Of all the volumes published on the subject of creativity or innovation, none provides more and better information, insights, and counsel than does this one. Indeed, one of this book's several strengths is that David Burkus shares his own thoughts about several dozen of the most important sources when examining, as the subtitle suggests, "the truth about how innovative companies and people generate great ideas."
I share his high regard for Teresa Amabile and her breakthrough insights on the unique relationship between creativity and innovation. He agrees with her about the importance of developing domain-relevant skills (i.e. expertise), mastering creativity-relevant processes, possessing task motivation (i.e. passion) to engage, and the often-underestimated influence of the social environment within which innovation initiatives occur. Doman skills can be taught, creativity-related processes can be learned. "Both expertise and creative methodology can be taught, but their presence is irrelevant without the motivation to work...The social environment of the [given] firm is usually the hardest component to redesign; however it may also be the most important." He explains all this brilliantly while devoting a separate chapter to each of ten myths,
These are among the dozens of business subjects and issues of special interest and value to me, also listed to indicate the scope of Burkus’ coverage.
o Teresa Amabile's "Componential" Model of Four Influences on Innovation (Pages 6-11)
o The Ten Myths of Innovation (11-14)
o The Incubation Effect (23-24)
o Post-it Note Story (28-31)
o The Five Factor Model of Personality/"The Big Five" (38)
o W. L. Gore & Associates Story (41-45, 99-100)
o Cultural Integration of "Creatives" and "Suits" (42-52)
o Thomas Edison (106-110, 116-117)
o Lone Creator Myth and Innovation (108-124)
o Jim Koch's Story (126-129)
o Brainstorming & Design Thinking: Key Insights (130-140)
o Pixar Animation Studio (142-147)
o Use of Conflict to Enhance Innovation (14-152)
o Benefits of Constraints on Innovation (160, 164-166)
o Rejection of Great Ideas (182-192)
As I worked my way through Burkus' lively and eloquent narrative, I was also keenly interested in his discussion Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi's insights relevant to incubation in Creativity: Flow and the Psychology of Discovery and Invention (1997): "Once the incubation stage has run its course, which could be a few days or several years, it should lead a person into the insightful stage. This is where [and when] the feeling of 'eureka' happens, where the ideas incubated have fermented into a possible solution that can be tested and implemented. Sometimes the insight can seem as though it came from nowhere; other times it still takes intense focus on the project to yield a productive insight."
With regard to collaborative innovation, another of the focal points in this book, I am also reminded of a passage in Tom Davenport’s latest book, Judgment Calls, one that he and co-author Brooke Manville offer “an antidote for the Great Man theory of decision making and organizational performance”: [begin italics] organizational judgment [end italics]. That is, “the collective capacity to make good calls and wise moves when the need for them exceeds the scope of any single leader's direct control."
It is not only possible but highly desirable for members of an innovation team to reach a state of flow individually and thus help to establish the shared work to reach and then remain in a state of flow, also. That was certainly true of the Disney animators who collaborated on classics such as Snow White, Bambi, and Pinocchio as well as of those who worked together in the Lockheed "Skunk Works," were involved in the Manhattan Project, and explored breakthrough innovations at Xerox PARC. Each of the ten myths can be -- and often is -- a distraction and threat to individual and team flow.
When concluding his book with a discussion of the Mousetrap Myth, David Burkus suggests that it "is perhaps the most stifling to innovation because it doesn't concern generating ideas. Rather, it affects how ideas are implemented. It's not enough for an organization to have creative people; it has to develop a culture that doesn't reject great ideas...Leaders need to get better at counteracting their own bias and recognizing innovations sooner. We don't just need more great ideas; we need to spread the great ideas we already have." The process of doing that throughout an enterprise must therefore be at least as innovative as the process by which great ideas are produced.
The Myths of Creativity: The Truth About How Innovative Companies and People Generate Great Ideas
Audible Audiobook
– Unabridged
| Amazon Price | New from | Used from |
|
Kindle Edition
"Please retry" | — | — |
|
Audible Audiobook, Unabridged
"Please retry" |
$0.00
| Free with your Audible trial | |
Related to this topic
Page 1 of 1Start OverPage 1 of 1
- Audible Audiobook
- Audible Audiobook
- Audible Audiobook
- Audible Audiobook
- Audible Audiobook
Customer reviews
Top reviews from other countries
Melinda Brack
This is the best non-fiction book IÃÃ,¢(tm)ve ever read
Reviewed in Australia on August 22, 2014Verified Purchase
T. Robinson
Dispels those pesky ideas that stand in many peoples' way on their path to creative genius.
Reviewed in the United States on October 13, 2014Verified Purchase
James H. Beauchamp
very encouraging and informative
Reviewed in the United States on January 12, 2014Verified Purchase
Hans Kleinschmidt
Creativity made easy.
Reviewed in the United States on December 2, 2013Verified Purchase
Julie Blankenship
The Myths of Creativity will change your perspective about creativity.
Reviewed in the United States on November 24, 2014Verified Purchase
