Note From RainToday: As part one of a three-part series on The Beatles Principles, this piece introduces just why it makes sense to draw leadership and creativity lessons from the greatest band in history. Learn the first three principles here.

Entrepreneur Richard Branson, chairman of the Virgin Group, is known for his adroitness at building creative, motivated teams in his operating companies. Furthermore, he insists that "fun" is one of his chief criterion for starting any new enterprise.

When I mentioned this to a senior executive I know at a large investment bank, he shook his head and told me, with a mixture of remorse and bravado: "We're a bit more like the military now, and too big for that stuff. We marshal the people and grind out the deals pretty mechanically." He then glanced furtively at his beeping BlackBerry, mumbled an apology, and shot off somewhere, leaving behind a last remark: "There's not a lot of fun left."

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