We get the word "bedlam" from the world's oldest psychiatric hospital, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bethlem_Royal_Hospital" "'Bedlam' on Wikipedia">St. Mary Bethelem in London. Founded in 1247, treatment long consisted of shackling the mentally ill to the walls and letting them scream. Seven hundred fifty years later, a lot of businesses are finding success by making a place for noise and chaos.

The cover of the latest Fortune blasts the bold headline: "Chaos@Google!" But before you sell your favorite stock, read the subtitle: "The inside story of disorder, disarray, and uncertainty at Google. And why it's all part of the plan." Indeed, the article implies that the Googleplex in Mountain View, CA is closer to a raucous playground than the austere sanctuary one might expect as the home of arguably the internet's biggest success story. That's how they want it. VP for Business Operations Shona Brown even wrote a book on the subject, "Competing on the Edge: Strategy as Structured Chaos".

But it's not just talk. Consider what Larry Page's response to an employee that cost the company millions of dollars:

I'm so glad you made this mistake. Because I want to run a company where we are moving too quickly and doing too much, not being too cautious and doing too little. If we don’t have any of these mistakes, we’re just not taking enough risk.

But he's not the only one milking madness. Business Week this week (I really don't normally read so many mainstream, Wall Street-y type magazines, but my officemate had some around) has a whole section called "Inside Innovation", which seems to be basically a list of crazy ways for suits to get creative—and they're good! Some of them:

1. Pairing sensible engineers with wacky artists to co-generate ideas.
2. Important rules for brainstorming from Bob Sutton, who has previously suggested ignoring your boss to promote innovation.
3. Apple Designer Jonathan Ive suggests that an innovative idea will likely change the company that produces it.
4. Or just steal good ideas from places like TED, which I'm shocked I haven't linked to previously.

I feel kind of dirty linking to Fortune and Business Week as proof that chaos, anarchy, and noise have a vital place in the world today. Could it be that Corporate America is making the slow transition from Orange to Green?