John Cleese became a comedy icon in the 1970s for his work on Monty Python’s Flying Circus and Fawlty Towers. Later, while continuing to act, he ventured into corporate training, producing videos that mixed management wisdom with dry British wit. He’s now working on a memoir, doing stand-up shows to pay his alimony bills, and preparing for a much-anticipated Python reunion.
A version of this article appeared in the March 2014 issue of Harvard Business Review.