Creative ideas about creativity

Many books are published every year that promise to help companies improve their innovative performance.

“New Ideas About New Ideas” brings an original perspective to this well-trodden landscape. The book does not attempt to offer a structured approach to organizing the innovation process, nor does it suggest “tricks” to help individuals develop their creativity. Instead, the author invites readers to share the experiences of a hundred corporate executives recognized for their inventiveness.

The result is a rather disorganized mass of ideas on creativity. Some of these ideas are truly original, others less so. They are not all easily transferable. However, reading this book is likely to get readers to want to try at least some of them in their companies. We felt the following suggestions were particularly relevant:

– Foster a spirit of constant challenge and refusal to accept the status quo.

– Rather than trying to teach people to be creative, devote your energy to hiring creative people.

– Encourage the constant search for new ideas; don’t reject any idea offhand.

– Dare to launch projects despite a lack of guaranteed success or of consensus on their relevance.