One of the world’s leading creative artists, choreographers, and creator of the smash-hit Broadway show, Movin’ Out, shares her secrets for developing and honing your creative talents—at once prescriptive and inspirational, a book to stand alongside The Artist’s Way and Bird by Bird.All it takes to make creativity a part of your life is the willingness to make it a habit. It is the product of preparation and effort, and is within reach of everyone. Whether you are a painter, musician, businessperson, or simply an individual yearning to put your creativity to use, The Creative Habit provides you with thirty-two practical exercises based on the lessons Twyla Tharp has learned in her remarkable thirty-five-year career.In "Where's Your Pencil?" Tharp reminds you to observe the world -- and get it down on paper. In "Coins and Chaos," she gives you an easy way to restore order and peace. In "Do a Verb," she turns your mind and body into coworkers. In "Build a Bridge to the Next Day," she shows you how to clean the clutter from your mind overnight.Tharp leads you through the painful first steps of scratching for ideas, finding the spine of your work, and getting out of ruts and into productive grooves. The wide-open realm of possibilities can be energizing, and Twyla Tharp explains how to take a deep breath and begin...

James Adams's unique approach to generating ideas and solving problems has captivated, inspired, and guided thousands of people from all walks of life. Now, twenty-five years after its original publication, Conceptual Blockbusting has never been more relevant, powerful, or fresh. Integrating insights from the worlds of psychology, engineering, management, art, and philosophy, Adams identifies the key blocks (perceptual, emotional, cultural, environmental, intellectual, and expressive) that prevent us from realizing the full potential of our fertile minds. Employing unconventional exercises and other interactive elements, Adams shows individuals, teams, and organizations how to overcome these blocks, embrace alternative ways of thinking about complex problems, and celebrate the joy of creativity. With new examples and contemporary references, Conceptual Blockbusting is guaranteed to introduce a new generation of readers to a world of new possibilities.

Don't miss this wholly original celebration of the power of imagination, winner of a Theodor Seuss Geisel Honor Award. This picture book with its visual humor and simple dialogue is great for fans of Mo Willems and Crockett Johnson.A box is just a box...unless it's not a box. From mountain to rocket ship, a small rabbit shows that a box will go as far as the imagination allows. This board book edition has sturdy pages and is a good size for the youngest readers.Inspired by a memory of sitting in a box on her driveway with her sister, Antoinette Portis captures the thrill when pretend feels so real that it actually becomes real—when the imagination takes over inside a cardboard box, and through play, a child is transported to a world where anything is possible.After reading this book aloud, continue the fun by drawing shapes like a triangle or circle, and asking your child what the triangle is NOT!

Expertise pays; polymathy pays exponentially. Build a world-class skillset that will make you unique and irreplaceable.Polymath: a person of wide knowledge and learning. The art of becoming a polymath is really about maximizing your opportunities in life. Don't be the person with the hammer - be the person with an entire woodshop at their disposal.Learn to think outside the box and adopt a flexible mindset. Become multi-faceted.Polymath shows you how to be a singular entity, like Benjamin Franklin, Leonardo da Vinci, and Thomas Young. No, you won't achieve what they achieved, but you will understand the skills, habits, and techniques to master multiple realms of knowledge and skills.Almost every famous genius you know is a polymath. This book will trace their journeys and change the way you look at learning. Jack of all trades, master of none? No such thing.A complete learning framework, from novice to expert, in any skill or discipline.Peter Hollins has studied psychology and peak human performance for over a dozen years and is a bestselling author. He has worked with a multitude of individuals to unlock their potential and path towards success. His writing draws on his academic, coaching, and research experience.Become a modern day Renaissance man/woman; broaden your horizons.-Learn why you should become a pi-shaped polymath.-The primary traits you need to foster genius.-A 10-step process of learning a new topic or skill from A to Z.-How to choose and select your unique set of skills.-How to create your "second brain" on paper.-Examples from every era of mankind.Learn new perspectives, understand people better, and gain confidence to break your comfort zone.Polymathy is the most important skill for your career, hands down. It makes you one-of-a-kind. Become the most unique person you know. Create new routines and habits. Upgrade your life circumstances and see how mentally tough flexible thinking makes you. It boils down to this one question: are you content with your life circumstances? No? Then embrace the polymath mindset.

Everyday we deal with the unplanned and the unexpected – from a broken toaster to losing (or gaining) a major client. Our natural ability to improvise gets us through. But we feel as if we're winging it, rather than acting with courage and conviction.Robert Poynton teaches an acclaimed method to some of the world's biggest brands and companies. Improvisational skills that an actor might use on stage are honed and applied to the everyday business of work and life. The end result is a new approach that embraces change as a natural process and has creativity and innovation at its heart.With killer games to put the theory into practice, Do Improvise will help you:• Become more productive without trying harder• Overcome creative blocks and generate new ideas• Respond fluently to circumstances beyond your control• Inspire and motivate othersNot sure what to do next? Improvise.

A book that argues that lessons in creativity, innovation, salesmanship, and entrepreneurship can come from surprising places: pirates, bootleggers, counterfeiters, hustlers, and others living and working on the margins of business and society.Who are the greatest innovators in the world? You're probably thinking Steve Jobs, Thomas Edison, Henry Ford. The usual suspects. This book isn't about them. It's about people you've never heard of. It's about people who are just as innovative, entrepreneurial, and visionary as the Jobses, Edisons, and Fords of the world. They’re in the crowded streets of Shenzhen, the prisons of Somalia, the flooded coastal towns of Thailand. They are pirates, computer hackers, pranksters, and former gang leaders. Across the globe, diverse innovators operating in the black, grey, and informal economies are developing solutions to a myriad of challenges. Far from being "deviant entrepreneurs" that pose threats to our social and economic stability, these innovators display remarkable ingenuity, pioneering original methods and practices that we can learn from and apply to move formal markets. This book investigates the stories of underground innovation that make up the Misfit Economy. It examines the teeming genius of the underground. It asks: Who are these unknown visionaries? How do they work? How do they organize themselves? How do they catalyze innovation? And ultimately, how can you take these lessons into your own world?

This anthology of design concepts reveals what you can learn from Mad Men's Don Draper, why the Beatles were not just brilliant as musicians, how a lemon tart can make you world famous and why purple is just always so wrong. Unless you're Prince or the Pope, that is, but this book is for everyone who isn't.

This is a complete guide to creating effective and award winning creative work. Harrison reveals the dynamic that lies at the heart of all great work and provides a step-by-step process to ensure you too produce award winning creative work that sells.

How to solve critical business challenges by generating more and better ideasEvery organization needs a steady supply of fresh, relevant ideas, but managers can?t just lock teams in a room with a mandate to brainstorm and hope for the best. Ideation is both a science and an art, and when group ideation processes are well-designed and well-facilitated, anyone can generate an abundance of creative, implementable options?not to mention true breakthroughs?for any business need. Drawing on his work leading high-stakes ideation sessions at over 300 organizations, Mattimore explains the how, what, and why of successful ideation and provides a framework for when and how to apply various techniques.Identifies Mattimore?s top ideation and innovation techniques (including ?brainwalking,? finding inspiration in worst ideas, the unexpected effectiveness of wishing, and more) and lays the groundwork for you to invent successful processes of your ownTells real stories of ideation at work in Mattimore?s consulting business, including how Ben & Jerry?s named a new strawberry fudge flavor, how Thomas? invented a new, healthier English muffin that now accounts for over 30% of its sales, how IBM transformed the culture of one of its divisions to make it more innovative, and many moreMattimore is a world-class expert on applied creativity and an innovation process consultant to over one-third of the Fortune 100 companies; he and his team have helped create and launch products and services worth over $3 billion in annual US retail salesWith a diverse range of tested methods, Idea Stormers is the indispensable guide for developing original, practical solutions to even the most intractable-seeming creative challenges.

A look into what lies behind creativity from one of the advertising industry's leading players Creativity isn’t an occupation; it’s a preoccupation. It is challenge for everyone in the modern world―from business and advertising to education and beyond. Here, the world-famous advertising creative John Hegarty offers a pocket bible of creative thinking, aimed at provoking, challenging, and inspiring greater heights of innovation.From Renaissance art to rock ‘n’ roll, Hegarty takes a wide-angle view of creativity as he sets out to demystify the many ups-and-downs that can arise during the creative process. Paralyzed by the blank page? Daunted by cynics in the workplace? Money leading you astray? Hegarty combines personal experience and anecdotes along with clear, pragmatic, and good-humored insight into tackling all creative challenges head on. Over fifty entries, including “Good is the Enemy of Great,” “Respect Don’t Revere,” “Get Angry,” and “Bad Weather” relay useful and generous advice on how best to improve, sustain, and nurture creativity in any profession. Accompanied by copious irreverent line drawings from Hegarty’s own sketchpad, Hegarty on Creativity is concise, accessible, and richly rewarding. 75+ color illustrations

“The ‘inside-the-box approach’ can reveal key opportunities for innovation that are hiding in plain sight” (Daniel H. Pink, author of Drive).The traditional attitude toward creativity in the American business world is to “think outside the box”—to brainstorm without restraint in hopes of coming up with a breakthrough idea, often in moments of crisis. Sometimes it works, but it’s a problem-specific solution that does nothing to engender creative thinking more generally. Inside the Box demonstrates Systematic Inventive Thinking (SIT), which systemizes creativity as part of the corporate culture. This counterintuitive and powerfully effective approach to creativity requires thinking inside the box, working in one’s familiar world to create new ideas independent of specific problems. SIT’s techniques and principles have instilled creative thinking into such companies as Procter & Gamble, Johnson & Johnson, and other industry leaders. Inside the Box shows how corporations have successfully used SIT in business settings as diverse as medicine, technology, new product development, and food packaging.Dozens of books discuss how to make creative thinking part of a corporate culture, but none takes the innovative and unconventional approach of Inside the Box. With “inside the box” thinking, companies of any size can become sufficiently creative to solve problems even before they develop and to innovate on an ongoing basis. It’s a system that works!“Boyd and Goldenberg explain the basic building blocks for creativity and by doing so help all of us better express our potential” (Dan Ariely, author of Predictably Irrational).

Keith Johnstone's involvement with the theatre began when George Devine and Tony Richardson, artistic directors of the Royal Court Theatre, commissioned a play from him. This was in 1956. A few years later he was himself Associate Artistic Director, working as a play-reader and director, in particular helping to run the Writers' Group. The improvisatory techniques and exercises evolved there to foster spontaneity and narrative skills were developed further in the actors' studio then in demonstrations to schools and colleges and ultimately in the founding of a company of performers, called The Theatre Machine. Divided into four sections, 'Status', 'Spontaneity', 'Narrative Skills', and 'Masks and Trance', arranged more or less in the order a group might approach them, the book sets out the specific techniques and exercises which Johnstone has himself found most useful and most stimulating. The result is both an ideas book and a fascinating exploration of the nature of spontaneous creativity.

Impro for Storytellers is the follow-up to Keith Johnstone's classic Impro, one of the best-selling books ever published on improvisation. Impro for Storytellers aims to take jealous and self-obsessed beginners and teach them to play games with good nature and to fail gracefully.

Every great creation starts with a good idea, but where does that special spark come from? How do you recognize the ideas that are worth taking further? And what do you do when your mind goes blank? Ideas are fragile, they need to be nourished, encouraged and shaped. This is a book about how to have ideas and how to nurture them so that you can:• think more creatively• overcome ‘idea killers’• solve problems more effectively on your own or in a team• evaluate, hone and pitch your ideas• help your ideas become a reality• open your mind to new possibilities and experiencesPacked with tips, puzzles and practical techniques, Rob Eastaway will show you that in order to have a good idea you need to have lots of ideas.

How do you make something out of nothing? This book goes straight to the heart of the creative impulse. Combining Dave Trott's distinctive, almost Zen-like storytelling, humor and practical advice, its collection of provocative anecdotes and thought experiments are designed to light a fire under your own creative ambitions. From tales of 18th century Japanese samurai to classic battles between "creatives" and "suits" in the boardroom, these stories act as a rallying cry for individuals and businesses who want to think differently, stand out and challenge convention.

DIY MAGIC offers a series of reality hacks encompassing self-help, philosophy, psychology, and inspiration, that will help artists, writers, and any creative types find new sources of inspiration.This is a book of magic. This is a book of mind hacks. This is a cookbook for creativity.In DIY Magic, Anthony Alvarado provides readers with a collection of techniques for accessing deeper levels of creative thought—for hacking into their subconscious. From Salvador Dali's spoon technique and ornithomancy (divination by crows), to bibliomancy and using (legal) stimulants, the exercises in this book will help anyone chasing the muse—from artists and musicians, to writers and more—as they tug at the strings of everyday reality and tap into the magic of their own minds.

From a co-founder of Pixar Animation Studios—the Academy Award–winning studio behind Coco, Inside Out, and Toy Story—comes an incisive book about creativity in business and leadership for readers of Daniel Pink, Tom Peters, and Chip and Dan Heath.NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER | NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY The Huffington Post • Financial Times • Success • Inc. • Library JournalCreativity, Inc. is a manual for anyone who strives for originality and the first-ever, all-access trip into the nerve center of Pixar Animation—into the meetings, postmortems, and “Braintrust” sessions where some of the most successful films in history are made. It is, at heart, a book about creativity—but it is also, as Pixar co-founder and president Ed Catmull writes, “an expression of the ideas that I believe make the best in us possible.”For nearly twenty years, Pixar has dominated the world of animation, producing such beloved films as the Toy Story trilogy, Monsters, Inc., Finding Nemo, The Incredibles, Up, WALL-E, and Inside Out, which have gone on to set box-office records and garner thirty Academy Awards. The joyousness of the storytelling, the inventive plots, the emotional authenticity: In some ways, Pixar movies are an object lesson in what creativity really is. Here, in this book, Catmull reveals the ideals and techniques that have made Pixar so widely admired—and so profitable.As a young man, Ed Catmull had a dream: to make the first computer-animated movie. He nurtured that dream as a Ph.D. student at the University of Utah, where many computer science pioneers got their start, and then forged a partnership with George Lucas that led, indirectly, to his co-founding Pixar in 1986. Nine years later, Toy Story was released, changing animation forever. The essential ingredient in that movie’s success—and in the thirteen movies that followed—was the unique environment that Catmull and his colleagues built at Pixar, based on leadership and management philosophies that protect the creative process and defy convention, such as:• Give a good idea to a mediocre team, and they will screw it up. But give a mediocre idea to a great team, and they will either fix it or come up with something better.• If you don’t strive to uncover what is unseen and understand its nature, you will be ill prepared to lead.• It’s not the manager’s job to prevent risks. It’s the manager’s job to make it safe for others to take them.• The cost of preventing errors is often far greater than the cost of fixing them.• A company’s communication structure should not mirror its organizational structure. Everybody should be able to talk to anybody.

Explaining Creativity is an accessible introduction to the latest scientific research on creativity. The book summarizes and integrates a broad range of research in psychology and related scientific fields. In the last 40 years, psychologists, anthropologists, and sociologists have devoted increased attention to creativity; we now know more about creativity than at any point in history. Explaining Creativity considers not only arts like painting and writing, but also science, stage performance, business innovation, and creativity in everyday life.Sawyer's approach is interdisciplinary. In addition to examining psychological studies on creativity, he draws on anthropologists' research on creativity in non-Western cultures, sociologists' research on the situations, contexts, and networks of creative activity, and cognitive neuroscientists' studies of the brain. He moves beyond the individual to consider the social and cultural contexts of creativity, including the role of collaboration in the creative process.

The principles of creativity revealed in deceptively simple words and pictures by the man behind the world's most successful advertising agency.Simplicity looks easy. It's not. It's easier to complicate than simplify.Now in a pocket-sized format, Brutal Simplicity of Thought, presents stunningly simple examples of concepts that have changed the world -- from the single piece of paper that became the American Declaration of Independence, giving birth to the most powerful nation in the history of the world, to the symbol and line that enables us to write music. Thought-provoking and incisive, Brutal Simplicity of Thought is the distillation, in words and pictures, of the Saatchi method of creativity.Whether you are a student, a manager, self-employed or a CEO, this book has something to teach us all: simplicity rules.

This is the 25th anniversary edition of the creativity classic by Dr. Roger von Oech.Over the years, A WHACK ON THE SIDE OF THE HEAD has been praised by business people, educators, scientists, homemakers, artists, youth leaders, and many more. The book has been stimulating creativity in millions of readers, translated into eleven languages, and used in seminars around the world.Now Roger von Oech's fully illustrated and updated volume is filled with even more provocative puzzles, anecdotes, exercises, metaphors, cartoons, questions, quotations, stories, and tips designed to systematically break through your mental blocks and unlock your mind for creative thinking. This new edition will attract an entire new generation of readers with updated and mind-stretching material.

Art of Creative Thinking

What does it take to find oil in an area where many have tried, but failed? What does it take to design buildings that become prize-winning cultural landmarks? And what can the best architects, oil explorers, business lawyers, journalists, and business developers within banking and trading analysis have in common? Idea Work can provide the answers. This book builds on a four-year research project and describes what extraordinary idea work looks like in practice. The authors take you behind the scenes of six industry leading companies and show how surprisingly similarly they work when they are working creatively to develop and realize new ideas. The book gives us, for example, a glimpse of how Snøhetta designed the Opera in Oslo and the 9/11 memorial in New York, and how explorers at Statoil discovered the most oil of all oil companies in the world in 2011. Narratives are presented on how prepping, sketches, pin-ups, drama, wonder, and punk are important aspects of the extraordinary. Examples are supported by theory, placing this book at the forefront of international research. Idea Work will appeal to practitioners, students and researchers. It recounts engaging stories from actual production processes and combines new theoretical perspectives with practical advice. It will be of interest to anyone working with development processes and projects that depend on new ideas. From a professional standpoint, this book is an uncommon contribution to describing and understanding creativity as collective and grounded in everyday activity.

It's Not How Good You Are, It's How Good You Want to Be is a handbook of how to succeed in the world - a pocket 'bible' for the talented and timid to make the unthinkable thinkable and the impossible possible. The world's top advertising guru, Paul Arden, offers up his wisdom on issues as diverse as problem solving, responding to a brief, communicating, playing your cards right, making mistakes and creativity, all notions that can be applied to aspects of modern life. This book provides a unique insight into the world of advertising and is a quirky compilation of quotes, facts, pictures, wit and wisdom, packed into easy-to-digest, bite-sized spreads. If you want to succeed in life or business, this is a must!Paul Arden began his career in advertising at the age of 16. For 14 years he was Executive Creative Director at Saatchi and Saatchi, where he was responsible for some of Britain's best known campaigns including British Airways, Silk Cut, Anchor Butter, InterCity and Fuji. His famous slogans include 'The Car in front is a Toyota' and 'The Independent - It is - Are You?'. In 1993 he set up the London-based production company Arden Sutherland-Dodd where he is now a commercials director for clients such as BT, BMW, Ford, Nestle and Levis.

Used successfully by thousands of business managers, educators, and government leaders around the world, Six Thinking Hats offers a practical and uniquely positive approach to making decisions and exploring new ideas.Your success in business depends on how you think. "The main difficulty of thinking is confusion," writes Edward de Bono, long recognized as the foremost international authority on conceptual thinking and on the teaching of thinking as a skill. "We try to do too much at once. Emotions, information, logic, hope, and creativity all crowd in on us. It is like juggling with too many balls." The solution? De Bono unscrambles the thinking process with his "six thinking hats":WHITE HAT: neutral and objective, concerned with facts and figures RED HAT: the emotional view BLACK HAT: careful and cautious, the "devil's advocate" hat YELLOW HAT: sunny and positive GREEN HAT: associated with fertile growth, creativity, and new ideas BLUE HAT: cool, the color of the sky, above everything else-the organizing hatThrough case studies and real-life examples, Dr. de Bono reveals the often surprising ways in which deliberate role playing can make you a better thinker. He offers a powerfully simple tool that you--and your business, whether it's a start-up or a major corporation--can use to create a climate of clearer thinking, improved communication, and greater creativity. His book is an instructive and inspiring text for anyone who makes decisions, in business or in life.

Today's world wants to know you and the real story behind why you do what you do. Whether you have a product to sell, a company mission to share or an audience to entertain, people are far more likely to engage and connect if you deliver a well-crafted story with an emotional core.Bobette Buster is a story consultant, lecturer and screenwriter who works with the major studios and in top film programs all over the world. In this, her first book, she shares the tools and principles used by some of the world's best storytellers and helps you apply them to your own. Find out:How to source, structure and shape your storyWays to discover the essence of your storyWhy forming an emotional connection with your audience can take a story from good to greatSo, what's your story?

Ideas are the fuel of business – it only takes one good one to make a difference. Distilled into this single, handy-sized volume are 60 of the most useful diagrams and visual techniques, many of which are used by consultants, academics, MBA students and smart managers globally to help them think of and create great ideas. Structured into five key parts (preparing to create ideas; generating ideas; generating more ideas; judging ideas; enacting ideas), the 60 diagrams are each visually presented and then explained in an accessible manner, including tips and advice on how you can apply them to your own situations

Creative Mischief collects together all the highlights from Dave Trott's online blog about advertising. Part autobiography, part short story, part how-to advice, each of the entries will refresh your thinking about any creative process, whether it belongs to advertising, writing a book, or managing a team of employees. Published for the first time in book form, Creative Mischief, is a perfect prompt for anyone looking for new ideas, or for readers who simply enjoy the kind of funny story that, as Dave says, he would normally tell over a drink or three .

A bold reimagining of Maslow's famous hierarchy of needs--and new insights for realizing your full potential and living your most creative, fulfilled, and connected life.When psychologist Scott Barry Kaufman first discovered Maslow's unfinished theory of transcendence, sprinkled throughout a cache of unpublished journals, lectures, and essays, he felt a deep resonance with his own work and life. In this groundbreaking book, Kaufman picks up where Maslow left off, unraveling the mysteries of his unfinished theory, and integrating these ideas with the latest research on attachment, connection, creativity, love, purpose and other building blocks of a life well lived.Kaufman's new hierarchy of needs provides a roadmap for finding purpose and fulfillment--not by striving for money, success, or "happiness," but by becoming the best version of ourselves, or what Maslow called self-actualization. While self-actualization is often thought of as a purely individual pursuit, Maslow believed that the full realization of potential requires a merging between self and the world. We don't have to choose either self-development or self-sacrifice, but at the highest level of human potential we show a deep integration of both. Transcend reveals this level of human potential that connects us not only to our highest creative potential, but also to one another.With never-before-published insights and new research findings, along with exercises and opportunities to gain insight into your own unique personality, this empowering book is a manual for self-analysis and nurturing a deeper connection not only with our highest potential but also with the rest of humanity.

Whether you are one person or running a corporation of 1000 people, Ideas Generation will help you to harness your creative potential and to dramatically increase the volume of original ideas for yourself or your business.

Not since Strunk and White’s ELEMENTS OF STYLE has a book compressed so many insights into so few pages. With his trademark simplicity and wit, Marty Neumeier has written and illustrated a concise guide that can be read quickly over a lunch break or savored slowly over a lifetime.Part 1, “How can I innovate?” offers insightful guidance such as “Feel before you think,” “See what’s not there,” and “Ask a bigger question.” Rule #1 gives the paradoxical advice: “Break the rules.”Part 2, “How should I work?” offers down-to-earth tips on craft: “Use a linear process for static elements,” and “Express related elements in a similar manner.” The reader is also reminded: “Don’t be boring!”In Part 3, “How can I learn?” contains practical advice including “Do your own projects,” “Invest in your originality,” and “Develop an authentic style.”Finally, Part 4, “How can I matter?” deals with the deeper questions of a career in creativity, such as “Overcommit to a mission,” “Build support methodically,” and “Become who you are.”THE 46 RULES OF GENIUS is a reassuring lighthouse against the swirling tides of innovation. Geniuses from every discipline will want to keep it in sight.(Educators: Those who recommend this book to students may also be interested its deeply researched precursor, METASKILLS, from which the rules were drawn.)From the back cover:There’s no such thing as an accidental genius. Anyone who’s reached that exalted state has arrived there by design. But simply wanting to get there is not enough. A would-be genius also needs a theoretical framework, a basic compass, a set of principles to guide the way forward.Marty Neumeier, acclaimed author of The Brand Gap and Metaskills, has compressed the wisdom of the ages into the first “quick start guide” for genius—46 glittering gems that will light your path to creative brilliance. This is THE essential handbook for designers, entrepreneurs, marketers, educators, artists, scientists, innovators, and future leaders in every field.

A practical handbook for every manager charged with leading teams to creative brilliance, from the author of The Accidental Creative and Die Empty.Doing the work and leading the work are very different things. When you make the transition from maker to manager, you give ownership of projects to your team even though you could do them yourself better and faster. You're juggling expectations from your manager, who wants consistent, predictable output from an inherently unpredictable creative process. And you're managing the pushback from your team of brilliant, headstrong, and possibly overqualified creatives.Leading talented, creative people requires a different skill set than the one many management books offer. As a consultant to creative companies, Todd Henry knows firsthand what prevents creative leaders from guiding their teams to success, and in Herding Tigers he provides a bold new blueprint to help you be the leader your team needs. Learn to lead by influence instead of control. Discover how to create a stable culture that empowers your team to take bold creative risks. And learn how to fight to protect the time, energy, and resources they need to do their best work.Full of stories and practical advice, Herding Tigers will give you the confidence and the skills to foster an environment where clients, management, and employees have a product they can be proud of and a process that works.

How to Have Great Ideas is the essential guide for students and young professionals looking to embrace creative thinking in design, advertising and communications. It provides 53 practical strategies for unlocking innovative ideas.Strategies include improvisation techniques, changing the scenery, finding hidden links, looking to nature for inspiration, combining unusual systems, challenging set boundaries and many more. Each strategy is packed with great examples of successful contemporary and historical designs – from a designer dress made out of old converse trainers to ticket machines powered by recycled bottles in China, via the reimagining of famous brand logos and mis-use of photocopiers.Packed with practical projects to kick-start inventive thought in idea-blocked moments, this book explores creative thinking across all visual arts disciplines.

The inspired follow-up to the international bestseller It’s Not How Good You Are, It’s How Good You Want to Be.Bursting with ideas, innovations, art, philosophy, science, and brilliantly bad advice from Paul Arden--a cult figure in the worlds of advertising, art, design, and marketing--Whatever You Think, Think the Opposite offers a new way to approach business and life.

#1 New York Times Bestseller“THIS. This is the right book for right now. Yes, learning requires focus. But, unlearning and relearning requires much more—it requires choosing courage over comfort. In Think Again, Adam Grant weaves together research and storytelling to help us build the intellectual and emotional muscle we need to stay curious enough about the world to actually change it. I’ve never felt so hopeful about what I don’t know.”—Brené Brown, Ph.D., #1 New York Times bestselling author of Dare to LeadThe #1 New York Times bestselling author of Hidden Potential, Originals, and Give and Take examines the critical art of rethinking: learning to question your opinions and open other people's minds, which can position you for excellence at work and wisdom in lifeIntelligence is usually seen as the ability to think and learn, but in a rapidly changing world, there's another set of cognitive skills that might matter more: the ability to rethink and unlearn. In our daily lives, too many of us favor the comfort of conviction over the discomfort of doubt. We listen to opinions that make us feel good, instead of ideas that make us think hard. We see disagreement as a threat to our egos, rather than an opportunity to learn. We surround ourselves with people who agree with our conclusions, when we should be gravitating toward those who challenge our thought process. The result is that our beliefs get brittle long before our bones. We think too much like preachers defending our sacred beliefs, prosecutors proving the other side wrong, and politicians campaigning for approval--and too little like scientists searching for truth. Intelligence is no cure, and it can even be a curse: being good at thinking can make us worse at rethinking. The brighter we are, the blinder to our own limitations we can become.Organizational psychologist Adam Grant is an expert on opening other people's minds--and our own. As Wharton's top-rated professor and the bestselling author of Originals and Give and Take, he makes it one of his guiding principles to argue like he's right but listen like he's wrong. With bold ideas and rigorous evidence, he investigates how we can embrace the joy of being wrong, bring nuance to charged conversations, and build schools, workplaces, and communities of lifelong learners. You'll learn how an international debate champion wins arguments, a Black musician persuades white supremacists to abandon hate, a vaccine whisperer convinces concerned parents to immunize their children, and Adam has coaxed Yankees fans to root for the Red Sox. Think Again reveals that we don't have to believe everything we think or internalize everything we feel. It's an invitation to let go of views that are no longer serving us well and prize mental flexibility over foolish consistency. If knowledge is power, knowing what we don't know is wisdom.

The follow-up to his bestseller The War of Art, Turning Pro navigates the passage from the amateur life to a professional practice. "You don't need to take a course or buy a product. All you have to do is change your mind."--Steven PressfieldTURNING PRO IS FREE, BUT IT'S NOT EASY.When we turn pro, we give up a life that we may have become extremely comfortable with. We give up a self that we have come to identify with and to call our own.TURNING PRO IS FREE, BUT IT DEMANDS SACRIFICE.The passage from amateur to professional is often achieved via an interior odyssey whose trials are survived only at great cost, emotionally, psychologically and spiritually. We pass through a membrane when we turn pro. It's messy and it's scary. We tread in blood when we turn pro.WHAT WE GET WHEN WE TURN PRO.What we get when we turn pro is we find our power. We find our will and our voice and we find our self-respect. We become who we always were but had, until then, been afraid to embrace and live out.

Rebel Ideas examines the power of 'cognitive diversity' - the ability to think differently about the world around us. It explains how to harness our unique perspectives, pool our collective intelligence and tackle the greatest challenges of our age - from climate change to terrorism. It draws on a dazzling range of case studies, including the catastrophic failings of the CIA before 9/11, a fatal communication breakdown on top of Mount Everest and a moving tale of de-radicalisation in America's Deep South. Rebel Ideas will strengthen any team or organisation, but has dozens of personal applications, from the art of personal reinvention to the remarkable benefits of personalised nutrition. It shows us how to become more creative, how to collaborate in a world becoming more interconnected, and how to break free of the echo chambers that surround us all.

From the bestselling author of Purple Cow and This is Marketing comes an elegant little book that will inspire artists, writers, and entrepreneurs to stretch and commit to putting their best work out into the world.Creative work doesn't come with a guarantee. But there is a pattern to who succeeds and who doesn't. And engaging in the consistent practice of its pursuit is the best way forward.Based on the breakthrough Akimbo workshop pioneered by legendary author Seth Godin, The Practice will help you get unstuck and find the courage to make and share creative work. Godin insists that writer's block is a myth, that consistency is far more important than authenticity, and that experiencing the imposter syndrome is a sign that you're a well-adjusted human. Most of all, he shows you what it takes to turn your passion from a private distraction to a productive contribution, the one you've been seeking to share all along.With this book as your guide, you'll learn to dance with your fear. To take the risks worth taking. And to embrace the empathy required to make work that contributes with authenticity and joy.

This inspiring and inventive guide teaches readers how to develop their full potential by following the example of the greatest genius of all time, Leonardo da Vinci.Acclaimed author Michael J. Gelb, who has helped thousands of people expand their minds to accomplish more than they ever thought possible, shows you how. Drawing on Da Vinci's notebooks, inventions, and legendary works of art, Gelb introduces Seven Da Vincian Principles—the essential elements of genius—from curiosità, the insatiably curious approach to life to connessione, the appreciation for the interconnectedness of all things. With Da Vinci as your inspiration, you will discover an exhilarating new way of thinking. And step-by-step, through exercises and provocative lessons, you will harness the power—and awesome wonder—of your own genius, mastering such life-changing abilities as:•Problem solving•Creative thinking•Self-expression•Enjoying the world around you•Goal setting and life balance•Harmonizing body and mindDrawing on Da Vinci's notebooks, inventions, and legendary works of art, acclaimed author Michael J. Gelb, introduces seven Da Vincian principles, the essential elements of genius, from curiosita, the insatiably curious approach to life, to connessione, the appreciation for the interconnectedness of all things. With Da Vinci as their inspiration, readers will discover an exhilarating new way of thinking.Step-by-step, through exercises and provocative lessons, anyone can harness the power and awesome wonder of their own genius, mastering such life-changing skills as problem solving, creative thinking, self-expression, goal setting and life balance, and harmonizing body and mind.

A comprehensive guide to creating a podcast, complete with stories of notable successes, instructive failures, and answers to common questions, from the influential podcast producer and host of the By the Book podcast.Though they are the fastest-growing form of media, podcasts are actually difficult to create--and even harder to sustain. Few know the secrets of successfully creating a knockout podcast better than Kristen Meinzer. An award-winning commentator, producer, and former director of nonfiction programming for Slate's sister company, Panoply, Meinzer has also hosted three successful podcasts, reaching more than ten million listeners. Now, she shares her expertise, providing aspiring podcasters with crucial information and guidance to start their own audio forum.Meinzer believes that we each have a unique voice that deserves to be heard. But many of us may need some help transforming our ideas into reality. So You Want to Start a Podcast asks the tough questions to help budding podcasters define and achieve their goals, including:Why do you want to start a podcast?Think about specifically why you want to start a podcast versus a blog, zine, YouTube channel, Instagram feed, or other media outlet. Find out if a podcast is really the best way to tell your story.What is your show about?For any advertiser, corporate partner, or press outlet, you need a snappy pitch. How would you describe what you want to do in two to three sentences?Who is your podcast for?Who are you trying to reach? How will your content and tone appeal to those listeners?How is your show going to be structured?Create a step-by-step map planning the show out. Think about length, segments, interviews, advice, news reads, and other aspects of successful podcasts you can adapt for your own.With this motivational how-to guide--the only one on the subject available--you'll find the direction you need to produce an entertaining and informative podcast and promote it to the right audience. Illustrated with black-and-white drawings, So You Want to Start a Podcast gives you the tools you need to start a podcast--and the insight to keep it thriving.

Slight scuff to front cover, reddish mark on inside of dj else VG/VG, price intact, 1st edn, classic analysis done for a BBC production on public way to view fine art, 160pps. Loosely inserted TLS (April 2019) essay of Berger by Ben Street.

Unique, practical and straightforward way to learn music theory and discover how music really works.Newly updated and massively expanded edition with new content, exercises and images.This book also features the links to audio examples (hosted on external website). These examples allow you to hear the relevant music theory concepts and understand them better!Have you ever wanted: To know how music theory can make you a better player (on any instrument)?To understand how music works, why we have 12 notes, how they relate to each other and why we use intervals with imperfect resonance?To understand how music theory is not just some made up rules we invented out of thin air; how it’s actually based on the natural laws and stems from natural occurrences, like overtone series?To unlock the mysteries of notes, intervals, music scales, modes, keys, circle of fifths, chords and chord progressions, rhythms and other important concepts in music, and how they all relate to one another?To get a deep understanding of scales, modes and chords, where they come from, what are the different types that exist, how they're built, and how to use any chord or scale in your playing?To learn how to form, name and play any chord that is possible to play?To learn how rhythm works and how to master your rhythm and timing skills that will make you sound like a pro on any instrument?To understand harmony and the magic behind all the beautiful music that you love and how you can (re)create it by yourself?To get a wider perspective on tonal harmony and how melody, harmony, and rhythm work together?To understand composition and improvisation, and how to use voice leading and chord inversions to create beautiful harmonies?To get a grasp on the advanced concepts (such as modal playing, atonality, polychords and polytonality, free music, etc.) that usually only advanced jazz musicians may consider using?But... Have you ever had trouble learning music theory or thought that it was unnecessary, boring or too hard to learn?Have you perhaps thought using intellect will be bad for your playing?If you find yourself in any of this, then this book is the answer you’ve been looking for. It covers pretty much everything that anyone who plays or wants to play music should know. It is the book to have if you want to become a better musician, and have by your side as an immensely useful reference of knowledge.This book is structured in a way that makes it very easy to follow, digest and internalize all important concepts that constitute music theory. What's great is that you don't have to be a college musician in order to understand and use any of this – anyone can do it, even a total newbie. It also doesn't matter what instrument(s) you play, nor your current level of knowledge and playing ability, because music theory is universal and all about what sounds good together! Anyone can benefit from it. It explains the WHY and HOW, and it is your roadmap - a skill and a tool, guided by your ears, for creating your best music.This is the most comprehensive and evergreen book on music theory that you can find – a book you'll wish to study and refer to often, and keep it forever. You’ll also wish to gift it your friends and discuss about its content with other musicians.It will give you what is necessary to become an expert in music theory without frustration and feeling overwhelmed in the process, and this in-turn will have immense benefits to your playing and musicianship!But don’t take my word for it, use the Look Inside feature by clicking on the book cover to get a preview of what you'll find inside.Get this book now and solve all your problems with music theory!

At last a book that shows you how to builddesigna life you can thrive in at any age or stage Designers create worlds and solve problems using design thinking Look around your office or homeat the tablet or smartphone you may be holding or the chair you are sitting in Everything in our lives was designed by someone And every design starts with a problem that a designer or team of designers seeks to solve In this book Bill Burnett and Dave Evans show us how design thinking can help us create a life that is both meaningful and fulfilling regardless of who or where we are what we do or have done for a living or how young or old we are The same design thinking responsible for amazing technology products and spaces can be used to design and build your career and your life a life of fulfillment and joy constantly creative and productive one that always holds the possibility of surprise sDesigning Your Life walks readers through the process of building a satisfying meaningful life by approachi

“An adulating biography of Apple’s left-brained wunderkind, whose work continues to revolutionize modern technology.” —Kirkus ReviewsIn 1997, Steve Jobs discovered a scruffy British designer toiling away at Apple’s headquarters, surrounded by hundreds of sketches and prototypes. Jony Ive’s collaboration with Jobs would produce some of the world’s most iconic technology products, including the iMac, iPod, iPad, and iPhone. Ive’s work helped reverse Apple’s long decline, overturned entire industries, and created a huge global fan base. Yet little is known about the shy, soft-spoken whiz whom Jobs referred to as his “spiritual partner.”Leander Kahney offers a detailed portrait of the English art school student with dyslexia who became the most acclaimed tech designer of his generation. Drawing on interviews with Ive’s former colleagues and Apple insiders, Kahney “takes us inside the creation of these memorable objects.” (The Wall Street Journal)

An insightful, joyful tour of the transformative powers of starting something new, no matter your age—from the bestselling author of Traffic and You May Also Like“Vanderbilt elegantly and persuasively tackles one of the most pernicious of the lies we tells ourselves—that the pleasures of learning are reserved for the young.” —Malcolm Gladwell, bestselling author of OutliersWhy do so many of us stop learning new skills as adults? Are we afraid to be bad at something? Have we forgotten the sheer pleasure of beginning from the ground up? Inspired by his young daughter’s insatiable curiosity, Tom Vanderbilt embarks on a yearlong quest of learning—purely for the sake of learning. Rapturously singing Spice Girls songs in an amateur choir, losing games of chess to eight-year-olds, and dodging scorpions at a surf camp in Costa Rica, Vanderbilt tackles five main skills but learns so much more. Along the way, he interviews dozens of experts about the fascinating psychology and science behind the benefits of becoming an adult beginner and shows how anyone can get better at beginning again—and, more important, why they should take those first awkward steps. Funny, uplifting, and delightfully informative, Beginners is about how small acts of reinvention, at any age, can make life seem magical.