Alan J. Rowe

Uncovering Innovative Work Place Potential

Creativity is power. The author makes a compelling case that in today’s complex and chaotic environment, it is essential to solve what increasingly seems like the unsolvable.

The author, an emeritus USC professor of management, breaks his treatment of creativity into four parts:

1. Learning to harness your creative intelligence.
2. Exploring opportunities to apply your creativity.
3. Helping others recognize and use their creativity.
4. Creating open environments to support creative endeavors.

To me the most practical part of the book is a test instrument which identifies a person’s creative potential. The 25-question test determines the taker’s aptitude for the four basic creative styles:

1. Innovative
2. Imaginative
3. Intuitive
4. Inspirational

With the problems facing business and society, it is surprising more effort is not made to identify and encourage creative thinkers and thinking.

Oliver Wendell Holmes once said, “A mind that is stretched to a new idea never returns to its original dimensions.”

Given the number and depth of the problems facing humankind, it is surprising to me that we continually resort to the same, worn-out and tired solutions.… (mais)