Todd Henry's "The Accidental Creative: How to Be Brilliant at a Moment's Notice" (Book Review of the Week-ish / Back to School Beach Reads)

Early in “The Accidental Creative: How to Be Brilliant at a Moment’s Notice”, author Todd Henry quotes Edward de Bono’s maxim, “An idea that is developed and put into action is more important than an idea that exists only as an idea.” Happily, this wonderful volume provides “creatives” with an outstanding plan both for developing and putting ideas into action.

Henry defines “creatives” as anyone “…compensated for the ideas we generate.” I think he’s right. Business today relies upon the continual creation of fresh ideas, regardless of whether those ideas come from marketing, sales, operations or finance. And, while loads of books offer guidelines for creative thinking—including some of our favorites here at Tim Peter Thinks, such as Dan Pink’s “A Whole New Mind”, Seth Godin’s “Poke the Box” and Hugh MacLeod’s “Ignore Everybody”—what separates Henry’s book from the crowd is its focus on practice and process.

Henry draws inspiration from Pasteur’s maxim, “…chance favors the prepared mind” and offers exercises designed to ensure your creative juices flow regularly and repeatedly. He has thought through the diverse demands placed on creative individuals and developed a plan that accounts for those pressures.

Marketing guru Seth Godin—no slouch when it comes to creative thinking—calls “The Accidental Creative”, “Invaluable for anyone who thinks for a living.” I agree. Grab a copy today to prepare your mind for an abundance of fresh ideas and a plan to put those ideas in action.

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