Creative Thinkering: Putting Your Imagination to Work

As an innovation consultant, I have been working closely with clients in 3 major aspects: (1) Process streamlining, (2) Strategy formulation, and (3) New product / Service development. Each project is different and requires careful analysis of the challenges and business needs, an indepth investigation of internal and external constraints, crafting of intervention strategies and last but not least the development of a thoughtful implementation plan. Having said that, the bedrock of every success is still "IDEA". Steve Jobs, Founder of Apple Computer (now Apple Inc.), once said, "Innovation distinquishes between a leader and a follower." He is pointing us to the right direction but the question is "How can we become the first person who comes up with that brilliant ideas".2 years ago, we worked with HSBC on an organisation wide CHANGE initiative aiming to increase their STAFF ENGAGEMENT LEVEL. We trained up 60+ champions, using Micheal's techniques, to lead internal THINK TANKS to brainstorm improvement ideas. In one of the think tanks, the members used the SCAMPER technique in great details to analyze their existing operation and came up with an idea of ELIMINATING (E as in SCAMPER) the plastic label on which the customers have to sign their names for checking purposes. The end result is an annual saving of 4 Million dollars plus 3 awards and dozens of media exposure. The teller who submitted the idea received a generous reward for her contribution and the customers enjoy the ease of transaction. This is a classic illustration of INNOVATION: Creating values for all stakeholders.Micheal Michalko practices what he teaches. In his every book, he uses lots of business cases, puzzles and exercises to illustrate his point. I like reading his books because it is both an intellectual and an spiritual / emotional venture. His books are highly practical and a real joy to read and a real treasure to refer to whenever I am stuck. A gem indeed.In his new book CREATIVE THINKERING, Michael extracted the essense of business creativity and came up with a SINGLE concept (i.e., CONCEPTUAL BLENDING) to explain what can be done to think like a genius. In the introduction of the book, he writes,"In school you are taught to define, label, and segregate what you learn into separate categories...much like icecubes in a tray. Once something is learned and categorized, you thoughts become frozen...you are taught, when confronted with a problem, to examine the icecube tray and select appropriate cube [to kickstart your problem solving process] ...to come up with marginal improvements..."The real trick to become a genius is to demolish the barriers and to BLEND unfamiliar concepts to come up with novel ideas. This is where you experience the magic moment of creating something groundbreaking. In this new book by Michael, he is going to show you how to do it. This is the INTELLECTUAL part. The SPIRITUAL / EMOTIONAL part is what I like most. There are a total of 60 extremely inspiring and challenging exercises (in a book with 13 chapters) to reveal weaknesses of your thinking process. No matter how smart you are, you will still learn something valuable. For those who travel a lot, these exercises are going to keep you busy (and happy!) and your long haul flights become much easier. For me, I set IDEA QUOTA for my flights. A short trip to Japan (5 hours), 5 ideas, a long haul to Paris (12 hours), 12 ideas...Of course, make sure you have Michael's book with you, they are the recipe for imagination!Grab this before your competitors and USE IT!!!

We read 'em, so you don't have to! As the nuns used to say, put on your thinking caps. Remember that, when you'd have to fake-tie on your cap? (No, well this would be a good time to make fun of me, now wouldn't it?) This month's selection, Creative Thinkering by Michael Michalko, is like one long session with Sister Helen Margaret and the thinking cap. Michalko takes the reader through numerous thought experiments and exercises centered on the random approach to thinking and problem solving. Like last month's recommended book, Tribal Leadership, this one is perfect for the business leader who is stuck and in need of new approaches to day-in-and-day-out challenges. With a cup of da Vinci here, a dose of van Gogh there, and a pinch of Picasso for good measure, this book reads like a Renaissance recipe for those in need of more creativity.One of the key takeaways here comes toward the end, when the author challenges the reader with something he calls "the word pattern of impossibility." Let's say you don't consider yourself to be the creative type; Michalko would say that you've likely stopped striving to become so. To address this malaise, he takes the reader through new ways of thinking to get from "I can't be creative" to "I will be creative." If you're hearing a big of Stuart Smalley here, you're not far off. (Let's face it, you're not going to tackle self-limiting thinking without it coming off as, "I'm good enough, I'm smart enough, and doggone it, people like me!") But if you can get beyond that, you'll find value in the author's recommendations to go from impossibility, to possibility, to necessity, to certainty, to desire. His experiments are simple yet highly effective. The stories about utterly random strategies to overcoming tough challenges are remarkable, notably how one would-be author overcame the classic Catch-22 struggle of you can't be published without an agent/you can't get an agent if you're not published that has to read twice to be believed.The recurring theme in Creative Thinkering is that there are ways to return to our formative years, when spontaneity and creativity came naturally. Michalko claims that our schools ruined us for thinking, that it's as if "we entered school as a question mark and graduated as a period." And he hammers the point that "we see no more than we expect to see." Retold here is the wonderful social experiment conducted by The Washington Post years ago, through which a world-class violinist, playing intricate material on a $3.5 million instrument in a Metro station was virtually ignored by everyone save for children who tried to stop and listen. Adults assumed a bum was playing for tips; children heard what was real - a rare talent who had sold out a concert hall two days before. If you're up for starting 2013 by taking a different tack to your average day's occurrences, this book will surely help you get there.Happy new reading!Chris

I ordered this book for class on Saturday and needed the first chapter complete by Monday. I received the shipment on Sunday and completed the assignment! Wow! That meant more than one person dedicated their time to make sure I received this book.Creative Thinkering, just on the first chapter, raises your imagination into a creative state by providing examples of different objects.I'm excited to continue my creativity and thank you for shipping my book with care and concern.

Especially as a high school educator and as a new grandmother, I found this discussion of how creativity is nurtured compelling and counter to most of what we do as educators of students teachers of our children. As I've tried to "help" my baby grandson "play" in the right way with his toys (hammering the balls into the holes with the correct end of the hammer) instead of letting him explore all the possibilities in his play area, I realize that what I do, what most of us naturally do, is limit creative thinking.Michalko provides practical exercises and discusses techniques that creative thinkers use to infuse their own lives with novel problem solving. There is much to consider in this little book.

This is a great book which clearly and elegantly describes how we can increase our creative thinking - much needed in a time when the old solutions don't work with new problems - the more lateral and creative thinkers we have the better we will all be!

This book is about how to think creatively. It explores a number of techniques that are interesting and fun to work through. I have no doubt that the techniques can be used in business and other many other areas. The book has numerous 'thought experiments' which are easy to complete and can be used to generate results. I found the final chapters of the book particularly thought provoking. Some interesting ideas and some excellent insights into problem solving, which can be used individually or in teams.

Great read- profound insights!

good book speedy delivery

Fantastic buy

excellent