide behind the legacy. The quote even stumbles in its grammar, as if the thought outruns the sentence, which oddly supports the point: creative momentum is messy, and comfort is the real editor.
Context matters: Laliberte built Cirque du Soleil by stripping circus of its tired mechanics and rebuilding it as high-concept spectacle. The “white page” posture is what made that leap possible, and what he’s betting can keep it from hardening into formula.
Quote Details
| Topic | Reinvention |
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