Crash Course in Creativity (Crash Course Series) - Softcover

Clegg, Brian; Birch, Paul

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0749438339 ISBN 13: 9780749438333

Publisher: Kogan page, 2002

Synopsis

An easy-to-use work of improving creativity fast suitable for individuals or as part of a group. Split into 30 units, this <i>Crash Course in Creativity</i> is designed to be manageable in spare time. The free CD-ROM contains additional techniques and exercises, together with interactive Web links.

About this title

About the Authors

<p>Brian Clegg is a journalist and creativity consultant. He is a well known writer both in traditional media and on the World Wide Web. He worked at British Airways for 17 years. In 1984 became one of the airline's first PC programmers. While at BA he developed a considerable interest in business creativity.<br><br> Brian left the airline to established himself as a freelance writer and set up Creativity Unleashed Limited (www.cul.co.uk), a company specialising in consultancy on business creativity and computer usability. He is a regular contributor to PC Week, Personal Computer World, Computer Weekly and the internet-based magazine, V3. and consultant. He can be contacted on email at brian@cul.co.uk<br><br> Recent books have included <i>Instant Time Management</i> (Kogan Page) and an exploration of mankind's enduring fascination with light: Light Years.</p>

Paul Birch is a change and creativity consultant and trainer. One of his previous roles was that of 'Corporate Jester' at British Airways -- an internal consultant who challenges and provokes at all levels of the organisation. A well-known author, he has also written <i>Instant Leadership</i> and co-authored <i>Instant Teamwork</i> and <i>Instant Creativity</i> in the Kogan Page <i>Instant</i> series.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

<p>Introduction<br><br> 1. Getting the basics<br><br> Why creativity?<br><br> Creativity primer<br><br> Culture<br><br> Techniques<br><br> Personal development<br><br> Mental energy<br><br> Fun<br><br> 2. Work plan<br><br> Introducing the course<br><br> Checklist<br><br> 3. The course<br><br> Unit 1: A taster<br><br> Unit 2: Getting to know you - loosening up a new group<br><br> Unit 3: Clarifying the problem - just what are you trying to do?<br><br> Unit 4: Challenging assumptions - thinking differently about a problem to understand it better<br><br> Unit 5: Good vibrations - positive thinking<br><br> Unit 6: New 'how to's - getting different cuts at the problem<br><br> Unit 7: Incremental creativity - step change techniques<br><br> Unit 8: Distortion - idea generation techniques that modify the nature of the problem<br><br> Unit 9: Pure energy - injecting oomph<br><br> Unit 10: Seeking knowledge - building a personal knowledge base to feed creativity<br><br> Unit 11: Seeing it differently - looking at solutions through different eyes<br><br> Unit 12: A swift kick - random stimuli to generate a new starting point<br><br> Unit 13: Looking somewhere else - taking a look beyond the obvious<br><br> Unit 14: Simple fun - laughter makers<br><br> Unit 15: Breakdown - techniques that break down a problem into components<br><br> Unit 16: Touchy-feely - generating ideas using right-brain activities<br><br> Unit 17: Natural input - using nature and science as tools to generate ideas<br><br> Unit 18: Memories are made of this - memory techniques<br><br> Unit 19: Strange translations - generating ideas from misunderstanding<br><br> Unit 20: Creative comms - stimulating new approaches by forcing different modes of communication<br><br> Unit 21: Going green - environmental techniques to enhance creativity<br><br> Unit 22: Spatial thinking - right-brain group sessions<br><br> Unit 23: Selection techniques - which idea is best?<br><br> Unit 24: Changing group dynamics - more energy and fun<br><br> Unit 25: Refinement techniques - polishing up your ideas<br><br> Unit 26: Knowledge expansion - more techniques to help personal knowledge management<br><br> Unit 27: Spock rules - logic exercises to challenge the brain<br><br> Unit 28: Making it happen - techniques to expedite implementation<br><br> Unit 29: Right-brain teamwork - more exercises to encourage groups to engage the right brain<br><br> Unit 30: Mental workout - personal creativity exercises<br><br> 4. Review<br><br> Pulling it together<br><br> Collected reading list<br><br> Appendix<br><br> Random words<br><br> People for 'Someone else's view'<br><br> Techniques with high Culture ratings<br><br> Techniques with high Techniques ratings<br><br> Techniques with high Personal development ratings<br><br> Techniques with high Mental energy ratings<br><br> Techniques with high Fun ratings<br><br> Techniques suited to stage 1 - understanding the problem<br><br> Techniques suited to stage 2 - generating ideas<br><br> Techniques suited to stage 3 - selection and refinement<br><br> Techniques suited to stage 4 - planning for selling and implementation</p>

Edition details

• Publisher: Kogan page
• Publication date: 2002
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0749438339
• ISBN 13: 9780749438333
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 253