Who Killed Creativity?: ...And How Do We Get It Back?

Acknowledgements xiii

Introduction xv

PART I: Who killed creativity? 1

1 Investigating the crime scene 3

Is creative thinking that important? 5

Is creative death imminent? The vital statistics 7

Are you creative? 10

2 Who killed creativity, and with what weapons? 13

Stage 1: oppression 17

Murder profile 1: the Control Crew 17

Murder profile 2: the Fear Family 28

Stage 2: restriction 36

Murder profile 3: the Pressure Pack 36

Murder profile 4: the Insulation Clique 47

Stage 3: degeneration 58

Murder profile 5: the Apathy Clan 58

Stage 4: destruction 70

Murder profile 6: the Narrow-minded Mob 70

Murder profile 7: the Pessimism Posse 81

3 Where has creativity died? 89

Locating the crime hotspots - from the boss's office to the coffee shop 90

Any time, any place 102

4 Why save creativity? 105

Innovation is a necessity, not a luxury 107

Innovate, don't amputate 109

PART II: ... And how can we get it back? 115

5 The forensic lab report 117

Exercising the brain: stretch, but don't snap 119

To what extent can creative thinking be taught? 122

The brain workout 124

Slowing down for the synaptic fire-up 127

Triggering the brain's 'on/off' switch 129

New paths to superior thinking 130

6 How can creativity be saved? 131

Stage 1: liberation 135

Rescue strategy 1: cultivate curiosity 138

Rescue strategy 2: accept ambiguity 147

Stage 2: initiation 151

Rescue strategy 3: unleash your imagination 155

Rescue strategy 4: access all parts of the brain 163

Stage 3: motivation 168

Rescue strategy 5: reconstruct common concepts 172

Stage 4: transformation 177

Rescue strategy 6: explore different paths 180

Rescue strategy 7: embrace optimism 190

7 Where can creativity be revived? 195

Building innovation hothouses - revisiting the boss's office and the coffee shop 196

Bringing the bedroom to the boardroom 208

8 And they lived happily ever after ... or did they? 213

Can the killers be redeemed ... and are the rescuers squeaky clean? 214

The yin and yang of creativity 216

Playing with fire and other disruptive innovations 219

Innovate or die - the commercial and social consequences of regeneration 221

Change is inevitable, so scale the slopes constructively 223

Why the Mexico rubbish dump dwellers might just save the planet 226

9 The rescue plan in action 229

Disarming the killers 230

Coming the full circle: the complete Creative Thinking Life Cycle Model 232

Implementing the seven creative thinking strategies - a case study 233

Endnotes 243

Bibliography 261

More ways to get creative 275

Index 277