With over 250,000 copies sold and translations in five languages, What a Great Idea! 2.0 is a proven guide to unlocking creativity. In this fully updated edition, author Chic Thompson draws on his entrepreneurial successes working with leading innovative companies like Disney and W.L. Gore.
Yoshiro Nakamatsu, inventor of the CD, Floppy Disk, and digital watch, described Chic as "a creative genius." In 2001, Harvard Business School released a case study on Thompson's career.
Whether you're looking to develop new products, overcome bureaucratic hurdles, or inject more creativity into your life, What a Great Idea! 2.0 provides the tools and wisdom you need.
- Cultivate an idea-friendly mindset.
- Defuse “Yes, BUT” thinking with “Yes, AND” to empower ideation.
- Overcome mental blocks like gaslighting yourself, catastrophizing, and negative self-talk.
- Generate ideas others miss by reframing problems and finding hidden opportunities.
- Ask “What if?” questions to spark connections and visualize with analogies.
- Create “Smash-ups” by combining, unlike concepts.
- Think in opposites and extremes outside your comfort zone.
- Let your ideas flow through DIY brainstorming.
- Learn techniques for evaluating, prioritizing, and de-risking concepts through quick prototyping and smart pivoting.
- Master compelling narrative and visual pitches.
- Sustain your creative capacity through brain exercises and overcoming mental blocks.
- Absorb wisdom from illuminating interviews like Dr. Yoshiro Nakamatsu, the “Edison of Japan.”
Unlock your creative potential with What a Great Idea! 2.0. Develop the skills to see what others don't, make connections where none existed, and bring imaginative ideas to life.
Chic Thompson's passion is inspiring executives, MBA students and children to be "curious first... critical second" while creative problem solving. He is a Fellow at the University of Virginia's Darden Business School and adjunct faculty at the Brookings Institution and the Young Presidents' Organization. Chic's first book, What a Great Idea!, published by HarperCollins, was a main selection of the Executive Book Club. In 2001, Harvard Business School released a case study on the speaking career of Chic entitled "What a Great Idea!." His second book, "Yes, But..." is a guide to overcoming the bureaucratic language that stifles continuous innovation. He wrote this book after consulting with GE to help design their continuous improvement process called "Work-Out." Chic worked in new product development and marketing for: - W.L. Gore and Associates (Gore-Tex(R)) - Johnson & Johnson - Walt Disney During the last 30 years, Chic has given over 4500 presentations and has teamed up with talent ranging from Tony Robbins and Stephen Covey to Cirque du Soleil and Second City Improv.