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Stimulated!: Habits to Spark Your Creative Genius at Work
*Winner of the Print Industries of America's Benny Award for jacket design* With the pace of competition, innovation, and change in today's world, creativity isn't a luxury--it's a survival skill. But even the most creative people can end up stuck, stressed out, and stale, worn down by the daily grind. Stimulated! is an energetic exploration of five habits that can help you release your creativity and expand your innovative thinking. The method is playful, fun, enriching, and mind-expanding, but most important, it's a step-by-step process for getting unstuck. With Stimulated! , you learn Praise for Stimulated! : 'Stuck in a rut? Stimulated! will awaken possibilities you never thought existed. Read this book and jump start your life!' -- Ken Blanchard , author of One Minute Manager and Know Can Do! 'As an innovation how-to, Stimulated! is a fascinating book that is full of ways to help you unlock your creative potential.' -- Neal Goldberg , President, The Children's Place
195 pages, Hardcover
First published April 1, 2008
2 people are currently reading
75 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
October 30, 2008
Whether you are an entrepreneur, an artist or stay at home mom, "Stimulated' is for you.
It is a revolutionary method, engaging full-color illustrations, and lively prose challenge you to get started on your great ideas and enjoy a more creative productive life!
With Stimulated! you will learn.....
how to draw inspirationa and fresh insights from the world around you;
how to make the most of your surroundings and develop an environment that will get your creative juices flowing;
how to turn work into play;
how to take the leap of faith and commit to big, bold ideas; and
how to reap the benefit of your successes and failures to contribute to the next creative effort.
A great way to get "unstuck" and as Ken Blanchard said about Stimulated! "will awaken the possibilities you never thought existed. Read this book and jump start your life!"
It is a revolutionary method, engaging full-color illustrations, and lively prose challenge you to get started on your great ideas and enjoy a more creative productive life!
With Stimulated! you will learn.....
how to draw inspirationa and fresh insights from the world around you;
how to make the most of your surroundings and develop an environment that will get your creative juices flowing;
how to turn work into play;
how to take the leap of faith and commit to big, bold ideas; and
how to reap the benefit of your successes and failures to contribute to the next creative effort.
A great way to get "unstuck" and as Ken Blanchard said about Stimulated! "will awaken the possibilities you never thought existed. Read this book and jump start your life!"
May 18, 2010
5 habits to spark creativity:
Scouting (seeking stimulus)
- examples of seeking stimulus:
--a cross role group meets weekly, listens to outside speakers
--rip articles out of airline magazines
--take role of anthropologist [compare to Ten Faces of Innovation:] and describe rather than interpret
--visit places and observe customers
Seeking the right environment
- create a special "home" for creative work
- post images and use props that suggest creativity, high performing teams, etc
- choose an unusual place to have a meeting devoted to innovation to encourage people to have big ideas
- don't go over the top in designing the space
- Example: Pfizer consumer healthcare came up with an innovative delivery system for Listerine through "years of experimentation and encouraging colleagues to take risks," by infusing "a set of creative conditions," and by following the mantra "weave innovation into everything we do"
- one successful innovation will stimulate more
- to be creative you must first become aware of the environmental stimuli that work for you
Play
- daydream
- do improvisational play such as shared storytelling
Take risks
- don't conform in your dress to what's expected, wear clothing that makes you feel more creative
Get results
- Have passion for your idea
- Form a "creative genius board" of people who will listen, support and advise you
- teamwork is important
Sustain your creativity
- have celebrations
- watch movies
Stages of creativity:
1. have the idea (you need stimulus for this)
2. Validate the idea through questioning and support from others
3. Make the idea real
Exercises to help you become more creative:
- Think of a creative person and what you can learn from them
- To practice scouting look at pictures and practice describing them rather than interpreting them
- Think about play
- To prepare yourself to take risks visualize what success would look like if you too a risky idea into the world
Scouting (seeking stimulus)
- examples of seeking stimulus:
--a cross role group meets weekly, listens to outside speakers
--rip articles out of airline magazines
--take role of anthropologist [compare to Ten Faces of Innovation:] and describe rather than interpret
--visit places and observe customers
Seeking the right environment
- create a special "home" for creative work
- post images and use props that suggest creativity, high performing teams, etc
- choose an unusual place to have a meeting devoted to innovation to encourage people to have big ideas
- don't go over the top in designing the space
- Example: Pfizer consumer healthcare came up with an innovative delivery system for Listerine through "years of experimentation and encouraging colleagues to take risks," by infusing "a set of creative conditions," and by following the mantra "weave innovation into everything we do"
- one successful innovation will stimulate more
- to be creative you must first become aware of the environmental stimuli that work for you
Play
- daydream
- do improvisational play such as shared storytelling
Take risks
- don't conform in your dress to what's expected, wear clothing that makes you feel more creative
Get results
- Have passion for your idea
- Form a "creative genius board" of people who will listen, support and advise you
- teamwork is important
Sustain your creativity
- have celebrations
- watch movies
Stages of creativity:
1. have the idea (you need stimulus for this)
2. Validate the idea through questioning and support from others
3. Make the idea real
Exercises to help you become more creative:
- Think of a creative person and what you can learn from them
- To practice scouting look at pictures and practice describing them rather than interpreting them
- Think about play
- To prepare yourself to take risks visualize what success would look like if you too a risky idea into the world
May 9, 2015
I've had this book on the shelf for several years, and I think I should have read it when I first got it. The advice in here - mostly for people who want to be more creative in the business world - is nothing I haven't heard many times before. There weren't as many exercises as I'd expected, and most of the anecdotes tried so hard to hide the individuals' identities that I didn't get much out of them. Sure, you had a great idea, but what was it? What happened next? If you've never tried to increase the creativity in your professional life, this might be a good book for you, but if you've been around that block a few times, better skip this one. It's just more of the same.
December 28, 2015
Very poor illustration of concepts. I expected much more as title chosen was in line with my interest area.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews