RANDOM THOUGHTS OF A CREATIVE MIND is a collection of all of Hassel's writings that have been submitted literally since grade school to present time, including one short story delivered in a big writing class that scandalized some, left others howling with laughter, and the remainder thinking quietly as they left for home. Her take on life is unique having grown up on a farm doing heavy labor with her father on and around heavy equipment. She is quite a horsewoman, and above all, she would say, "What you see is what you get." Hassel is also a fine painter (see cover art), and a gifted amateur dancer enpointe and modern. Sue Hassel grew up on a farm in Wisconsin, attended the UW, Madison, and then went to Europe. Her mother Elenora was a homemaker (who designed and sewed clothes for friends and family). Her father, Carl was an oil trucker for 41 years, a natural horseman and very gifted and humane in handling horses and all animals. Both parents had 8th grade educations. Both of their lives exceeded their educational levels. Sue has an older sister, Beverly, former Professor of piano at UW, Oshkosh, who is the real pianist in the family. Sue considers herself the hotdog pianist. She has to have fun playing piano, i.e. the virtuoso repertoire. www.suehassel.com
How to Be a Creative Thinker is a map to your creative mind, the places your creative potential resides, and the allies and enemies along the way. It’s a practical guide to the science and the psychology of creativity and the conditions required for cultivating it. We think creativity is for those lucky enough to be born with it – something you either have or you don’t. But this is untrue. Creativity is more than God-given talent, and it’s more than artistic flair. It’s the ability to come up with a new idea in any area or setting. And most importantly, it can be learned by anyone. In How to Be a Creative Thinker, professional creative and strategic designer Roya Azadi teaches you techniques to encourage creative thinking and shows how you can unlock your creative potential. She reveals that technology is inhibiting our ability to daydream and explains why this headspace is so important if you want to ‘catch a live one’. You’ll learn to not fear failure by understanding that it’s actually fertile ground for creativity. Throughout the book there are interviews, quotes, explainers and activities to inspire creative thought along the way. By the end of the book, you’ll be bubbling with creative force to take out into the world and make real change. The Survive the Modern World series tackles big subjects in a fun and digestible way. The tone is frank and chatty, but the content is comprehensive. Upskill and expand your knowledge with these accessible pocket guides. 'The hardest part of being creative lies in simply deciding to do so. And, after you've done that, Roya's astonishingly useful book is a great place to begin.' Seth Godin, author of The Practice.
Random Thoughts is a collection of fifteen essays in literary criticism, some revised, improved and reprinted, and others in print for the first time. These essays are the outcome of the author’s intensive reading and revaluation of a wide variety of Indian, British, African, Singaporean and Pakistani writers and their works in English. Ranging from William Shakespeare to Rabindranath Tagore, from Edward Said to Salman Rushdie, from Chinua Achebe to Edwin Thumboo, from Shiv K. Kumar to K. N. Daruwalla, from Shashi Deshpande to Cyrus Mistry, they are the evidence of exercises in critical intelligence. In addition, there are essays focused on the nature and function of transparency in autobiography, theoretical perceptions about the author-text relationship, Indian feminism, Indian English children’s literature, the Buddhist vision in English literature, and Pakistani poetry in English. The book, thus, addresses the works of different literary genres – poetry, fiction, drama, memoir, and translation – sensitively and with a freshness of approach. Since these writers mostly figure in the university syllabi in India and abroad, the book is a valuable contribution to the body of literary criticism, and is especially useful for students, teachers, researchers and readers with an interest in English literature.
This second edition of The Creative Mind has been updated to include recent developments in artificial intelligence, with a new preface, introduction and conclusion by the author.
A simple, direct manual for understanding the nature of the universe and the creative power of the mind, this classic explains how "right thinking" can help achieve independence and prosperity.
Questioning everything we know about the childhood predictors of adult greatness, a cognitive psychologist, who was told as a child that he wasn't smart enough to graduate from high school, explores the latest research to uncover the truth about human potential.
When BIC, manufacturer of disposable ballpoint pens, wanted to grow, it looked for an idea beyond introducing new sizes and ink colors. Someone suggested lighters. LIGHTERS? With an idea that seemed crazy at first, that bright executive, instead of seeing BIC as a pen company—a business in the PEN “box”—figured out that there was growth to be found in the DISPOSABLE “box.” And he was right. Now there are disposable BIC lighters, razors, even phones. The company opened its door to a host of opportunities. IT INVENTED A NEW BOX. Your business can, too. And simply thinking “out of the box” is not the answer. True ingenuity needs structure, hard analysis, and bold brainstorming. It needs to start THINKING IN NEW BOXES —a revolutionary process for sustainable creativity from two strategic innovation experts from The Boston Consulting Group (BCG). To make sense of the world, we all rely on assumptions, on models—on what Luc de Brabandere and Alan Iny call “boxes.” If we are unaware of our boxes, they can blind us to risks and opportunities. This innovative book challenges everything you thought you knew about business creativity by breaking creativity down into five steps: • Doubt everything. Challenge your current perspectives. • Probe the possible. Explore options around you. • Diverge. Generate many new and exciting ideas, even if they seem absurd. • Converge. Evaluate and select the ideas that will drive breakthrough results. • Reevaluate. Relentlessly. No idea is a good idea forever. And did we mention Reevaluate? Relentlessly. Creativity is paramount if you are to thrive in a time of accelerating change. Replete with practical and potent creativity tools, and featuring fascinating case studies from BIC to Ford to Trader Joe’s, Thinking in New Boxes will help you and your company overcome missed opportunities and stay ahead of the curve. This book isn’t a simpleminded checklist. This is Thinking in New Boxes. And it will be fun. (We promise.) Praise for Thinking in New Boxes “Excellent . . . While focusing on business creativity, the principles in this book apply anywhere change is needed and will be of interest to anyone seeking to reinvent herself.”—Blogcritics “Thinking in New Boxes is a five-step guide that leverages the authors’ deep understanding of human nature to enable readers to overcome their limitations and both imagine and create their own futures. This book is a must-read for people living and working in today’s competitive environment.”—Ray O. Johnson, Ph.D., chief technology officer, Lockheed Martin “Thinking In New Boxes discusses what I believe to be one of the fundamental shifts all companies/brands need to be thinking about: how to think creatively, in order to innovate and differentiate our brands. We need to thrive and lead in a world of accelerating change and this book challenges us to even greater creativity in our thinking. One of the best business books I’ve read in a long time.”—Jennifer Fox, CEO, Fairmont Hotels & Resorts “As impressive as teaching new tricks to old dogs, Thinking in New Boxes is both inspirational and practical—a comprehensive, step-by-step guide to sharpening one’s wits in order to harness creativity in the workplace.”—Peter Gelb, general manager, Metropolitan Opera
IDEO founder and Stanford d.school creator David Kelley and his brother Tom Kelley, IDEO partner and the author of the bestselling The Art of Innovation, have written a powerful and compelling book on unleashing the creativity that lies within each and every one of us. Too often, companies and individuals assume that creativity and innovation are the domain of the "creative types." But two of the leading experts in innovation, design, and creativity on the planet show us that each and every one of us is creative. In an incredibly entertaining and inspiring narrative that draws on countless stories from their work at IDEO, the Stanford d.school, and with many of the world's top companies, David and Tom Kelley identify the principles and strategies that will allow us to tap into our creative potential in our work lives, and in our personal lives, and allow us to innovate in terms of how we approach and solve problems. It is a book that will help each of us be more productive and successful in our lives and in our careers.
