The Art of Creative Thinking : 89 Ways to See Things Differently

An inspiration-sparking look at creativity, featuring brief examples of artists, writers, and innovators who have broken the mold. In succinct and engaging entries, Rod Judkins, a lecturer at the world-famous Central Saint Martin's College of Art, collects inspiring examples of creative thinkers throughout history, showing how we can all learn from them to improve our lives and our work. The Art of Creative Thinking presents an extraordinary array of examples, from the Dada Manifesto and Andy Warhol's Factory to the films of Ed Wood and the catwalks of Alexander McQueen, along with many others. Readers will learn about the most successful class in educational history (in which every student won a Nobel Prize), how frozen peas were invented, and why 95 percent of Apocalypse Now ended up on the cutting-room floor. Takeaways include: - Be stubborn about compromise. - Plan to have more accidents. - Be mature enough to be childish. - Contradict yourself more often. From the Trade Paperback edition. Read more... Abstract: An inspiration-sparking look at creativity, featuring brief examples of artists, writers, and innovators who have broken the mold. In succinct and engaging entries, Rod Judkins, a lecturer at the world-famous Central Saint Martin's College of Art, collects inspiring examples of creative thinkers throughout history, showing how we can all learn from them to improve our lives and our work. The Art of Creative Thinking presents an extraordinary array of examples, from the Dada Manifesto and Andy Warhol's Factory to the films of Ed Wood and the catwalks of Alexander McQueen, along with many others. Readers will learn about the most successful class in educational history (in which every student won a Nobel Prize), how frozen peas were invented, and why 95 percent of Apocalypse Now ended up on the cutting-room floor. Takeaways include: - Be stubborn about compromise. - Plan to have more accidents. - Be mature enough to be childish. - Contradict yourself more often. From the Trade Paperback edition Get ready to get inspired In short and engaging entries, this deceptively simple volume presents examples of creative thinkers from the worlds of writing, music, architecture, painting, technology, and more, shedding light on their process, and showing how each of us can learn from them to improve our lives and our work. Subjects range from the grueling practice schedule of the Beatles and the relentless revisions of Tolkien, Sondheim, and Picasso to the surprisingly slapdash creation of The Simpsons. You’ll learn about the most successful class in history (in which every student won a Nobel Prize), how frozen peas were invented, why J.K. Rowling likes to write in cafes, and how 95 percent of Apocalypse Now ended up on the cutting-room floor. Takeaways include: - Doubt everything all the time. - Plan to have more accidents. - Be mature enough to be childish. - Contradict yourself more often. - Be practically useless. - If it ain’t broke, break it. - Surprise yourself. - Look forward to disappointment. - Be as incompetent as possible.