« November 2007 | Main | January 2008 »
After our recent presentation at CanUX 2007, Kes sat down with Qixing Zheng (UX Advisor, Microsoft Canada) to talk about creativity and ThinkCube. You can hear a podcast of their conversation on the MSDN Canadian User Experience Blog. The audio is embedded in a Silverlight podcast player. If you can’t see the player, you probably need to download the Silverlight 1.0 plug-in.
Kes and I are HUGE Aaron Sorkin fans. If you aren't familiar with Sorkin, he's a
playwright, producer, and screenwriter probably most well known for the
NBC series The West Wing. He has a new show on Broadway called The Farnsworth Invention.
Just as the name implies, it's a story of invention. It's the familiar story of a savvy businessman who gets all the glory for some unknown engineer's idea.
Just a few weeks back I posted An
idea is only an idea until...
which talks about the same underlying theme. Sometimes the original inventor is robbed of due credit, and other times without the right application, market, marketing, the idea is simply just an idea. It will be interesting to research the history before seeing the play and then see which angle Sorkin takes on the story.
Needless to say, our tickets have been purchased. This age old story at the hands of Sorkin has to be a winner.
Kes and I recently spent a few days in the Canadian Rocky Mountains (Banff, AB) where we interacted with a group of User Experience folks at the 2007 CanUX conference. Here's the presentation we delivered:
The participants came up with a wide range of ideas, some that we loved so much we might just use when we're ready to expand and start hiring!
Keith Sawyer: Group Genius: The Creative Power of Collaboration
Group Genius: The Creative Power of CollaborationThere have been a few books recently that have challenged the commonly held beliefs and myths of innovation. Keith Sawyer; professor of psychology at Washington University in St Louis; tackles probably the most prevalent innovation myth, the lone genius. He has written a fascinating book on the power of collaboration and how it is the secret to breakthrough creativity.
I would highly recommend this book for anyone interested innovation and wants a practical framework for infusing an innovative culture throughout their company. This is by no means a simple `how to' book, it is far more. Great writing, great ideas and if you act upon it you will get great results!! (*****)
David Weinberger: Everything Is Miscellaneous: The Power of the New Digital Disorder
Everything Is Miscellaneous: The Power of the New Digital Disorder
If you enjoyed any of Weinberger’s previous books (Cluetrain Manifesto, Small Pieces Loosely Joined) you will not be disappointed. This is a pleasure to read and will make you think – my two most important attributes when it comes to books. I would highly recommend this book to anyone interested in information and the current trends on the internet. Weinberger has been right on the money with his observations of the internet and this book is no different; organizing information in the age of the internet is an important subject. Read why there is more to information than search alone. (*****)
Jessica Livingston: Founders at Work: Stories of Startups' Early Days
Founders at Work: Stories of Startups' Early Days
Jessica Livingston has written an amazing book. If you want to read the stories behind some of the most well known software companies in the last 30 years, you will find it in this book. But Livingston hasn’t just covered the usual suspects (Google, Microsoft), she has included a diverse collection from Steve Wozniak (Apple) to David Heinemeier Hansson (37 Signals), Dan Bricklin (Visicalc) to Blake Ross (Firefox). It covers a lot of ground from the early 80’s software boom to the Web 2.0 starts ups. But there is more than just stories about starting companies, there is real advice from the frontline trenches of software start-ups. Keep your post-it notes and highlighter handy, if you are like me you will be annotating and highlighting a lot! (*****)
Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi: Creativity: Flow and the Psychology of Discovery and Invention
Creativity: Flow and the Psychology of Discovery and Invention
Csikszentmihalyi's has studied creative people from all walks of life and condensed his findings into this book. The analysis into common patterns, styles and approaches of creative people is fascinating. This is not a quick how-to book, but you will gain many insights into the creative process. (*****)
Andrew Hargadon: How Breakthroughs Happen: The Surprising Truth About How Companies Innovate
How Breakthroughs Happen: The Surprising Truth About How Companies Innovate
This is book looks to answer the question, "Can Innovation really be routine?" This book not only answers that questions but actually gets into the details of "How". The title of the book is "How Breakthroughs Happen" and Hargadon definitely successfully explains the `How'. He doesn't proclaim that it is easy, but he does give a road map of how to achieve innovation through technology brokering, he even explains the different paths that apply to different types of companies.
If you truly want to create an innovation factory, you should read this book and then apply what it teaches you. (*****)
Scott Berkun: The Myths of Innovation
The Myths of Innovation
The book is a fun read, and Scott has a very witty writing style. His stories and personal experiences help to explain some of his counter-intuitive demythologizing. As always the classic sign of a book I love, is that by the end I have many pages highlighted and copious notes written down the margins. Scott’s book definitely fell into the category of ‘stimulating’. Even when I disagreed with him, I agreed with his underlying point.
I highly recommend the book. Scott has done a great service by debunking many of cherished myths that hold many people back from innovating. It is ironic that a book that aims to destroy innovation myths actually provides a set of insights that will help anyone come up with ideas. (*****)
Jacques Hadamard: The Psychology of Invention in the Mathematical Field
The Psychology of Invention in the Mathematical Field
Hadamard's book has a great description of the mathematical invention process. The detailed story of how Henri Poincare stepped on to a bus and solved a mathematical problem is a perfect example of the power of incubation. This book also has a famous letter from Einstein explaining the power of 'combinatory play' in invention and creativity.
This is one of Thinkcubation's foundational books. (*****)
Tom Kelley: The Art of Innovation: Lessons in Creativity from IDEO, America's Leading Design Firm
The Art of Innovation: Lessons in Creativity from IDEO, America's Leading Design Firm
The art of innovation is a classic book on 'How to Innovate' from IDEO - one of the most innovative companies in the world. Read and re-read to master innovation - the secrest are there - but you need to read between the lines for the real gems. (*****)
Jeff Hawkins: On Intelligence
On Intelligence
Hawkins delves into a model to simulate intelligence that goes much further than the usual neural network. The memory prediction algorithm is a key to understanding our minds work. Chatper 6 - is well worth the price of the whole book - it is challenging but it will give you some insights into the brain that I have not found in other neuroscience books.
If you want to be more creative - you need to understand how the brain works. We still have a ways to go - but I think Hawkins is on to something important. (*****)
Frans Johansson: The Medici Effect: Breakthrough Insights at the Intersection of Ideas, Concepts, and Cultures
Medici Effect: What Elephants and Epidemics Can Teach Us About Innovation
This is a great book about creating new ideas at the intersection of fields, disciplines and culture. Johansson puts forward a solid framework for innovating at the intersection drawing from his in-depth research with 'intersectional inventors'. I love this book since crystallizes the principle behind MetaMemes and ThinkCube. I can’t rave about this book enough! Buy Buy Buy... (*****)
