Friday, July 15, 2011
The Accidental Creative by Todd Henry - Book review
The Accidental Creative
How to Be Brilliant at a Moment's Notice
By: Todd Henry
Published: July 7, 2011
Format: Hardcover, 240 pages
ISBN-10: 1591844010
ISBN-13: 978-1591844013
Publisher: Portfolio/Penguin
"Call yourself anything you want, but if you're responsible for solving problems, developing strategies, or otherwise straining your brain for new ideas, I'm going to call you a creative - even if you ended up being one accidentally", writes founder and CEO of Accidental Creative, Todd Henry, in his highly practical and very relevant book The Accidental Creative: How to Be Brilliant at a Moment's Notice. The author provides a step by step program for creating and implementing a constant stream of innovative ideas at any time and under any circumstances.
Todd Henry recognizes that everyone is creative in both small and large ways, in all areas of their lives. For most people, they are not even aware of their creative and idea generating abilities. For the author, creative thinking is simply another aspect of being human. Todd Henry provides advice and structure for people in traditionally creative positions and industries. At the same time, the author shares strategies for people in supposedly non-creative roles and industries to demonstrate innovative brilliance any time that the need arises in their jobs. For Todd Henry, people are very often called upon to create fresh ideas on very short notice. To achieve this creativity on demand skill, the author offers techniques to be trained and prepared for the purpose of creative thinking and innovation.
Todd Henry (photo left) understands that everyone can be creative, regardless of the approach taken to achieve the innovative breakthrough. For the author, not only does everyone possess innate creativity, but through training and purposeful preparation, anyone can improve their existing idea discovery skills as well. Todd Henry realizes that creative people face many pressures within their organization to achieve innovative solutions on a continual basis. Todd Henry advises creatives, as he prefers to describe innovative thinkers of all types to change their mindset and their approach to innovative thinking. To achieve the best results, the author distills his realistic overall system as follows:
* It's not what you know that matters, it's what you do
* You own your growth
* It's going to take time, and short-term results may vary
* This is about more than just your work life
For me, the power of the book is how Todd Henry combines a very strong theoretical structure for strengthening creative thinking skills, with the practical steps necessary to develop those abilities and put them into practice. Todd Henry provides an excellent overview of the dynamics of innovation within organizations, including the effects of teams, and the challenges presented by those who would sabotage the creative process. The author demonstrates clearly how to develop latent creative abilities through a series of exercises and methods, that can be learned and put into action when the need arises in the organization. Todd Henry ties the entire creative process to what is natural about thinking and acting in people's lives. The end result is a process that can be learned by anyone, but will also elevate the reputation of creativity to one of importance within the organization.
I highly recommend the organizational transforming and idea packed book The Accidental Creative: How to Be Brilliant at a Moment's Notice by Todd Henry, to anyone seeking a useful and wisdom filled guide to enhancing individual and company wide creativity. This book is not only a business building tool kit, but also contains many valuable lessons for enrichment of one's personal life. The solution finding skills are readily applicable to all walks of life and any type or size of problem.
Read the essential and valuable book The Accidental Creative: How to Be Brilliant at a Moment's Notice by Todd Henry, and discover how to become creative at any time, through a combination of purposeful preparation and and an understanding of the skills needed for finding those critical breakthroughs. This book should be required reading for everyone at every level of an organization, regardless of their position in the company.
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