BOOKS TO INSPIRE CREATIVE THINKING

Creative Confidence : Unleashing the Creative Potential within Us

by Tom Kelley and David Kelley

This is a fantastic introduction to creative thinking by David Kelley, Founder of IDEO, Standford’s School of innovation, collaboration and creativity and his brother, Tom Kelley, author of The Art of Innovation.  It is the authors’ passionate belief that every person is creative and can develop  their creativity with learning and practice. Through great storytelling based on research and on their experience in the field, they explain how creative confidence helps us come up with more ideas and make better decisions, no matter what line of work we are in.

A big myth that they tackle is that creativity is only for “creative types”.  They argue that all individuals and organizations have untapped potential that can be unleashed through gaining creative confidence.

The War of Art : Break Through the Blocks and Win Your Inner Creative Battles

by Steven Pressfield

So many of us are held back by what Pressfield describes as “resistance”, dream-blocking barriers like procrastination, inertia and rationalization, that keep us from unlocking our potential and releasing our creative energies.  Pressfield gives us a detailed battle plan on how to overcome this resistance and reach our full potential.  We highly recommend this book to anyone wanting a big boost of courage and encouragement.  We are not alone in facing the “resistance”!  Although written for writers, this book has found a broad, global audience of people wanting to get into action and live creatively.

The Artist’s Way : A Course in Discovering and Recovering Your Creative Self

by Julia Cameron

I first followed the course outlined in The Artist’s Way in 2000.  It was a transformative experience for me and brought the creative process into my daily life.  Over the years it has opened up multitudes of enriching experiences for me by shifting my thinking into a more curious and open mindset. 

This is a ground-breaking book on creativity and an international bestseller.   Thousands readers have uncovered hidden talents and learned how to tackle self-doubt and other creativity killers.  The book outlines a 12 week course.  I recommend that even if you don’t have time to do the exercises in the course, you will still gain enormous value by reading the book.

Big Magic : How to Live a Creative Life, and Let Go of Your Fear

by Elizabeth Gilbert

I hugely enjoy Elizabeth Gilbert’s novels and was intrigued and delighted when she published this book on her creative process.  She highlights the importance of many of the creative mindsets that we outline in our Creativity Wake-Up courses.  She encourages us to be curious and to approach our work with wonder and delight.  Gilbert knows full well how easy it is to be set off course by creativity killers like self-doubt and procrastination.  She gives us an intimate look into her creative process and how she has developed habits and attitudes to develop her creative thinking and uncover the jewels of inspiration that are in all of us.

The Slight Edge: Turning Simple Disciplines into Massive Success and Happiness

by Jeff Olson

 Although The Slight Edge is not directly about the creativity, it is such a powerful book about making long term, positive change in our lives that we decided to include it in our top recommendations.  We often look for quick fixes when looking to overcome bad habits or win success.  Olson uses his own life story to demonstrate that it is not the quick fixes, but small, consistent actions that over time can either lead either to success or failure. We highly recommend this book on how to take simple, actionable steps to bring lasting positive change to your life.

Draw to Win: A Crash Course on How to Lead, Sell, and Innovate with Your Visual Mind

Draw to Win: A Crash Course on How to Lead, Sell, and Innovate with Your Visual Mind by Dan Roam

At Creativity Wake-Up, we believe that creativity is not all about painting and artistry, but rather creative thinking and the resulting action.  So why do we recommend a book on drawing?  Dan Roan’s book shows us that drawing is a thinking task, not an artistic task.  It also highlights that the data around us is overwhelmingly visual because we are primarily visual creatures. Consider this staggering statistic, 90 percent of all data transmitted online today is visual. Given that almost all data transmitted today is visual, we all need to get better at using pictures. The future of your business, no matter what line of work that you are in, is visual!