Creativity On Demand

Do moments of inspiration have to be few and far between—or can you develop the ability to access your deepest creativity at any time? Michael Gelb has discovered the missing key that allows genius to flourish: an open, reliable connection to the vital life energy we all possess. “The practices for accessing energy have been developed for thousands of years in yoga, martial arts, and Chinese medicine,” Gelb says. “I’ve asked today’s greatest living masters of these arts to contribute their most effective practices for cultivating creative energy—in a way that the average person can do in 20 minutes or less.” With Creativity On Demand, Gelb teaches a series of time-tested practices to clear blockages and open the flow of creative energy, then reveals how these techniques can be integrated with the renowned creative mindset and creative process tools he’s taught to individuals and organizations worldwide. Join him as he shares potent secrets for: Mastering creative energy—discover qi, the “fire of genius,” and learn movement-based practices to amplify it Mastering creative mindset—how to break out of conventional thinking and fear-based limitations to unleash your potential Mastering the creative process—guidance to help you channel your creative energy, refine your ideas, and translate inspiration into reality Effective, easy-to-learn techniques and strategies for accessing the power of qi and creating a reservoir of creative energy you can rely on when you need it “Creative energy is a resource that doesn’t get depleted when you use it,” teaches Michael Gelb. “Rather, the more you access it, the stronger it becomes. With an investment of less than half an hour a day, you’ll discover that within a few months you’ve significantly strengthened your core creative energy.” Here is Michael Gelb’s most powerful work yet on unlocking our potential to innovate, achieve, and access our Creativity on Demand.

Business consultants everywhere preach the benefits of innovation—and promise to help businesses reap them. A trendy industry, this type of consulting generates courses, workshops, books, and conferences that all claim to hold the secrets of success. But what promises does the notion of innovation entail? What is it about the ideology and practice of business innovation that has made these firms so successful at selling their services to everyone from small start-ups to Fortune 500 companies? And most important, what does business innovation actually mean for work and our economy today? In Creativity on Demand, cultural anthropologist Eitan Wilf seeks to answer these questions by returning to the fundamental and pervasive expectation of continual innovation. Wilf focuses a keen eye on how our obsession with ceaseless innovation stems from the long-standing value of acceleration in capitalist society. Based on ethnographic work with innovation consultants in the United States, he reveals, among other surprises, how routine the culture of innovation actually is. Procedures and strategies are repeated in a formulaic way, and imagination is harnessed as a new professional ethos, not always to generate genuinely new thinking, but to produce predictable signs of continual change. A masterful look at the contradictions of our capitalist age, Creativity on Demand is a model for the anthropological study of our cultures of work.

This book describes a revolutionary methodology for enhancing technological innovation called TRIZ. The TRIZ methodolgy is increasingly being adopted by leading corporations around the world to enhance their competitive position. The authors explain how the TRIZ methodology harnesses creative principles extracted from thousands of successful patented inventions to help you find better, more innovative, solutions to your own design problems. Whether you're trying to make a better beer can, find a new way to package microchips or reduce the number of parts in a lawnmower engine, this book can help.

"Creativity on Demand: Think out of the Box, Generate Ideas on Demand, Overcome Creativity Blocks & Build a Culture of Innovation" by Purnima Banerjee is a crash course on creativity, an essential guide for anyone looking to unlock their creative potential and enhance their problem-solving skills. This comprehensive book covers every aspect of the creative process, from understanding the science behind creativity to implementing and testing innovative ideas. With practical exercises, real-world examples, and proven techniques, readers will find themselves equipped with the tools necessary to navigate and thrive in a world that demands continuous innovation. Do you often wonder if you think creatively or feel overwhelmed by creativity blocks? Persistent creativity blocks can lead to stagnation, reduced problem-solving abilities, and missed opportunities for innovation. Understanding and overcoming these blocks is crucial for personal and professional growth. In the first chapter, "Creativity on Demand" readers will explore the foundational principles of creativity. They will understand why creative thinking is critical for problem-solving and how it can be applied in various contexts. This chapter lays the groundwork for developing a creative mindset, offering insights into the science behind creativity and examples of creative thinking in action. The subsequent chapters explore practical strategies for generating innovative ideas and creating an inspiring environment for innovation. Readers will discover effective brainstorming methods, structured approaches to creativity, and how to leverage technology and data for idea generation. Additionally, the book provides guidance on designing a creative workspace, building a supportive network, and stimulating creativity through new experiences. These chapters are designed to help readers cultivate an environment that nurtures and enhances their creative capabilities. "Overcoming Creativity Blocks" is a crucial chapter that addresses the common challenges individuals face when trying to be creative. Author Purnima Banerjee identifies various types of creative blocks, their psychological and environmental causes, and personal block patterns. Readers will learn strategies for breaking through these blocks, including mindfulness practices, stress reduction techniques, and shifting perspectives. This chapter empowers readers to transform obstacles into opportunities for creative growth. The book also emphasizes the importance of connecting diverse ideas and perspectives. By exploring cross-disciplinary thinking and utilizing analogies and metaphors, readers will enhance their ability to synthesize information and develop innovative solutions. The chapters on implementing and testing ideas provide a step-by-step guide for turning creative concepts into actionable plans. Readers will gain insights into setting clear goals, creating prototypes, and refining their ideas through feedback and iteration. "Embracing Continuous Innovation and Future Trends" prepares readers for long-term success in innovation. The author discusses the importance of lifelong learning, staying updated with emerging trends, and developing resilience and flexibility. Readers will learn how to anticipate future challenges and opportunities, adapt to changes, and position themselves for sustained success. This book is not just a guide but a companion for anyone looking to harness the power of creativity and make a significant impact in their personal and professional lives.

How to get past the most common myths about creativity to design truly innovative strategies We tend to think of creativity in terms reminiscent of the ancient muses: divinely-inspired, unpredictable, and bestowed upon a lucky few. But when our jobs challenge us to be creative on demand, we must develop novel, useful ideas that will keep our organizations competitive. The Myths of Creativity demystifies the processes that drive innovation. Based on the latest research into how creative individuals and firms succeed, David Burkus highlights the mistaken ideas that hold us back and shows us how anyone can embrace a practical approach, grounded in reality, to finding the best new ideas, projects, processes, and programs. Answers questions such as: What causes us to be creative in one moment and void in the next? What makes someone more or less creative than his or her peers? Where do our flashes of creative insight come from, and how can we generate more of them? Debunks 10 common myths, including: the Eureka Myth; the Lone Creator Myth; the Incentive Myth; and The Brainstorming Myth Written by David Burkus, founder of popular leadership blog LDRLB For anyone who struggles with creativity, or who makes excuses for delaying the work of innovation, The Myths of Creativity will help you overcome your obstacles to finding new ideas.

The co-founder and longtime president of Pixar updates and expands his 2014 New York Times bestseller on creative leadership, reflecting on the management principles that built Pixar’s singularly successful culture, and on all he learned during the past nine years that allowed Pixar to retain its creative culture while continuing to evolve. “Might be the most thoughtful management book ever.”—Fast Company For nearly thirty years, Pixar has dominated the world of animation, producing such beloved films as the Toy Story trilogy, Finding Nemo, The Incredibles, Up, and WALL-E, which have gone on to set box-office records and garner eighteen Academy Awards. The joyous storytelling, the inventive plots, the emotional authenticity: In some ways, Pixar movies are an object lesson in what creativity really is. Here, Catmull reveals the ideals and techniques that have made Pixar so widely admired—and so profitable. As a young man, Ed Catmull had a dream: to make the first computer-animated movie. He nurtured that dream as a Ph.D. student, and then forged a partnership with George Lucas that led, indirectly, to his founding Pixar with Steve Jobs and John Lasseter in 1986. Nine years later, Toy Story was released, changing animation forever. The essential ingredient in that movie’s success—and in the twenty-five movies that followed—was the unique environment that Catmull and his colleagues built at Pixar, based on philosophies that protect the creative process and defy convention, such as: • Give a good idea to a mediocre team and they will screw it up. But give a mediocre idea to a great team and they will either fix it or come up with something better. • It’s not the manager’s job to prevent risks. It’s the manager’s job to make it safe for others to take them. • The cost of preventing errors is often far greater than the cost of fixing them. • A company’s communication structure should not mirror its organizational structure. Everybody should be able to talk to anybody. Creativity, Inc. has been significantly expanded to illuminate the continuing development of the unique culture at Pixar. It features a new introduction, two entirely new chapters, four new chapter postscripts, and changes and updates throughout. Pursuing excellence isn’t a one-off assignment but an ongoing, day-in, day-out, full-time job. And Creativity, Inc. explores how it is done.

HOW DO I TRANSFORM MY LIFE? The answer is simple: come up with ten ideas a day. It doesn't matter if they are good or bad the key is to exercise your 'idea muscle', to keep it toned, and in great shape. People say ideas are cheap and execution is everything but that is NOT true. Execution is a consequence, a subset of good, brilliant idea. And good ideas require daily work. Ideas may be easy if we are only coming up with one or two but if you open this book to any of the pages and try to produce more than three, you will feel a burn, scratch your head, and you will be sweating, and working hard. There is a turning point when you reach idea number 6 for the day, you still have four to go, and your mind muscle is getting a workout. By the time you list those last ideas to make it to ten you will see for yourself what "sweating the idea muscle" means. As you practice the daily idea generation you become an idea machine.When we become idea machines we are flooded with lots of bad ideas but also with some that are very good. This happens by the sheer force of the number, because we are coming up with 3,650 ideas per year (at ten a day). When you are inspired by an extraordinary idea, all of your thoughts break their chains, you go beyond limitations and your capacity to act expands in every direction. Forces and abilities you did not know you had come to the surface, and you realize you are capable of doing great things. As you practice with the suggested prompts in this book your ideas will get better, you will be a source of great insight for others, people will find you magnetic, and they will want to hang out with you because you have so much to offer. When you practice every day your life will transform, in no more than 180 days, because it has no other evolutionary choice. Life changes for the better when we become the source of positive, insightful, and helpful ideas. Don't believe a word I say. Instead, challenge yourself to try it for the 180 days and see your life transform, in magical ways, in front of your very eyes.

Business consultants everywhere preach the benefits of innovation—and promise to help businesses reap them. A trendy industry, this type of consulting generates courses, workshops, books, and conferences that all claim to hold the secrets of success. But what promises does the notion of innovation entail? What is it about the ideology and practice of business innovation that has made these firms so successful at selling their services to everyone from small start-ups to Fortune 500 companies? And most important, what does business innovation actually mean for work and our economy today? In Creativity on Demand, cultural anthropologist Eitan Wilf seeks to answer these questions by returning to the fundamental and pervasive expectation of continual innovation. Wilf focuses a keen eye on how our obsession with ceaseless innovation stems from the long-standing value of acceleration in capitalist society. Based on ethnographic work with innovation consultants in the United States, he reveals, among other surprises, how routine the culture of innovation actually is. Procedures and strategies are repeated in a formulaic way, and imagination is harnessed as a new professional ethos, not always to generate genuinely new thinking, but to produce predictable signs of continual change. A masterful look at the contradictions of our capitalist age, Creativity on Demand is a model for the anthropological study of our cultures of work.

Contemporary society has seen an unprecedented rise in both the demand and the desire to be creative, to bring something new into the world. Once the reserve of artistic subcultures, creativity has now become a universal model for culture and an imperative in many parts of society. In this new book, cultural sociologist Andreas Reckwitz investigates how the ideal of creativity has grown into a major social force, from the art of the avant-garde and postmodernism to the ‘creative industries’ and the innovation economy, the psychology of creativity and self-growth, the media representation of creative stars, and the urban design of ‘creative cities’. Where creativity is often assumed to be a force for good, Reckwitz looks critically at how this imperative has developed from the 1970s to the present day. Though we may well perceive creativity as the realization of some natural and innate potential within us, it has rather to be understood within the structures of a very specific culture of the new in late modern society. The Invention of Creativity is a bold and refreshing counter to conventional wisdom that shows how our age is defined by radical and restrictive processes of social aestheticization. It will be of great interest to those working in a variety of disciplines, from cultural and social theory to art history and aesthetics.

""Crammed with practical ideas, inspirational images & creative exercises, Conscious Creativity leads the reader through the process of establishing what kind of creative you are..." - Mslexia "The purpose of this book is to enable you to look at things in an alternative and more substantial way, so that you arrive at composition through genuine interest." - Juno magazine “Philippa Stanton is passionate about people connecting to their innate creativity and has distilled these incredible techniques and ideas on how we can tap into that. Philippa is a massively successful Instagramer at @5ftinf and yet she is only too aware how these little two dimensional squares can limit our experiences and restrict our creativity, so it’s not without a little irony that she’s written a book to encourage people to step away from their screens and connect more with the 3D world. It’s a fascinating subject and I wholeheartedly recommend the book for anyone who’s working in the creative industry or is curious about the world around them." - Sophie Robinson (DIY SOS, the Great British Interior Design Challenge, This Morning) How often do you notice the texture of a painted wall or the scent of a friend’s house and, importantly, how they make you feel? Connect your observations and your emotions and transform your creative practice with this essential toolbox packed full of exercises, tips, stunning images and personal experiences from dynamic artist Philippa Stanton. There is creativity in all of us, but it can easily be buried beneath our everyday concerns, or need a spark to bring it back to life. Whether you’ve lost your mojo or just need some fresh ideas, artist and photographer Philippa Stanton’s lively guide will stimulate your imagination and reinvigorate your creative life. Conscious Creativity will help you fully appreciate what is around you, opening all your senses to the beauty you may not notice every day, and showing you how to capture it. Simple, engaging exercises that encourage observation and experimentation will give you an insight into your own aesthetics as you take a conscious step to note the colours, shapes, shadows, sounds and textures that fill your world and how they make you feel. Bursting with practical ideas and inspirational images, Conscious Creativity shows you how to unlock your potential, learn to use your natural curiosity and take a leap into the most creative time of your life.