The Creative Contrarian

The Creative Contrarian

Author: Roger von Oech

Publisher: John Wiley & Sons

Published: 2021-10-12

Total Pages: 210

ISBN-13: 111984326X

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Tackle your thorniest problems using the Wise Fool’s savvy Strategies! The Wise Fool is the archetypal contrarian known for his creativity, irreverence, and humor. He looks at life in unorthodox ways and pushes back against the status quo. Throughout history, powerful decision-makers (Egyptian pharaohs, Chinese emperors, Persian sultans, and European kings) consulted Wise Fools to question the assumptions that kept them mired in stale and obsolete solutions. In The Creative Contrarian, best-selling author (A Whack on the Side of the Head), speaker, and toy designer (Ball of Whacks) Dr. Roger von Oech provides readers with a fully-illustrated “Wise Fool Guide” to challenge established procedures and engage in creative thinking. Roger shows how to gain the confidence to speak up in “groupthink” situations — and boldly present a different perspective. From laughing at your most beloved ideas to test their validity to adding constraints to problems to reveal new solutions, he offers a framework for creativity that works in business, design, education, and anywhere new ideas are required — and appreciated! Employing a wealth of stories and examples, The Creative Contrarian presents 20 Wise Fool Strategies: Some offer ideas to enhance your creativity (“Reverse Your Perspective,” “Look for Ambiguity,” and “Kiss a Favorite Idea Goodbye”) Some provide tips on how to break away from the herd (“Buck the Crowd,” “Flex Your Risk Muscle,” and “Seek Other Right Answers”) And still others convey prudent warnings in an unpredictable world (“Exercise Humility,” “Imagine Unintended Outcomes,” and “Develop a Thick Skin”) Together, these jewels of insight will help you see things from the Wise Fool’s perspective! As the Wise Fool puts it: “Nothing is more dangerous than an idea when it’s the only one you have”; and “Every ‘right’ idea eventually becomes the ‘wrong’ one.” The Creative Contrarian: 20 “Wise Fool” Strategies to Boost Creativity and Curb Group think is an indispensable resource for anyone seeking fresh solutions to common problems at the office, in the classroom, or at home.


Seven Choices

Seven Choices

Author: Elizabeth Harper Neeld

Publisher: Grand Central Publishing

Published: 2008-12-21

Total Pages: 488

ISBN-13: 044655538X

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Inspiring, profound, intimate, and moving, this updated edition of the classic self-help book brings solace, hope, and advice to anyone who has suffered loss. Everyone experiences grief, but few books offer real help with the debilitating emotions of bereavement. Now, an internationally respected authority on personal change maps the terrain between life as it was and life as it can be. Readers can move at their own pace through the seven distinct phases of loss and can work towards a stronger, more balanced self. The author's own story of the loss of a young husband, combined with the tales of dozens of individuals, and the most recent research on coping with loss, helps readers to become happier, healthier, and wiser beings.


Style Statement

Style Statement

Author: Danielle LaPorte

Publisher: Little, Brown

Published: 2008-12-14

Total Pages: 316

ISBN-13: 0316055603

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Style Statement is an inspiring take on the power of style and authenticity. Deemed "style psychotherapists," Carrie and Danielle are the creators of the Style Statement: a two-word compass that helps you make more confident choices in life -- from your wardrobe to your relationships, your living room to your career plans. Part workbook, part inspirational narrative, Style Statement presents a series of inquiries that lead readers to the personal words that guide the spirit, look and feel of their life. The first word represents your foundation, your 80%. The second word, your 20%, is what motivates and distinguishes you. Via Carrie and Danielle's Lifestyle Map, readers then explore how their own unique Style Statement can generate momentum in every area of their life.


Expect the Unexpected Or You Won't Find It

Expect the Unexpected Or You Won't Find It

Author: Roger von Oech

Publisher: Berrett-Koehler Publishers

Published: 2002-09-02

Total Pages: 212

ISBN-13: 9781576752272

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The bestselling author of ""A Whack on the Side of the Head"" now interprets the aphorisms of Heraclitus as springboards to creativity.


Brain Power: Learn to Improve Your Thinking Skills

Brain Power: Learn to Improve Your Thinking Skills

Author: Karl Albrecht

Publisher: Simon and Schuster

Published: 2009-11-24

Total Pages: 330

ISBN-13: 1439188645

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Do you want to expand your mental power? Think more clearly, logically, and creatively? Improve your memory? Solve problems and make decisions more effectively? Brain Power introduces the six functional thinking abilities you need to become an adaptive, innovative thinker. As you develop your ability to think on your feet, to isolate and arrange facts, and to avoid logical pitfalls you will see how to use creative problem solving strategies, both in business and in private life. With practical exercises to improve your full range of mental capabilities from concentration to intuition, management consultant Karl Albrecht answers all your questions on becoming a more efficient and effective thinking. Offering a gold mine of ideas and techniques to use in most any situation, Brain Power provides fascinating illustrations, games, and puzzles that will stimulate and expand your brain power.


Feck Perfuction

Feck Perfuction

Author: James Victore

Publisher: Chronicle Books

Published: 2019-03-05

Total Pages: 163

ISBN-13: 1452166439

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"James Victore is a dangerous man. His ideas on optimizing your creativity, doing wow work and building a life that inspires will devastate your limits. And show you how to win. Read this book fast." —Robin Sharma, #1 bestselling author of The Monk Who Sold His Ferrari Begin before you're ready. Renowned designer and professional hell-raiser James Victore wants to drag you off your couch and throw you headfirst into a life of bold creativity. He'll guide you through all the twists, trials, and triumphs of starting your creative career, from finding your voice to picking the right moment to start a project (hint: It's now). Bring your biggest, craziest, most revolutionary ideas, and he will give you the kick in the pants you need to make them real. No matter what industry or medium you work in, this book will help you live, work, and create freely and fearlessly. Here are some dangerous ideas: • The things that made you weird as a kid make you great today. • Work is serious play. • Your ego can't dance. • The struggle is everything. • Freedom is something you take. • There ain't no rules. Take a risk. Try them out. Live dangerously. More praise for Feck Perfuction: "In James Victore's new book, he unequivocally proves why he is the master he is. In every chapter, he challenges and inspires the reader to reach for more, to try harder and to create our best selves. It is a magnificent and momentous experience. (All true)." —Debbie Millman, Host Design Matters "James Victore got famous creating tough posters that shook me to the core. He now does the same using the written word. To you." —Stefan Sagmeister, designer


Aha!

Aha!

Author: Jordan Ayan

Publisher: Crown Archetype

Published: 2010-06-30

Total Pages: 262

ISBN-13: 030755418X

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"Aha! is a joyful, upbeat survey of ideas for enhancing creativity. Jordan Ayan's enthusiasm is hard to resist, and every reader will find personally suitable strategies. Aha! is an inspiring yet practical guidebook for freeing the creative spirit." --Betty Edwards, author of Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain "A delightful romp through the rich and complicated field of creativity. Ayan's Aha! is bound to make the reader's thinking more interesting and original." --Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, ph.d., author of Flow: the Psychology of Optimal Experience "The future belongs to those who create it. Jordan Ayan's exceptional book will show you how to create yours by providing the keys to unlock your great ideas." --Daniel Burrus, author of Technotrends and a leading technology forecaster Behind every successful venture, there's a great idea. If you haven't found your great idea yet, or if you've always thought you "just weren't the creative type," Jordan Ayan's accessible and entertaining book will give you the confidence to listen to your own creative spirit and to find the breakthrough you've been waiting for. Based on the notion that creativity is a life skill that must be continually cultivated, Ayan offers ten strategies for finding and harnessing inspiration--wherever and whenever it occurs. His mini workshops will show you how travel, reading, the arts, new technology, journaling, and more can form the basic building blocks of a more creative and rewarding life.


StandOut 2.0

StandOut 2.0

Author: Marcus Buckingham

Publisher: Harvard Business Review Press

Published: 2015-07-14

Total Pages: 229

ISBN-13: 163369075X

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The Groundbreaking Strengths Assessment from the Leader of the Strengths Revolution In the years since the publication of First, Break All the Rules and Now, Discover Your Strengths, millions have come to the simple but powerful realization that to get the most out of people, you must build on their strengths. And yet, as Marcus Buckingham astutely points out, though the strengths-based approach is now conventional wisdom, the tools and systems inside organizations—performance appraisals, training programs, and succession planning systems—remain stubbornly remedial and exclusively focused on measuring skills, finding gaps, and attempting to plug them. It’s a crisis for individuals and organizations, with management ideas and everyday practice utterly out of sync. That’s about to change. StandOut 2.0 is a revolutionary book and tool that enables you to identify your strengths, and those of your team, and act on them. The original edition of StandOut provided top-notch insights from one of the world’s foremost authorities on strengths, as well as access to a powerful, cutting-edge online assessment tool. StandOut 2.0 also includes the assessment and a robust report on your most dominant strengths. The report is easily exported so you can use it to present the very best of yourself to your team and your company. StandOut 2.0 is your indispensable guide for building on your strengths to further your career—and help your team and organization win.