Improbable Chair by Galeries Lafayette Art Thinking
See this page in
[FR]
The Improbable Chair by Galeries Lafayette is all about bringing together artists and entrepreneurs, linking art with business in a new way.
It supports creative practices by connecting artists with entrepreneurs, businesses with cultural institutions, and artistic creation with business strategy. It encourages everyone to embrace the "improbable" to think like creators. Through a unique method called "Art Thinking," developed at ESCP, the Galeries Lafayette group and ESCP offer a way to support, encourage, and spread the act of creation.
A few words from
Guillaume Houzé
Brand and Communications Director, Galeries Lafayette group
“The Improbable Chair is all about bringing together artists and entrepreneurs, linking art with business in a new way. It supports creative practices by connecting artists with entrepreneurs, businesses with cultural institutions, and artistic creation with business strategy. It encourages everyone to embrace the ‘improbable’ to think like creators. Through a unique method called ‘Art Thinking’, developed at ESCP, the Galeries Lafayette group and ESCP offer a way to support, encourage, and spread the act of creation.”
Guillaume Houzé, Brand and Communications Director, Galeries Lafayette group Photo Credit: ©Lucasziwel
A few words from
Sylvain Bureau
Professor at ESCP Business School
Scientific Director of the Improbable Chair
“Our initial belief was simple: to make creation accessible to as many people as possible. To achieve this, we developed a method called Art Thinking, which characterises how artists, entrepreneurs, and scientists go through similar steps in the creative process, such as gift-giving, deviating, destroying and drifting. For 15 years, our Art-Thinking seminars have trained thousands of students, entrepreneurs, managers, and researchers across a dozen countries and twenty universities and schools. Partnering with Galeries Lafayette group, a company with a strong entrepreneurial DNA, our chair combines theory and practice to amplify this approach and promote creators and creation in the broadest sense.”
Professor Sylvain Bureau, Scientific Director of the Improbable Chair
Objectives
The Chair has two major complementary goals:
- Support scientific research to better understand creative practices
- Teach the Art Thinking method and spread the Improbable pedagogy worldwide
Art Thinking not only helps participants unleash their innate creative potential; it also promotes collaboration, listening, leadership, negotiation, and constructive dialogue. Participants learn to question themselves, leverage failure, establish partnerships, and develop an agile approach to uncertainty.
Three areas of activity
- Scientific publications
- Doctoral theses and final dissertations
- Improbable Siesta: seminar bringing together researchers, artists, and experts in creation
- Spreading the Improbable method at ESCP and beyond
- Designing initial training in Art Thinking
- Training Art Thinking instructors
- Conferences and workshops on Art Thinking
- Exhibitions and Improbable openings
- Improbable residencies (artist/scientist/entrepreneur triads)
“This Chair is the story of an encounter between visionary creators who understood early on how future generations of students and entrepreneurs would need artistic and creative practices to prepare for the world of tomorrow. Through this collaboration, ESCP is grateful to the Galeries Lafayette group for opening up new playgrounds for unprecedented and improbable creations!”
Pascale Pernet, Director of chairs and corporate sponsorship
ppernet@escp.eu
Focus on...

Article
On Tuesday, 19th March 2024, Léon Laulusa, Dean and Executive President of ESCP, Jean-Stéphane Arcis, President of the ESCP Foundation, Philippe Houzé, Chairman of the Management Board of the Galeries Lafayette group, and Guillaume Houzé, Brand and Communications Director, Galeries Lafayette group, signed the first Chair dedicated to artistic and entrepreneurial creation.
Paper presented in a Conference
2019
Do Stays Abroad Influence Compensation? The Role of Duration, Timing and Breadth of CEOs' International Experiences
in 45th EIBA Annual Conference 2019, 2019, Leeds, United Kingdom
Contribution on blogs and Social Networks
2019
Do we judge male CEOs more harshly when they stray?
2019, Harvard Business Review, Arabia
Guest Speaker in a Conference
2019
Do We Still Find Some Evidence of Americanization in European Firms?
2019, University of Vaasa, Vaasa, Finland
Journal Article
2019
Does it pay to be real? Understanding authenticity in TV advertising
JOURNAL OF MARKETING, 2019, vol. 83, (1), pp. 24-50
Journal Article
2019
Does the EU Emissions Trading System induce investment leakage? Evidence from German multinational firms
ENERGY ECONOMICS, 2019, vol. 81, pp. 479-492
Published Case Study
2019
Du fournisseur automobile au partenaire PSA Groupe
2019, CCMP
Chapter
2019
Du management par la nécessité au management du possible
in Manuel pratique à l’usage des dirigeants en action sociale et médico-sociale., F. Batifoulier Ed., Dunod, pp. 459-470, 2019
Journal Article
2019
Dynamiques participatives en management
Cahiers de l'Actif, 2019, vol. N° 514-515, pp. 201-215
Chapter
2019
Economía del comportamiento y la atención médica: una combinación hecha en el cielo
in Manual de Economía del Comportamiento., Instituto Mexicano de Economia del Comportamiento Ed., Instituto Mexicano de Economia del Comportamiento, chap. Vol 4 : Salud, 2019
Book
2019
Economics for Policy Makers
Routledge / Taylor and Francis, United Kingdom, 2019