Managing Creative People

Managing Creative People
Author: Gordon Torr
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons
Total Pages: 370
Release: 2011-01-19
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 1119995310

A clash between the ideology of growth and the growth of ideas, between control and creativity, between measurement and the immeasurable, between predictability and the fickle muses of inspiration in engulfing our boardrooms. In this scathing swipe at the institutionalised idiocy that is stifling creativity just at the time the world needs it most Gordon Torr draws from the leading lights of creativity research to demolish the myths that surround the generation of ideas in the modern organisation. The curse of the brainstorm, the commoditisation of creative talent, the deskilling of the imagination, the startling inadequacies of management theory – these and the many other horrors of idea-assassination that run rampant in creative sector companies are dissected and disembowelled in this hilarious expose of the drama that unfolds every time a new idea slides across the boardroom table. This book sets out to address the black hole that surrounds the management of creative people, debunking many myths of creativity, and outlining a revolutionary approach to the pressing issue of creative productivity in the contemporary creative sector company. A handbook of tools, techniques, methods and practical ideas whose USP is a framework for thinking about efficient creative management – how to extract value from creative time. Gordon Torr presents a logical argument that puts in place the building blocks of the author’s knowledge and experience towards the final architecture. “We need them as never before. And we know that they’re somehow different. Yet the productive management of creative people is an almost totally neglected science. I doubt if there’s a single industry that wouldn’t gain immediate advantage from Gordon Torr’s scrupulous and enlightening detective work.” - Jeremy Bullmore

Creativity

Creativity
Author: John Cleese
Publisher: Crown
Total Pages: 76
Release: 2020-09-08
Genre: Self-Help
ISBN: 0385348282

The legendary comedian, actor, and writer of Monty Python, Fawlty Towers, and A Fish Called Wanda fame shares his key ideas about creativity: that it’s a learnable, improvable skill. “Many people have written about creativity, but although they were very, very clever, they weren't actually creative. I like to think I'm writing about it from the inside.”—John Cleese You might think that creativity is some mysterious, rare gift—one that only a few possess. But you’d be wrong. As John Cleese shows in this short, practical, and often amusing guide, creativity is a skill that anyone can acquire. Drawing on his lifelong experience as a writer, Cleese shares his insights into the nature of creativity and offers advice on how to get your own inventive juices flowing. What do you need to do to get yourself in the right frame of mind? When do you know that you’ve come up with an idea that might be worth pursuing? What should you do if you think you’ve hit a brick wall? We can all be more creative. John Cleese shows us how.

Creative Leadership

Creative Leadership
Author: Gerard J. Puccio
Publisher: SAGE Publications
Total Pages: 377
Release: 2010-12-09
Genre: Education
ISBN: 1412977576

This book demonstrates how creative thinking is an essential element of leadership, especially when bringing about change. It provides a unique combination of conceptual arguments, practical principles, and proven tools to enhance future leaders' effectiveness in creating and managing change.

Creative Acts for Curious People

Creative Acts for Curious People
Author: Sarah Stein Greenberg
Publisher: Ten Speed Press
Total Pages: 305
Release: 2021-09-21
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 1984858173

WINNER OF THE PORCHLIGHT BUSINESS BOOK AWARD • “A delightful, compelling book that offers a dazzling array of practical, thoughtful exercises designed to spark creativity, help solve problems, foster connection, and make our lives better.”—Gretchen Rubin, New York Times bestselling author and host of the Happier podcast In an era of ambiguous, messy problems—as well as extraordinary opportunities for positive change—it’s vital to have both an inquisitive mind and the ability to act with intention. Creative Acts for Curious People is filled with ways to build those skills with resilience, care, and confidence. At Stanford University’s world-renowned Hasso Plattner Institute of Design, aka “the d.school,” students and faculty, experts and seekers bring together diverse perspectives to tackle ambitious projects; this book contains the experiences designed to help them do it. A provocative and highly visual companion, it’s a definitive resource for people who aim to draw on their curiosity and creativity in the face of uncertainty. Teeming with ideas about discovery, learning, and leading the way through unknown creative territory, Creative Acts for Curious People includes memorable stories and more than eighty innovative exercises. Curated by executive director Sarah Stein Greenberg, after being honed in the classrooms of the d.school, these exercises originated in some of the world’s most inventive and unconventional minds, including those of d.school and IDEO founder David M. Kelley, ReadyMade magazine founder Grace Hawthorne, innovative choreographer Aleta Hayes, Google chief innovation evangelist Frederik G. Pferdt, and many more. To bring fresh approaches to any challenge–world changing or close to home–you can draw on exercises such as Expert Eyes to hone observation skills, How to Talk to Strangers to foster understanding, and Designing Tools for Teams to build creative leadership. The activities are at once lighthearted, surprising, tough, and impactful–and reveal how the hidden dynamics of design can drive more vibrant ways of making, feeling, exploring, experimenting, and collaborating at work and in life. This book will help you develop the behaviors and deepen the mindsets that can turn your curiosity into ideas, and your ideas into action.

Change by Design

Change by Design
Author: Tim Brown
Publisher: Harper Collins
Total Pages: 278
Release: 2009-09-29
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 0061937746

In Change by Design, Tim Brown, CEO of IDEO, the celebrated innovation and design firm, shows how the techniques and strategies of design belong at every level of business. Change by Design is not a book by designers for designers; this is a book for creative leaders who seek to infuse design thinking into every level of an organization, product, or service to drive new alternatives for business and society.

Creative Confidence

Creative Confidence
Author: Tom Kelley
Publisher: Crown Currency
Total Pages: 306
Release: 2013-10-15
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 0385349378

IDEO founder and Stanford d.school creator David Kelley and his brother Tom Kelley, IDEO partner and the author of the bestselling The Art of Innovation, have written a powerful and compelling book on unleashing the creativity that lies within each and every one of us. Too often, companies and individuals assume that creativity and innovation are the domain of the "creative types." But two of the leading experts in innovation, design, and creativity on the planet show us that each and every one of us is creative. In an incredibly entertaining and inspiring narrative that draws on countless stories from their work at IDEO, the Stanford d.school, and with many of the world's top companies, David and Tom Kelley identify the principles and strategies that will allow us to tap into our creative potential in our work lives, and in our personal lives, and allow us to innovate in terms of how we approach and solve problems. It is a book that will help each of us be more productive and successful in our lives and in our careers.

Leadership for Innovation

Leadership for Innovation
Author: John Adair
Publisher: Kogan Page Publishers
Total Pages: 145
Release: 2009-02-03
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 0749460113

New ideas and new ways of doing things are one of the main ingredients in sustained business success, but how do you create the right conditions for innovation? Leadership for Innovation will help you to create an innovative climate that encourages the development of new products and services. Drawing upon real-life examples including Google, Honda and 3M, John Adair sets out practical ways for bringing about change in organizations. As well as identifying the characteristics of an innovative organization, he discusses key topics such as organizing for team creativity; motivating creative people, how to build on ideas and how to be a creative leader and team member. Leadership for Innovation will help you to inspire your team to go that one step further and generate the kind of ideas that are the foundations of future success.

Leadership in the Creative Industries

Leadership in the Creative Industries
Author: Karen L. Mallia
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons
Total Pages: 282
Release: 2019-01-09
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 1119335795

A groundbreaking book that explores the theory and practice of leading in the creative workplace Leadership in the Creative Industries is a much-needed guide to the theory and practice of the creative leadership skills that are essential to lead effectively in creative fields. As the growth of creative industries continues to surge and “noncreative” businesses put increasing emphasis on creativity and innovation, this book offers a practical resource that explores how to confidently lead a workforce, creatively. In order to lead creative people it is essential to understand the creative process, creativity, and the range of variables that affect it. This book fills a gap in the literature by exploring the creative leadership practices that are solidly grounded in evidenced-based research. The author includes suggestions for overcoming the challenges associated with leading creative people, and puts to rest many of the current industry misconceptions about leading creatively. This vital resource: Is the first book that highlights the theory and practice of creative leadership skills in the creative industries Includes best practices of leading for creativity, and reveals what encourages creativity and what suppresses it Debunks commonly held myths about leading a creative workforce with evidence-based guidance Contains a wealth of helpful tips, visualizations, callouts from primary research, and anecdotes from recognized thought leaders, to highlight and underscore important principles. Written for academics and students of leadership, those working or aspiring to work in the creative industries, Leadership in the Creative Industries puts the focuses directly on theory and practice of creative leadership in creative fields.

Idea Agent

Idea Agent
Author: Lina M. Echeverría
Publisher: AMACOM Div American Mgmt Assn
Total Pages: 306
Release: 2012
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 0814432174

How can you manage creativity--and turn it into innovation? Learn the seven proven principles for leading a team that delivers groundbreaking results.

The Secret

The Secret
Author: Ken Blanchard
Publisher: Berrett-Koehler Publishers
Total Pages: 139
Release: 2014-09-02
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 1626562008

The authors of Great Leaders Grow use a fable to lay out what is the secret to great leadership in this internationally bestselling guide. It’s a question that everyone in a position of authority—whether in a multinational corporation or a local volunteer group—wonders sooner or later. Here Ken Blanchard, whose books on leadership have sold over twenty million copies, and Mark Miller, who worked his way up from line worker to vice president of Chick-Fil-A, one of the largest fast-food restaurant chains in the country, uncover the secret that great leaders already know and detail what you need to do to truly inspire and motivate others. The authors get at the heart of what makes a leader successful using a classic business fable. Newly promoted but struggling young executive Debbie Brewster asks her mentor, “What is the secret of great leaders?” His reply—“great leaders serve”—flummoxes her, but over time he reveals the five fundamental ways that leaders succeed through service. Along the way, Debbie learns: • Why great leaders seem preoccupied with the future • How people on the team ultimately determine your success or failure • What three arenas require continuous improvement • Why true success in leadership has two essential components • How to knowingly strengthen—or unwittingly destroy—leadership credibility This new edition includes a leadership self-assessment so readers can measure to what extent they lead by serving and where they can improve. The authors have also added answers to the most frequently asked questions about how to apply the SERVE model in the real world. As practical as it is uplifting, The Secret shares Blanchard and Miller’s wisdom about leadership in a form that anyone can easily understand and implement. “You don’t have to be older to be a great leader. The Secret shows how to lay the foundation for powerful servant leadership early in your career to maximize your impact.” —Claire Diaz-Ortiz, Head of Corporate Innovation and Philanthropy at Twitter, Inc. and author of Twitter for Good and Hope Runs “When you learn The Secret, don't keep it to yourself. Share it and use it with your people. It will make a difference in their lives and their performance.” —Donald G. Soderquist, former Vice Chairman, Wal-Mart, and founder of the Soderquist Center for Leadership and Ethics, John Brown University “If you know The Secret, both relationships and results will prosper. It's a perfect move in your life from success to significance.” —Bob Buford, author of Halftime