The Idea Book: 1 (Idébok) - Hardcover

Fredrik Härén

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 9197547034 ISBN 13: 9789197547031

Publisher: Interesting Books, 2004

Synopsis

The Idea Book is no ordinary book about ideas: it is a combined book and notebook designed to awaken creativity and help you generate ideas. The book premises that the good ideas do not just appear by themselves and they need to be enticed out. The Idea Book contains 150 episodes about innovative ideas followed by relevant quotations by world s most creative people like Albert Einstein and interspersed with 150 blank pages, for the reader to jot down his own bright ideas. The book hopes to follow the footsteps of Thomas Edison and Leonardo Da Vinci in the habit of writing down all the ideas and evaluating, combining and finally emerging with a bright idea. This hugely successful book has been translated into 9 languages, including English, Japanese and Chinese. Over 150,000 copies have been sold in Sweden alone and also being sold in 40 other countries around the world. The Idea Book serves as a training tool for creativity that is used by hundreds of companies, including HP, Sandvik, Ericsson, Volvo, China Mobile and GE. The Idea Book was ranked No. 4 in the bestselling list of business books at Amazon Japan in 2005, only three months after its publication. Moreover, in July 2008 it was again ranked as the 5th best selling Management Book and 11th best selling non-fiction book on Amazon Japan. Recently it has been selected to be included in an upcoming book about "The best 100 Management Books of all time" to be published in USA 2009. Furthermore, 1% of the Icelandic population got the Idea Book in less than 30 days of its launch in Iceland in 2008!

About this title

Review:

I was rather apprehensive about the contents of this book purely because of the title, as it gave the impression of a book with many suggestions of little practical value. Yet, the lack of frivolity in the cover design and the very subtle silver letters on black for a cover evoked my enthusiasm beyond just curiosity. The Foreword did the trick, it simply convinced me that the book must be read in detail.

At first glance I did not believe that there will be so many management insights in this book. The abundance of these intermixed with family life, people management and the comprehensive coverage of inspiration, innovation, motivation, creativity, etc. make this book a truly valuable asset to the young and the old in every sphere of life. If I reflect on my life s multiple roles and experience as an employee, a manager, a parent, a teacher or an employer; I will begin to realize that this book has catered to each role I have been in. This too, explained through very valuable real life examples, narrated experiences and authoritative statements.

Fredrik has drawn on many examples from international history. Einstein to Jacob he brings to life for the reader their thinking, their curiosity, their enthusiasm, their desire, evoking that interest in the content. I was particularly absorbed in the following two quotes from the book.

Under the curious creature of habit he goes on to explain the human being s desire to repeat, keep a habit. This avoids a newer thinking process taking root. The idea is not necessarily to find a new solution to everyday tasks, but to help identify all the things in life that we do out of pure habit The book states.

Ideamations is a word coined by the writer which has a deep meaning and a meaning that embodies many of our failures. It is the king of apathy, the queen of complacency and the one that makes us renowned ME TOO thinkers!

This is not only a book for reading and absorbing, but it is also given in the style of a work book with blank pages after every episode. His practical approach by the writer enables the reader to jot down thoughts and even go to the extent of writing in a visionary manner on how that what has been printed becomes relevant to the actual reader. This blank paging in the book is an excelled idea, the writer living up to his writings.

The Idea book copiously revolves around innovation, creativity, thinking differently, which is that what makes the book so absorbing and valuable. It will be absorbing to the young and old and valuable to them too. However, the value of this book for managers, particularly those who carry proper corporate responsibilities, will be invaluable. I think management lecturers should make this a compulsory reading material for their students, not purely for its academic value-which is there in abundance, but also its very practical insights value. This makes the book different to many others on similar subjects.

Many debates will continue to identify whether Creativity is more important than Innovation or whether Inspiration is the life blood of Loyalty. These debates and arguments will be healthy for the generation of the thought process and the culmination of best practices. Yet, the value of all these will be seen through the performance of individuals, individuals who will be different, who will leave no stone unturned, who will share and absorb knowledge, who will enthuse others and finally who will be passionate about what they do.

Fredrik Haren, the author is undoubtedly such an individual. He has gathered inspiration from a number of people, used his innovative thinking and creative ability to deliver a book that one cannot resist reading. --Reviewed by Eardley Perera- Sunday Observer

Fredrik Haren, who bills himself as Sweden's most popular creativity lecturer, ha --http://www.innovationtools.com/weblog/innovationblog-detail.asp?ArticleID=867

Fredrik Haren, who bills himself as Sweden's most popular creativity lecturer, has launched an English language version of The Idea Book, a unique, 300-page creative thinking diary that alternates between thoughtful, inspiring essays that are designed to stimulate your creative muse, and blank pages where you can write down your ideas. Here's how Fredrick describes the objective of The Idea Book: --http://www.innovationtools.com/weblog/innovationblog-detail.asp?ArticleID=867

About the Author:

Fredrik Härén is one of the most talked-about names in the field of creativity. He has delivered over 1,000 speeches, lectures and workshops about creativity, idea generation and entrepreneurship to hundreds of organizations in over 20 countries, including Hewlett Packard, American Express, ABB, China Mobile, Nokia, Ericsson, Ogilvy and BIMBA. His speech on YouTube has been viewed more than 120 000 times by Swedish speaking people. Fredrik was listed in the 100 most inspiring people in Sweden 2007 by 'Leva' magazine, Sweden, after evaluating the inspiration that he has delivered so far on creativity. Currently, he is producing a documentary program for Swedish Television and authoring a book on the 'Developing World'. Hence, he has personally interviewed many creative organizations/ people/ Government Bodies in 14 countries including newly developed and developing countries. He has also lived in China for two years conducting seminars for many reputed Chinese organizations. He has blended his knowledge on creativity in the West with the creativity of the East. Fredrik has written five books, including the bestseller The Idea Book .

About this edition

• Publisher: Interesting Books
• Publication date: 2004
• ISBN 10: 9197547034
• ISBN 13: 9789197547031
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 304