In the tradition of A Whole New Mind and The War of Art, graffiti artist and corporate thought leader, Erik Wahl explores the power of creativity to achieve superior performance. Somehow we’ve come to believe that creativity is reserved for the chosen few: the poets, the painters, the writers. The truth is creativity is in all of us and re-discovering it is the key to unlocking your fullest potential. Unthink pushes us beyond our traditional thought patterns. It will inspire everyone to realize that we are capable of so much more than we have pre-conditioned for. Creativity is not in one special place--and it is not in one special person. Creativity is everywhere and in everyone who has the courage to unleash their creative genius.

We’ve been conditioned to think about creative genius as a dichotomy: dreamers versus doers, creativity versus discipline, the spark versus the grind. But what if we’re wrong? What if it’s the spark and the grind? We love people whose creative genius arrives in sudden sparks of inspiration. Think of Archimedes in his bathtub or Newton under his apple tree. But we also admire people who work incredibly hard and long for their creative breakthroughs. Think of Edison in his lab, grinding through hundreds of failed variations on the lightbulb. We remember his words in tough times: “Genius is 1 percent inspiration, 99 percent perspiration.” Now Erik Wahl, a visual artist, speaker, and entre­preneur, helps us unite the yin and yang of creativity— the dynamic new ideas with the dogged effort. He shows why we won’t get far if we rely on the spark without the grind, or the grind without the spark. What the world really needs are the creators who can hold the two in balance. Fortunately, it’s possible to get good at both, as Wahl knows from experience. After his corporate career sud­denly ended, he pursued a spark—to paint photorealistic portraits—and ground it out until he got good enough to make very good art very quickly. That’s the basis of his riveting live shows, which have captivated skeptical audiences who never expected to be inspired by art—and taught them to embrace creativity in a whole new way. This book offers surprising insights and practical advice about how to fan the sparks and make the grind more productive. Wahl deftly synthesizes the wisdom of other artists, philosophers, scientists, and business visionaries throughout history, along with his own views. Here’s how he sums up his approach: The world needs people who enjoy swimming in ideas until they discover a great one. The world also needs doers who have a gift for activation, a.k.a. “getting s*** done.” But the most potent individual creators in any industry or environment have learned how to be both. They’ve learned how to spark their grind and they’ve learned how to grind their sparks. As a result, they not only make things happen, they make great things. If you want to ensure constant creativity in your life and produce your most innovative work—this is your guide.

A revelation for small business owners: creating a profitable business is possible without getting into a slash-and-burn price war with your competitors. Petty and Verbeck inspire you to live your passion and pass your enthusiasm on to your customers, without succumbing to the pressure to discount.

" ... [The author] shares the inspiring experiences, lessons, and words to the wise from more than forty founders, along with his own playbook for startup success"--Page 4 of cover.

The late author, one of the first women to enter the field of management consulting, experienced what she described as "nibbles"--little bites that life takes out of a person's self confidence. She offers a process for dealing with the world that moves the reader toward personal power and growth arising out of the unique values and strengths of each person.

Outlines professional strategies that reveal how efficient organizations from Fortune 500 companies to the U.S. Army are benefitting from small allowances of unstructured space and disruption in their planning and decision-making processes.

New York Times Bestseller An exciting--and encouraging--exploration of creativity from the author of When: The Scientific Secrets of Perfect Timing The future belongs to a different kind of person with a different kind of mind: artists, inventors, storytellers-creative and holistic "right-brain" thinkers whose abilities mark the fault line between who gets ahead and who doesn't. Drawing on research from around the world, Pink (author of To Sell Is Human: The Surprising Truth About Motivating Others) outlines the six fundamentally human abilities that are absolute essentials for professional success and personal fulfillment--and reveals how to master them. A Whole New Mind takes readers to a daring new place, and a provocative and necessary new way of thinking about a future that's already here.

If we choose to trust unconditionally, how many lives could we change? When Pastor Bruce Deel took over the Mission Church in the 30314 zip code of Atlanta, he had orders to shut it down. The church was old and decrepit, and its neighborhood--known as "Better Leave, You Effing Fool," or "the Bluff," for short--had the highest rates of crime, homelessness, and incarceration in Georgia. Expecting his time there to only last six months, Deel was not prepared for what happened next. One Sunday, he was approached by a woman he didn't know. "I've been hooking and stripping for fourteen years," she said. "Can you help me?" Soon after, Bruce founded an organization called City of Refuge rooted in the principle of radical trust. Other nonprofits might drug test before offering housing, lock up valuables, or veto a program giving job skills and character references to felons as "a liability." But Bruce believed the best way to improve outcomes for the marginalized and impoverished was to extend them trust, even if that trust was violated multiple times--and even if someone didn't yet trust themselves. Since then, City of Refuge has helped over 20,000 people in Atlanta's toughest neighborhood escape the cycles of homelessness, joblessness, and drug abuse. Of course, trust alone can't overcome a broken system that perpetuates inequality. Presenting an unvarnished window into the lives of ex-cons, drug addicts, human trafficking survivors, and displaced souls who have come through City of Refuge, Trust First examines the context in which Bruce's Atlanta neighborhood went downhill--and what City of Refuge chose to do about it. They've become a one-stop-shop for transitional housing, on-site medical and mental health care, childcare, and vocational training, including accredited intensives in auto tech, culinary arts, and coding. While most social services focus on one pain point and leave the burden on the poor to find the crosstown bus that'll serve their other needs, Bruce argues that bringing someone out of homelessness requires treating all of their needs simultaneously. This model has proven so effective that a dozen new chapters of City of Refuge have opened in the US, including in California, Illinois, Ohio, Maryland, Virginia, Texas, and Georgia. More than a narrative about a single place in time, this radical primer for behavioral change belongs on every leader's shelf. Heartfelt, deeply personal, and inspiring, Trust First will break down your assumptions about whether anyone is ever truly a lost cause. Bruce will donate a portion of his proceeds from Trust First to the charitable organization City of Refuge.

Using Native American experience as an example, the author provides advice on living wisely, well, and spiritually in an increasingly materialistic world.

A former Michigan congressman and member of the Reagan administration describes how interference in the financial markets has contributed to the national debt and has damaging and lasting repercussions.