More than 82 per cent of companies believe creativity directly impacts results, yet few of us understand how it comes about or how to put it into practice. Some people say that creativity is about thinking outside the box, while others believe it is about being creative inside the box; but what if there is no box? The Creative Thinking Handbook argues that we need to identify and remove the 'box' around our thinking, so we canunlock unlimited streams of creativity for professional and business success. This book offers an integrated system of personalized insights, along with clear, practical tools and strategies - including the tried-and-trusted Solution Finder model. The authors show you how to develop your creative problem-solving skills to make better decisions with an individualized step-by-step strategy. Based on long-term research and testing of the creative thinking process, The Creative Thinking Handbook helps you generate more ideas and find brilliant solutions for any professional challenge.

Flying in the face of current thinking, this book suggests that we do not need to ‘think outside the box’ in our quest for creativity, rather we should rethink the way we look ‘inside the box’. This idea will resonate only too well with those who have endeavoured to be creative by thinking outside that box, only to have their attempts scuppered by the constraints of bureaucracy and organizational politics. Instead of fighting a losing battle, the author suggests that creativity should be worked at within the constraints of the organizational box, but that space needs to be grown and allowed to be shaken up. Only by experimenting, mutating and finding new directions can you uncover business paths that lead to success. The reader is encouraged not to free themselves from all their knowledge and experiences (the thinking outside the box method) but to use their knowledge and experience in new ways. The book is structured around three key steps: Expanding the box: so that the pieces of the puzzle in it can move around more freely Filling the box: with even more knowledge, and how to get these new pieces of the puzzle to connect with the existing ones Shaking the box: so that the pieces fall into new places and form new patterns. The book shows that anybody can be creative. The creative methods suggested in the book will be linked to real business examples from which techniques have been developed to help their implementation. Numerous exercises and ‘eye-openers’ form part of the practical implementation of Micael Dahlén’s ideas. The book is framed by models and concepts of how creativity works (the creative process, the creative person and the creative result) and what its effects are.

When BIC, manufacturer of disposable ballpoint pens, wanted to grow, it looked for an idea beyond introducing new sizes and ink colors. Someone suggested lighters. LIGHTERS? With an idea that seemed crazy at first, that bright executive, instead of seeing BIC as a pen company—a business in the PEN “box”—figured out that there was growth to be found in the DISPOSABLE “box.” And he was right. Now there are disposable BIC lighters, razors, even phones. The company opened its door to a host of opportunities. IT INVENTED A NEW BOX. Your business can, too. And simply thinking “out of the box” is not the answer. True ingenuity needs structure, hard analysis, and bold brainstorming. It needs to start THINKING IN NEW BOXES —a revolutionary process for sustainable creativity from two strategic innovation experts from The Boston Consulting Group (BCG). To make sense of the world, we all rely on assumptions, on models—on what Luc de Brabandere and Alan Iny call “boxes.” If we are unaware of our boxes, they can blind us to risks and opportunities. This innovative book challenges everything you thought you knew about business creativity by breaking creativity down into five steps: • Doubt everything. Challenge your current perspectives. • Probe the possible. Explore options around you. • Diverge. Generate many new and exciting ideas, even if they seem absurd. • Converge. Evaluate and select the ideas that will drive breakthrough results. • Reevaluate. Relentlessly. No idea is a good idea forever. And did we mention Reevaluate? Relentlessly. Creativity is paramount if you are to thrive in a time of accelerating change. Replete with practical and potent creativity tools, and featuring fascinating case studies from BIC to Ford to Trader Joe’s, Thinking in New Boxes will help you and your company overcome missed opportunities and stay ahead of the curve. This book isn’t a simpleminded checklist. This is Thinking in New Boxes. And it will be fun. (We promise.) Praise for Thinking in New Boxes “Excellent . . . While focusing on business creativity, the principles in this book apply anywhere change is needed and will be of interest to anyone seeking to reinvent herself.”—Blogcritics “Thinking in New Boxes is a five-step guide that leverages the authors’ deep understanding of human nature to enable readers to overcome their limitations and both imagine and create their own futures. This book is a must-read for people living and working in today’s competitive environment.”—Ray O. Johnson, Ph.D., chief technology officer, Lockheed Martin “Thinking In New Boxes discusses what I believe to be one of the fundamental shifts all companies/brands need to be thinking about: how to think creatively, in order to innovate and differentiate our brands. We need to thrive and lead in a world of accelerating change and this book challenges us to even greater creativity in our thinking. One of the best business books I’ve read in a long time.”—Jennifer Fox, CEO, Fairmont Hotels & Resorts “As impressive as teaching new tricks to old dogs, Thinking in New Boxes is both inspirational and practical—a comprehensive, step-by-step guide to sharpening one’s wits in order to harness creativity in the workplace.”—Peter Gelb, general manager, Metropolitan Opera

Business Creativity is the first volume of a series of textbooks called Fundamentals of Sustainable Entrepreneurship, which has won multiple awards in Africa and Europe. It is a comprehensive guidebook for aspiring entrepreneurs who desperately want to acquire the critical business tools to generate a brilliant idea and turn it into an innovative start-up company.In a refreshingly enjoyable and well-illustrated how-to guide for first-time entrepreneurs... Michael C. Fanning serves up 17 bite-sized Lectures ... helping start-up founders to: -Accelerate their entrepreneurial mind-sets by providing them with proven and tested scientific methods that foster creativity in business.-Identify and change the self-sabotaging beliefs and behaviours that stop them from creating and maintaining sustainable enterprises.-Learn to apply various hands-on techniques to collect constructive feedback from industry experts to formulate a successful product launch.By the end of Business Creativity, first-time entrepreneurs will be educated, empowered and equipped to apply creative thinking while attempting to develop innovative products, processes and services which help carry out the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).[ Each entrepreneur purchasing this textbook through Amazon will automatically be granted access to the online course 'Business Creativity' via PhilTech Business Academy's website: https: //www.PhilTech.Academy provided that they email their proof of purchase of the textbook to this email address: [email protected] ]In order to finalize this textbook, Michael C. Fanning has traveled extensively and met with Government officials in Stuttgart, where he took part in the Autumn School for Sustainable Entrepreneurship at Social Impact Lab Stuttgart (Germany). He also worked in France for two months to refine the entrepreneurship curriculum, which makes up the full series of 8 textbooks and called Fundamentals of Sustainable Entrepreneurship. He trained and collected feedback from entrepreneurs in Gabon, Cameroon, Burundi and Nigeria.He was invited by the President of Egypt H.E Abdul Fattah El-sisi to take part in the Arab and African Youth Platform in Aswan (Egypt) where he met with the president on live Egyptian television. Further, through this presidential event, he was introduced to Nelson Mandela and Winnie Mandela's grandson; Zondwa Mandela who gave him a training on Social Entrepreneurship while he was in Egypt. Lastly, this book was refined even further when Michael C. Fanning had the immense privilege to take part in the 2nd edition of the Pan African Youth Forum held at the African Union's Headquarters located in Addis Ababa (Ethiopia). The African Union was a great opportunity to be exposed to the 2063 Agenda, as well as the 1 Million campaign by 2021 initiated by the President of the African Union Commission; H.E Moussa Faki.

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.

Everyone wants to turn their company into a creative power-house, but few understand how to do it. In Creative Clarity, best-selling author Jon Kolko will teach you how to manage the complexity and chaos of creativity, as you bring it into your organization.

____________________________ We can all be more creative. John Cleese shows us how. Creativity is usually regarded as a mysterious, rare gift that only a few possess. John Cleese begs to differ, and in this short, immensely practical and often very amusing guide he shows it's a skill that anyone can acquire. Drawing on his lifelong experience as a writer, he shares his insights into the nature of the creative process, and offers advice on how to get your own inventive juices flowing. ____________________________ 'Humorous and practical ... Whether you're hoping to write a novel or paint a masterpiece, you're sure to feel inspired' OK Magazine 'His candor is endearing ... An upbeat guide to the creative process' Kirkus 'A jovial romp ... Cleese fans will enjoy, and writers and other artists will breeze through, picking up a few nuggets of wisdom along the way' The Festival Review 'A sincere and thoughtful guide to creativity, and a very useful book' Graham Norton 'Wise words on the serious business of being silly' Sunday Business Post

Great ideas don’t just happen. Innovation springs from creative thinking—a method of the human mind that we can study and learn. In The Art of Ideas, William Duggan and Amy Murphy bring together business concepts with stories of creativity in art, politics, and history to provide a visual and accessible guide to the art and science of new and useful ideas. In chapters accompanied by charming and inviting illustrations, Duggan and Murphy detail how to spark your own ideas and what to do while waiting for inspiration to strike. They show that regardless of the field, innovations happen in the same way: examples from history, presence of mind, creative combination, and resolution to action. The Art of Ideas features case studies and exercises that explain how to break down problems, search for precedents, and creatively combine past models to form new ideas. It showcases how Picasso developed his painting style, how Gandhi became the man we know today, and how Netflix came to disrupt the movie-rental business. Lavishly illustrated in an appealing artistic style, The Art of Ideas helps readers unlock the secret to creativity in business and in life.

Why isn’t everyone creative? Why doesn’t education foster more ingenuity? Why is expertise often the enemy of innovation? Bestselling creativity expert Michael Michalko shows that in every ?eld of endeavor — from business and science to government, the arts, and even day-to-day life — natural creativity is limited by the prejudices of logic and the structures of accepted categories and concepts. Through step-by-step exercises, illustrated strategies, and inspiring real-world examples, he shows readers how to liberate their thinking and literally expand their imaginations by learning to synthesize dissimilar subjects, think paradoxically, and enlist the help of the subconscious mind. He also reveals the attitudes and approaches that diverse geniuses share — and anyone can emulate. Fascinating and fun, Michalko’s strategies facilitate the kind of lightbulb-moment thinking that changes lives — for the better.