The Creative Mindset: Mastering the Six Skills That Empower Innovation

by Jeff Degraff, Staney Degraff

"Jeff and Staney emphasize that small acts of creativity can have huge consequences and that ordinary people can do extraordinary things if they can see the opportunities in front of them."
--Mitch Jacobson, Executive Director, Austin Technology Incubator, UT Blackstone LaunchPad, University of Texas at Austin

Nearly all of today's major innovation workshops and programs call on organizations to drive innovation. What they miss is that innovation comes from the personal creativity of individuals. And creativity doesn't require an advanced education or technical skills--all employees can be creative. Often, all they lack is a fitting mindset and the right skills.

The Creative Mindset brings how-to advice, tools, and techniques from two master innovators who have taught and worked with over half of all Fortune 500 companies. Jeff and Staney DeGraff introduce six essential creative-thinking skills that can be easily mastered with limited practice and remembered as the acronym Concentrate, Replicate, Elaborate, Associate, Translate, and Evaluate. These six skills, sequenced as steps, simplify and summarize the most important research on creative thinking and draw on over thirty years of real-world application in some of the most innovative organizations in the world.

It's time to rethink the way we make innovation happen. Individual creativity is an immense untapped resource, and you don't have to be Beethoven to make a big difference. As the spirit of chef Gusteau proclaims in the Pixar classic Ratatouille , "Anyone can cook."

Genres: Business, Self Help, Nonfiction, Audiobook

168 pages, Paperback

Published September 29, 2020

About the author

Jeff DeGraff is the Professor of Management and Organizations at the Ross School of Business at the University of Michigan. He teaches MBA, EMBA, BBA, and Executive Education courses on leading creativity, innovation and change. Jeff’s research and writing focuses on innovation strategy, change and innovation competency development, creativity and innovation practices and methods, creativity communities and innovation networks, and leadership development.

He is an author and co-author of the books Innovation You, Creativity at Work: Developing the Right Practices to Make Innovation Happen, Leading Innovation: How to Jumpstart Your Company’s Growth Engine and Competing Values Leadership: Creating Value in Organizations. His book, Making Stone Soup, is a finalist for several book awards. In his newest book Innovation Code: The Creative Power of Constructive Conflict, he argues that diversity of thoughts is an essential to innovation. He urges everyone to practice constructive dialogue and work in diverse teams to find hybrid solutions and develop unique approaches to solve difficult problems. In “The Creative Mindset: Mastering the Six Skills that Empower Innovation,” he and his wife, Staney, give all readers practical techniques and tools to be creative. It will be published in September 2020.

Jeff’s mission is “the democratization of innovation.” He brings innovation to everyone, every day and everywhere through his books, his public television program (Innovation You), columns (Inc.) and radio program (The Next Idea). His articles and thought leadership on contemporary business matters have been covered by Business Week, US News and World Report and the Wall Street Journal, to name a few.

Jeff’s client list reads as a ‘who’s who’ within the world of innovators, including, among many others, General Electric, Coca-Cola, American College of Surgeons, and Google. In working with these prominent firms, he has developed a broad array of widely used change and innovation methodologies and tools. Jeff’s creative and direct take on making innovation really happen have made him a world renowned thought leader and have prompted his clients and colleagues to dub him as The Dean of Innovation.

Jeff is a Managing Partner of Innovatrium, an innovation center and consulting practice that specializes in helping organizations make change and innovation happen. He serves as an advisor to think tanks and governments. He has worked all over the world, with significant experience in Europe and Asia, and in most industry and market segments.

Jeff was a member of the executive team at Domino’s Pizza when it was one of the fastest growing businesses in the world in the 1980’s. He holds a Ph.D. from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

For more information visit www.jeffdegraff.com.

Reviews

[Pauline Reid · Rating 5 out of 5]

Listened to as an audiobook, definitely a good one for Indie Authors.

[Martin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Jeff and Staney DeGraff’s “The Creative Mindset” is many books in one: a business tool, a textbook, a self-help tome, a synthesis of the authors’ many years devoted to studying innovation, and a friendly guide for the perplexed. At least superficially, it shares attributes with many similar books, though mercifully at maybe half the word count. There are, in this case, six skills to master, a useful mnemonic or two, a rich store of case studies, and an array of useful grids and worksheets to help readers analyze their own situations or projects in a more creative light. Not all will work for everyone, but most will work for someone. Personal anecdotes from the authors, well-chosen references to Plato, Nietzsche and Steve Jobs, and more than a sprinkling of humor - examining how toothbrushes could be designed better by comparing them to sheepdogs, for example - make "The Creative Mindset" sparkle in a different way too, though. A common factor in the techniques the DeGraffs recommend for thinking more creatively is the importance of learning to look at problems and their contexts as though for the first time. This may entail embracing the discomfort caused by others’ dissenting views, reframing one's own choices in a disorienting way, or seeking insights in the small, everyday things - impediments or miracles - that one takes for granted or, through habit, no longer sees. It boils down to seeing oneself, and hence one’s own possibilities, anew. In writing a business book that at first glance might look like many others, Jeff and Staney DeGraff have also published a blueprint for finding prosperity of a far broader, richer kind.

[Lisa · Rating 5 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book and think it had excellent exercises to help people be more creative. The authors say creativity is teachable, and I would agree people in general could learn to be more creative. In the business world, creativity isn’t always appreciated, but when people are allowed to “think outside the box” great things can happen. We tend to think of creativity as something people are born with, great artists, great musicians, great authors, but that’s limiting what creativity is all about. It really is learning how to look and think about things differently. The book explains what the authors call “the creative mindset.” They cleverly use CREATE to explain the six skills of creativity: Clarify, replicate, elaborate, associate, translate, and evaluate. They do a fabulous job of explaining various exercises you can use that help you look at things differently to solve problems and to innovate. The techniques are very detailed and they include examples to show how the process works. Many of the techniques explained I’ve actually used and I know they work. The skills can be used in your personal and professional lives, which to me makes it more valuable. One final thing, there were no typographical or grammatical errors, and I want to give the authors a shout out for that. It’s so rare, today, and should be praised. I received an ARC for review.

[Gabriela · Rating 3 out of 5]

6/10
It was kinda interesting, but I didn't learn too much. I think I'm to creative for this book.

[Jeff · Rating 3 out of 5]

Great summary of the applied creativity literature, but nothing new or original. Still, a nice repository of knowledge for the novice.

[Dr. Byron Ernest · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sometimes I believe we need to eliminate the word “innovation” from our vocabulary because we inhibit deep innovation by skipping the more important “being creative.” This book reminds us and guides us through practical and everyday creativity. We are also reminded that achieving a creative mindset is possible for everyone and what we need to do is simple - approach the world with a sense of childlike wonder.

I’m not going to talk about all six skills covered in the book, because I want you to read it, but as a person who leads and works by metaphors and analogies I found the guide of the skill “Associate - Connecting Ideas With Analogies” extremely helpful. By using the associating techniques of direct analogies, personal analogies, symbolic analogies, and fantasy analogies we can reverse analogies, use idea bridges, and use adaptive reasoning to tap into our creative mindset.

This then leads to the other skill that provided a great deal of personal growth for me: “Translate: Creating Stories From Ideas.” We are reminded in this part of the book that for us to translate creativity to innovations we must have all key stakeholders as a part of the process. A case study is used to describe how just leaving one stakeholder outbid the project caused a wildly creative and successful innovation to fail.

If you want to become a leader with a fully honed creative mindset who enables that same creative mindset in those you serve, you must read this book. Your first step to accelerating down the runway of your creativity taking off is to make this book a part of your personal growth plan.

[Brenda Yoho · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an excellent book! I have enjoyed reading it and thinking about how educators can enhance classrooms to not only provide children with a growth mindset but a creative one too! Innovation is a word we often hear in the education world. “To learn to innovate, we need to learn to be creative. To become creative, we need first to develop our creative mindset and learn various tools and techniques to enhance our creative skills.”
Lots of great information, guidance, resources and support! Well done!

[Mike · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is an easy a great reading that allows us to apply six skills to develop a creative mindset, that will help us to create products, services, work of art, and solutions. What I loved is nor that only explains the skills but the book includes examples templates and invites you to activate your creativity by doing the exercises.

#creativitymindset

[Paiman Chen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Clarify
Replicate
Elaborate
Associate
Translate
Evaluate

[Lisa Kosak · Rating 5 out of 5]

Often when we think of creativity, we think of artists, performers, or zany entrepreneurs on YouTube. We all have inner creativity that is bursting to come out. I am a banker and unbelievably, we can be creative and fun!

Doing the unexpected with innovation and creativity is where so many technologies, products, and work styles have originated. Often, the results of creativity and innovation are not intentional. They just happen.

Jeff and Staney Degraff’s new book The Creative Mindset – Mastering the Six Skills that Empower Innovation introduces us to how to jump-start innovation along with creativity in your employees and how to push it throughout the entire company. As leaders, we must harness the creativity of our teams by inviting them to speak up, take risks, and be involved in innovative initiatives.
The Creative Mindset shares six creative thinking skills for teams. They are easy to understand, commit to, and put into practice. The key is to understanding creativity is coming up with a great idea and motivating others to join.

Here are the six essential Creative Thinking Skills, CREATE, that can be mastered and used.

1. Clarify: Understanding and communicating the challenge at hand
2. Replicate: Mimic and reapply new ideas
3. Elaborate: Add new alternative ideas and adding depth
4. Associate: Connect ideas with analogies to help others understand a concept and where we are headed
5. Translate: Stories are priceless and help drive ideas home. Create stories from ideas
6. Evaluate: Constantly and consistently select the best ideas so they fit team expectations and everyone is on the same page.

The Degraff’s do an outstanding job of clarifying the six pieces of CREATE. They offer stories, real business situations, and worksheets for the reader to understand concepts and put them into play. Each of the six variables are reinforced with a “practice” including techniques, charts, and visuals. Better yet, they challenge us to engage with a “now it’s your turn” opportunity. Using these tools alone brings all the CREATE concepts together for practical use.

We all have a creative mindset; we just need to activate it. It is simply a state of mind and a new manner of consistent thinking. The process transforms an idea into something more impactful, useful, and innovative. As a creative leader, you will find yourself hungry for change, in tune with client needs and thoughts; feel globally integrated, disruptive for positive change, and being genuine, not just generous.

We live in a fast-paced global marketplace. As leaders, we have a responsibility to reject boundaries and old ways of doing business. To thrive we need to change our mindset and of those, we lead. Creativity and innovation can be learned. It is up to you how you are going to infuse it throughout your organization. The Creative Mindset is a great source to explore the possibilities.

[Louis Prosperi · Rating 5 out of 5]

The first sentence of THE CREATIVE MINDSET (in the book's Preface) is a question: "Do we really need another book about creativity?". My answer to this question will always be a resounding "Yes", but after reading this book, my answer would be "Yes, and more like this one please."

In this book, innovation experts Jeff and Staney DeGraff offer useful and practical insights on how to develop and nurture creative ideas using six skills: Clarify, Replicate, Elaborate, Associate, Translate, and Evaluate. Together, these skills form the CREATE model, a process through which we can hone and sharped our creative ideas. The authors provide practical approaches for applying each of the six skills, including well known approaches such as SCAMPER, Edward de Bono's Six Thinking Hats, and Storyboards, along with other lesser known creative techniques such as copying nature (biomimicry), using random words to create unexpected associations between ideas, adaptive reasoning, and morphologies. In addition, every chapter includes real-world examples of these techniques in practice, as well as useful guidelines for how to apply these skills to creative problems of different types, and templates for applying them to your own ideas.

I have only a couple of minor quibbles with this book. First, none of the examples include the names of the businesses or organizations they reference. I would have preferred to be able to place names to the organizations they cite. Second, the templates in the book, while helpful, are far too small to be of practical use. I wish there were downloadable versions of the templates in each chapter available online.

I strongly recommend this to anyone interested in developing their creative skills.

[Jason Watkins · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is book serves both as a guide and a workbook to spark the creative force behind innovation. The six step taxonomy I think is relatively useful, easy to remember and easy to implement. Appreciate the length of this book as well(it’s short) as many authors in this space tend to drag on unnecessarily explanations to drive their sub-points home, losing the reader in the process. Degraff’s creative process concept seems almost intuitive—but dare I say to break out of intuition, one should revisit these steps—that’s definitely the strength of going through the motions here. I definitely see the value of Degraff’s process of defamiliarization—a dire requirement for innovators to achieve serendipitous breakthroughs.

What’s missing, or what I wanted more of perhaps: how might a leader build on, strengthen, and inculcate a creative mindset culture especially in a resource constrained environment? How might we overcome “innovation fatigue”?

[Alireza Hejazi · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book states that creativity is a state of mind and can be learned through six skills. DeGraffs believe that it is possible to shape a creative mindset in every individual by nurturing these skills: clarification, replication, elaboration, association, translation, and evaluation. These skills ignite creativity in the learners’ minds and enable them to acquire the degree of innovation they need to shape their lives and careers in new ways. The Creative Mindset attempts to communicate this message to the readers: being creative in small ways can have big consequences. Small creative inspirations can join and generate innovations that transform the ways we live and work. This book is helpful to everyone interested in learning creativity and applying innovative thinking.

[Kaitlyn Lockmiller · Rating 4 out of 5]

I express creativity typically through art, programming, and through user experience design work. I have a bachelor's in computer science and a master's in user experience so I felt intrigued to read this book to help my creative process in my personal and professional life.

As someone who has experienced quite a few design and engineering classes, I thought the initial phases of clarify and replicate were very familiar ideas to me. in the elaborate, associate, and translate stages offered a lot of good brainstorming and thinking strategies I look forward to trying. the evaluate phase also felt a little basic in theory but I like the detail it went into.

[Farhana Faruq · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is really good, but not for me. I'm already in the creative field, and so a lot of what was mentioned is what I'd consider "brain storming" ..however, I really like how it was all broken down. I think anyone (everyone) who's looking to start a business (in any field) or those who just what to push what they're doing a little further should read this book.

This is a 5 hour audio, but I highly suggest getting a hard copy so you can go through all the steps slowly and then easily go back to reference them.

[Jim · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Creative Mindset provides a step by step guide for anyone to use who desires or is working at becoming more creative. The text is written in an easy-to-follow manner providing concrete examples and the tools to put into practice to use in your creative journey. Recommend this book to anyone who is feeling stuck or uncreative.

[Azjargal (Azaa) Gankhuyag · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am exploring different types of strategies to stay creative, this book is pragmatic and includes at least 5 exercises to try to apply the theoretical knowledge explained in the book. As I am new to the topic and techniques mentioned really helped to grasp the idea. Also, it is neatly structured and shorter, so easy to read.

[Gladys Lopez · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5⭐️ for the audiobook.

It would have been way better if I have read the book instead of listening the audiobook while traveling. The charts are difficult to understand and as it’s a practical books sometimes is better to watch the charts than hear them.

Anyway, spark some ideas 🙃

[Kristy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good information

Workbook heavy, which I didn't love. It did offer good insights on creativity, which I appreciate. Will have to read a summarized version again - the constant worksheets were a distraction for me.

[Aaron · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a book for those who are inventors, business executives, and people wanting to expand upon their current careers.