The Art of Creative Thinking: 89 Ways to See Things Differently

by Rod Judkins

Get ready to get inspired   In short and engaging entries, this deceptively simple volume presents examples of creative thinkers from the worlds of writing, music, architecture, painting, technology, and more, shedding light on their process, and showing how each of us can learn from them to improve our lives and our work.Subjects range from the grueling practice schedule of the Beatles and the relentless revisions of Tolkien, Sondheim, and Picasso to the surprisingly slapdash creation of The Simpsons. You’ll learn about the most successful class in history (in which every student won a Nobel Prize), how frozen peas were invented, why J.K. Rowling likes to write in cafes, and how 95 percent of Apocalypse Now ended up on the cutting-room floor. Takeaways Doubt everything all the time.- Plan to have more accidents.- Be mature enough to be childish.- Contradict yourself more often. - Be practically useless.- If it ain’t broke, break it.- Surprise yourself.- Look forward to disappointment.- Be as incompetent as possible.

Genres: Nonfiction, Self Help, Design, Art, Business, Psychology, Personal Development

205 pages, Kindle Edition

First published April 9, 2015

About the author

I have written five books on the subject of creativity and innovation. My latest book is 'Make Brilliant Work'.

Reviews

[Rob · Rating 5 out of 5]

Can creative thinking decrease anxiety and boost confidence? This is NOT AT ALL the topic of this book. That's just what happened to me. 

4.5/5 Stars!

If you think or others told you you're not creative, do yourself a favor and read this book! Creativity is not something you're born with or something people just have. I'm not even going to try to tell you what it actually is. You can figure that out for yourself. THAT is creativity. Create your own sense of creative thinking! I hope it will open your mind as it did for me.

My experience while reading The Art of Creative Thinking was eye opening! I always thought "Nope, i'm not creative!" or "I can't even draw a straight line!" Well screw that! Who needs to draw a straight line anyways?? I think I'll take up drawing. I never thought I would say that! What kind of crazy shit is this book making me do???

The Art of Creative Thinking is short and easy to read. I had the audiobook, read by Michael Rosen, and it was fantastic! Anytime a non-fiction audiobook is fun, you know the narrator did a great job! In fact, It made me feel so good i'm going to re-listen to it right away! Think that's crazy? Well I do! I never re-read anything right away! The book itself made me ask myself "Why not?" If I don't like it I will have learned a lesson.

That brings up my favorite topic of the book. MAKING MISTAKES! There are a few mentions on the topic of making mistakes. This was great stuff! The short version of it was don't be afraid of making mistakes. I'm not telling you to go out there and be a complete moron and screw up everything you do, just don't be shackled by the fear of being perfect and of never ever making mistakes. The way you react to mistakes will tell you a great deal about yourself and you can learn and be creative in solving the problem. I, for one, have a fear of making mistakes and it sucks the creative life out of me.

Sure, this book has many anecdotes. You can take these examples literally, like an ass-hat, or see the deeper meaning the author had in mind. Nobody is telling you to go paint the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel. When Michelangelo took on this project, nothing was ever done to compare to the immense work he was about to do. It was creative then, it's not anymore. Make your own masterpiece.

There is some very odd advice given at some points, for example, be late for work. Will you do what it says? That wouldn't be too creative now, would it? The advice is not meant for you to use. The people referred to in the anecdotes and examples did not have an instructions manual to tell them how to think creatively. There is no manual for this. This is not a manual for creative thinking!

[Cindy Pham · Rating 1 out of 5]

This isn’t a self help book. This is a book with a bunch of random anecdotes about stereotypical famous people (Steve Jobs, Van Gogh, and ew, even Woody Allen and Donald Trump) attached to generic lessons. To add insult to injury, the writing is super disjointed and unorganized. And I don’t excuse the clunky writing as the author’s “creativity” when it fails to be effective. You might as well just browse an inspiration Pinterest board.

[Raneem · Rating 5 out of 5]

قرأت مرةً أن الـ "فكرة/تفكير " هي التي تميّز كل فردٍ عن الآخر وتصنع منه ماهو عليه، فإذا كنت لا تُفكّر بالقدر الكافي بطبيعة الحال ستكون تبعًا لفكرة شخص آخر .
وبعيدًا عن كل الخواطر الفلسفية بخصوص التفكير، هذا الكتاب يجعل من فكرة التفكير بحد ذاتها تجربة فريدة مثيرة للدهشة.
في كل فصل، يقوم روود بعرض آلية مختلفة مع ضرب أمثلة عن مبدعين لم تكن تعلم أن إبداعهم كان نتيجة لهذه الآلية بالذات، يذلل الفصل بسؤال: إن كنت قد اقتنعت بهذه الآلية فضلاً انتقل للصفحة (س) ، و إن لم تجدها منطقية لعلك تجرب الصفحة (ص) ..باختلاف الصياغة كل مرة، مما يجعلك تقرأ الكتاب بشكل عشوائي منظم بديع.

اللغة سهلة و بسيطة ممايجعله كتابًا جيدًا لمن لا تعتبر له الإنجليزية لغته الأم

[Lusine Goroyan · Rating 4 out of 5]

First of all I want to say that I HATE self-help books but this one really surprised me. Unlike other stupid (I mean self-help) books, it didn't say you're the best, you can achieve everything and blah blah blah. Instead it was full of many examples how creative people acted.
Recently I got my dream job! Graphic Designer at PicsArt which is one of the most famous photo editing apps in the world. I was (and maybe still am) full of doubts whether I could make it or not. I thought that I don't have relevant education, I can't draw straight lines and many other stupid things))) But this book somehow opened my eyes. I realised that perfection isn't the answer and it's totally fine to not be able to draw a straight line. Who cares?!
It showed me that many people who I admire simply believed in their ideas and did everything to achieve them.
And what I loved most about this book is that it was full of interesting information. I totally recommend it to everyone (especially to creative people who are full of doubts) ^^

[Kevin · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is split into numerous little sections, each covering one area of consideration. You're presented with a title, an introduction to the concept, an anecdote to show it in practice, and a conclusion explaining it all. Then to wrap up the section a quote of some relevance and page numbers of suggested sections to read next - sometimes and agree/disagree type choice, sometimes a related concept, sometimes a couple of pathways you can follow.

The format is very brief, with most sections around 3-5 pages long. The pages are smaller than a typical book too making it very easy to dip into and flip about as suggested in the introduction. The biggest shame in that regard is that the book itself is physically just a bit too big to easily carry around. An odd comment to make in a book review but one that is relevant to this one.

As for the content? Great! Most books of this type will have readers agreeing or disagreeing with various statements, what I liked about this is I feel the author not only wouldn't mind that but would actively relish it.

Sometimes I feel the author pushes too hard to prove his creativity. That is largely about the author/reader relationship though - that kind of thing goes against my natural style but for others the exact same words will likely resonate deeply and inspire them. That is the interesting thing about the author though - many of the times I disagree with him make me want to interact with him more. I get the impression he's someone I'd happily sit and argue the day away with - someone who genuinely likes challenging and being challenged over ideas.

It's a small thing but I would've liked an index to give some vague hints where I might want to dip into. I completely understand the urge to avoid chapters, especially with numbers, but having now read it I have no idea how to find some of the things I'd love to go back and look at in more depth. The sections are brief and there isn't much depth on subjects - it works well for the purpose, but I want to fill in the gaps on some of the threads that caught my eye and it will be difficult. This is one of those times I feel the desire to prove creativity is a hindrance.

Overall the book was good. Easy to throw yourself into and poke at to get you thinking. I suspect if you're interested in this book a lot of it won't be new to you, but it's always nice to have those thoughts reinforced and pick up a little nugget of motivation or even inspiration. I feel it may be a harder read if you don't have a creative background, but it seems like it would still be fairly welcoming and helpful. If you do have a creative background I suspect it may be a book shared around your social circle - passed on sporadically and sparking some discussion as it does the rounds. I like that, I like the book. It's not life changing, but it does deal with some of the common thoughts anyone trying to do creative work faces.

A complimentary copy of this book was supplied for review by the publisher as part of the "First Reads" program.

[Shog Al Maskery · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's not the type of book you read from cover to cover, it guides you through. However you can get lost in between what you read and haven't read the second time you open it up.

[Tanza · Rating 1 out of 5]

I’m really tired of books about “creative thinking” that are largely out-of-context summaries of “iconic” creatives (largely white men), as though their experiences are applicable or universal. Yes, Einstein daydreamed his theory of relativity, but he had the background knowledge of physics and an academic position that provided the space for his ideas to be recognized. Yes, Warhol brought pop art into the public consciousness, but he also had connections and a factory of nameless assistants producing work in his name.

Books like this parade about the cult of personality and the marketable stories of artistic success without acknowledging the structural support, privilege, and access that allows these men to succeed.

I’m tired of books that tell people to quit their day jobs, as though everyone has the funds to do that and as though that’s the only way to be an artist. I’m tired of books that spread the narrative of “if you work hard you’ll get noticed and be famous” as though all the unrecognized creatives are just not working hard enough, or are not committed enough, as though the Art World, the Music Industry, and Academia are not steeped in structural inequality, privilege, bias, racism, sexism, classism, and capitalism.

Don’t read this. Don’t read books like it.

[Lan Anh · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was like, FINALLY i finished the book! The book is soooo thin but it took me almost 2 weeks to complete, because despite the inspiring title the book was boring as hell!

The book contains 89 REALLY SHORT stories about how so-called creative people succeeded with their work or products. Most of them was nonsense and cliche thing, such as "don't care about what other people think because they are wrong all-the-time and you need to follow your passion. Here I'll show you an example of a genius and successful writer who ignored what his dad said about the writing career". Man, isn't that stupid, like even a 10-year-old know that is survivorship bias.

Yep, the book was a huge example of survivorship bias: looking at the examples of (very few) successful people who created incredible things, trying to explain why they succeeded (fail every time - one couldn't create ground-breaking things just because they're creative. There must be other factors that the author intentionally left out just to prove his points) and then told the readers to follow that reasons to "be creative".

I wonder what people working in creative fields think about this book. Personally, it's a huge lie.

[Brodie Gron · Rating 1 out of 5]

A more accurate title for this book: Immature Anecdotes on Creative Thinking.

This book encompasses near all the worst things associated with creativity, while offering no more than 2 or 3 (the book is split into 85 isolated chapters) genuine observations on the fundamental art (or approach) to creativity.

The immaturity and clear lack of reason in Judkin's approach to creativity as a whole is almost shocking. "Artist X painted naked and was very creative, therefore you too should try painting naked."

Once or twice I thought, Huh, cool. Which is what I expect from a blogpost or a podcast. A published book with 85 chapters needs to achieve more.

Ps. A handful of the paragraphs here actively angered me. Here's one I remember (paraphrased):
Be late to meetings, miss appointments, get lost on the way to lunch, disregard whatever plans you made, get rid of your watch. Life's more fun this way. Tremendously poor advice to creative people and those who identify as potentials.

[Vanya Prodanova · Rating 4 out of 5]

Надъхваща книга, която е построена като книга-игра и определено целта й не е да я четеш от корица до корица, а да отвориш на случайна страница и да тръгнеш от там, следвайки как се чувстваш и какъв тип мотивация и вдъхновение имаш нужда в дадения момент и всъщност.

Имам странното усещане, че съм чела много подобна книга преди, но не мога се сетя коя е била, но как да е. Няма лошо някои неща да се препрочитат, тъй като ги забравяме, особено в моментите, в които имаме чувството, че не струваме и нещата ни не вървят. :)


С някои от идеите и размислите, които сподели - бях много съгласна, с други - откровено смятам, че са си направо деструктивни, но който каквото го мотивира да върви напред. ^^

[Lamiya Goycayeva · Rating 2 out of 5]

Gözləntilərimi qarşılamayan növbəti “qeyri-bədii” ədəbiyyat nümunəsi. Niyə dırnaq içərisində? Çünki boşa qoysam dolmadı, doluya qoysam daşdı.

Şəxsi inkişaf kitabı kimi əldə etmişdim. Amma nəticədə nə ilə qarşılaşdım? Stereotipləri qıran məşhur şəxslər haqqında uğur hekayələri toplusu ilə. Bir-birinə zidd həyat dərsləri, qanunların işlək olduğu sistemlərdə özünü doğruldan yaradıcı üsyan keysləri.

Yəqin ki, ən maraqlı tərəfi yazıçının sonda oxucuya verdiyi tapşırıqlar oldu. Tapşırıqları yerinə yetirməyə çalışacağam, nəticələri də bölüşəcəyəm. Müsbət nəticə əldə etməsəm, “Goodreads”ə girib kitabın xalını bir ulduz da azaldacağam, yox əgər, istədiyim nəticəni alsam, iki əlavə ulduz verəcəyəm.

Arrivederci. 📚

[Linh Nguyen · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is a collection of story about creative people, and not exactly about how you can boost your creativity, at least in my opinion. The stories are all interesting, but don’t provide much insight tbh. Not many are memorable.

So what did I learn about thinking creatively from the book? I learned that there are no rules whatsoever. It’s a path you have to find for yourself, as the book offers tips then contradict itself continuously. There are no rules. Free your mind from whatever it is that is holding you back, even common sense.

The book is good as food for thoughts. Some tips can be used in real life, but this is not a guideline to creative thinking. After all, if you need a guideline, then you’re not thinking creatively.

[Ria · Rating 3 out of 5]

Well, I finally muddled through. Depending on my mood, this in turns inspired, amused and annoyed me. It's a bit like having a friend just coming up with neverending suggestions to a challenge you face - huge credit to the friend for thinking up so many options... But also, isn't there power in focusing on the key suggestions that are more likely to get results.

I hope that one day, I'll be looking for inspiration for creativity, and this book will offer me the answer I need at that time.

[Sol Smith · Rating 1 out of 5]

This bummed me out. I’ve been reading a lot about neuropsychology and the process of creativity. This was not what this book was about. This was a collection of mini-rants acting like pseudo-inspirational essays trying to get you on board with your own individuality. Like, “And then he left the company and started something that was more true to himself. That man was Steve Jobbs/Albert Einstein/Nikolai Tesla/Paul Cezanne.” Over and over. You don’t need to read this.

[Muhammad Khan · Rating 4 out of 5]

ممتاز جداً كجرعة قبل النوم عشان يعيد تحريك طريقة تفكيرك ويمدك بصور لطيفة. ومن الكتيبات اللي تحصله في الطريق عليه تخفيض فتاخده :)

[Michael · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting read. Good but not great.

[Ioana · Rating 2 out of 5]

2015, Opportunity to boost your general knowledge


Despite the godawful repetitive stylistic choice (“everyone is a genius waiting to be discovered” and other rosy, sometimes pragmatic and oftentimes contradictory statements), which is anything but original, I found the stories to be a rather interesting hodgepodge

From learning about China’s “Anti-Spiritual Pollution Campaign” that had sci-fi banned for a while, to the impressive catwalk show for Alexander McQueen Dress no.13 and Giles Brindley’s awe inspiring erection-demonstration https://litfl.com/how-to-give-an-unfo..., there’s something for everyone.

[Sangeeta K · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a decent book - even with its references to some questionable souls (TERF's and pedophiles) it still manages to make creativity a well-researched topic. Only thing I dislike is the plain text and the weird imagery. Could've been more creative with that.

[Talha · Rating 3 out of 5]

İlk defa kişisel gelişim kitabı tarzında bir kitap okumuş oldum. Kötü değil, hatta iyi bile sayılır. Her sayfasında ayrı bir hikaye var. Her sayfası ayrı bir insandan bahsediyor. Bu insanların çoğu dünyaca ünlü isimler. Hikayeler oldukça ilgi çekici, pek de bilinmedik öyküler bunlar. Biraz da bundan kurtarıyor sanırım. Şaşırtıcı bilgilere yer verilmiş genel olarak. Yaratıcılık üstünden sunulan öyküler de çoğu zaman çok hoş olmuş.

Tabii bu kadar "şöyle yapın, öyle yapın" demesi rahatsız ediyor. Çünkü bir yere kadar aynı fikirde olabiliyorsunuz. Ama işin ilginç tarafı o kadar da çok kendi düşüncesini dayatan bir yazar değildi. Aksine hikayelerden yola çıkarak bizlere ders vermeye çalışıyordu. Zaman zaman kendiyle çelişiyor olsa da konular bambaşka konular ve hepsine kesinlikle ayrı şeyler söylenmek zorunda, hikaye üstünden gidildiği unutulmamalı. Çok hoşuma giden kısımlar oldu açıkçası.

Dediğim gibi sadece "şunu yapmalısınız" gibi kısımlar bayıyor. Yazar kendi hikayelerinden anlatırken yine, "ben böyle yaptım oldu" gibi düşünceleri sunuyor ama çoğu zaman mantıklı bile gelmeyebiliyor. Buna girmese daha iyi olurmuş. Öyküler üzerinden devam edilmesi gerekirdi. Araştırma ödevi gibi kitap çünkü.

"En neşe verici fikirler zihinde üretilir ve düşünme şeklimize kafa tutan bilgiyle tetiklenir. Eğlenceli gelmiyorsa yapmanın hiçbir anlamı yoktur."

[Paulo · Rating 5 out of 5]

Uma coletânea de textos sobre criatividade.

O autor discorre de forma sucinta sobre como valer-se de sua criatividade, como despertá-la, como fazer uso da mesma.

São textos a respeito de como pessoas obtiveram sua inspiração (sonho, aproveitando uma cultura de bactérias aparentemente contaminada, ...), seguindo-se a cada texto de uma frase e uma sugestão de leitura do próprio livro.

Ao final, pequena bibliografia.

Para quem quer aprender a beber da bibliografia de pessoas famosas, mas não tem tempo de ler muitos livros.

Well, just my 2 cents :-)

[Tony Dúbravec · Rating 3 out of 5]

Kniha ktorá vám rozhodne neponúkne návod ako trénovať a budovať svoju kreativitu. Ide o zbierku random príbehov s pomerne generickým odkazom. Sú to krátke kapitoly, zopár vo mne zarezonovalo, ale čítal som to extrémne dlho, práve preto, že to nedáva žiadne konkrétne tipy a návody, ale väčšinou iba frázy obalené do príbehov známych ľudí. Keby mala 50 alebo 100 strán, taka odovzdá rovnakú hodnotu ako pri 270. Z tejto kategórie určite skôr siahnite po knihách Austina Kleona. Viac k veci, praktickejšie a každú zhltnete za deň.

[Mayush Shrestha · Rating 4 out of 5]

There are many points I loved and highlighted as a reminder. Among them all I really got inspired by
“Don’t be expert on yourself.”

We judge ourselves and draw limitations without even trying to acknowledge what our strength could be.

Secondly, it hit me when the book mentioned “accept rejection”. I don’t dislike criticism or rejection as believe it is motivating. However, rejection are like bad spirit hunting you mostly.

Over all, I got ideas about where I need to being changes and accept my work.

[Nərgiz Kazimova · Rating 4 out of 5]

Kitab insanı yenidən “özünə, öz bacarıqlarına baxmağa” təşfiq edir. Motivasiya xarakterli olduğna görə insanda özünə inamı artırır, kitabda ən çox rəssamlar, yazarlar, musiqiçilər haqqında məlumatlar olmaqla yanaşı biznes sahəsindəki uğurlu (uğursuz) insanlar ( hadisələr) haqqında məlumatların verilməsi kitabı daha da tutumlu edir.

[Dru Williams · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was an enjoyable read because each chapter had a scenario balances with teachings. I won’t remember all of them, but there are some that will make you think differently.

[Mateja ✴ · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ova knjiga je kreativna u svakom smislu te riječi. 😍

[lore · Rating 3 out of 5]

está bien, lo he disfrutado y me ha hecho sentir bien, pero de 100 artistas que nombra ni el 10% son mujeres. triste y poco trabajado

[Magdalena H · Rating 5 out of 5]

Highly enjoyable and thought provoking. Written in short chapters that are meant to be read at leisure and in the order one fancies, which didn't really suit an audiobook format. It was enjoyable to listen to regardless, and I might pick up a physical copy to be able to jump to certain sections and use the book more effectively.

[Sumedha the wordy habitat · Rating 4 out of 5]

loved it.

few criticisms tho:
- examples were of very well-known people, which is a good thing since it drives the point in. but the examples mainly consisted of white men. where are the women? where are the people of colour? i bet they have even more inspiring stories than people born with a silver spoon.
- the writing could have been better. with a little rephrasing , each chapter could have ended with an actionable point instead of a vague conclusion.
- while the examples were interesting, they were too much at times. we don’t need three examples to understand one point, one example works just as well.

overall, not a perfect book. it’s best to see this as one to take inspiration from, take talking points from—whether it is to criticise what’s being said or otherwise.

More on the wordy habitat.

[Will Once · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a "yes, but" review of a "yes, but" sort of book. It's okayish, with flashes of brilliance and patches of ... whatever the opposite of brilliance is.

I'll do the good news first. Rod Judkins clearly knows what he is talking about. He writes well. The little snippets in the book are occasionally inspiring. Most people ought to get one or two "aha!" moments when something just clicks. Good stuff. And if that is what you are looking for, then assume that this is a five star review and go buy the book.

That was the "yes". Here comes the "but".

The format of the book is a little weird. We get a succession of very short chapters, in no particular order, each leading up to a quote from someone famous such as Einstein or Paul McCartney. A little bit of discussion leads to the quote. The quote sort of proves the little bit of discussion. Then we are given a choice of three different continuations. We can continue on to the next section, but we are given two links to other parts of the book. For example, we might be asked to link to one chapter if we agree with the section we've just read and another chapter if we disagree.

This jumping around is a funky idea, but it doesn't quite work. Once you've jumped to somewhere out of sequence, there is no easy way to get back to where you were.

That's not a big problem because you can just ignore the links (as I suspect most people will do) and read the book in the conventional way. This is when we run into problems. The short chapters don't really link together. Some even contradict each other. We are told to have a tidy studio and then along comes Einstein telling us not to have a tidy desk.

The author doesn't do much to try to link the ideas or draw conclusions. He is presenting us with little samples of inspiration and leaving it to us to make something of it. As far as I can tell, that's his teaching method too. He helps people to be creative by putting them in unfamiliar situations which encourages them to find their own solutions. That's a valid approach, but I was hoping for more. I was hoping for more thought about how it all joins up. It was all a bit random.

There was something else that felt a bit odd. The book is all about creativity, but then each section was virtually identical in format to the one before. The links at the end of each section were innovative, even if they didn't quite work, but that was where the innovation stopped. After that it all felt a bit samey.

In the end, reading the book felt like walking along a corridor in some swanky office block where there was one of those "inspirational" posters every few steps. The posters don't tell you what to do. Instead they are meant to be a little nugget of inspiration. You have to do the thinking for yourself.

I suspect that the best way to read this book is in the smallest room of the house. Read a chapter at random first thing in the morning as you are performing your ablutions. There are some good bits here, but this is not as good a book as it could be.

[Chris · Rating 2 out of 5]

If you want to read a book on creative thinking, read this book. Or, don't.
For things I liked about this book, turn to chapter 17829, for things I hated turn to chapter -10.

I'm not sure what I expected from this book, I don't even know how it made it onto my reading list, but I guess I was hoping for less of a 'do this' and more of a 'why you should do this'. The anecdotes read like a self help book, and the chapters focus around points that are either obvious or contradict one another.