Flash of Brilliance

THE FLASH OF BRILLIANCE: INSPIRING CREATIVITY WHERE YOU WORK; THE FLASH OF BRILLIANCE WORKBOOK: THE EIGHT KEYS TO DISCOVER, UNLOCK & FULFILL YOUR CREATIVE POTENTIAL AT WORK by William Miller In the field of creativity, especially in connection with creativity within the business landscape, most enterprising authors start off with excellent works. Many have breakthrough concepts in the beginning. As they start to churn out more books in the same genre, I notice a growing trend: the intellectual fabric starts to grow stale. Many of the original ideas get repeated. Some clever authors put in some innovative twists. I must add, this is no reflection of their good intentions & /or noble purposes in writing the books. However, it is obvious that marketing becomes the sole prime motivating factor. The 'Flash of Brilliance', unfortunately, is one good example. I strongly feel the author's earlier works, namely, 'The Creative Edge: Fostering Innovation Where You Work' & his audio version, 'The Neuropsychology of Creativity', are excellent as well as inspiring productions. In fact, 'The Creative Edge' plus the audio package, together with Michael Ray's 'Creativity in Business', were the first business creativity books in my hands during the mid- to end-eighties. They have been instrumental in guiding my managerial work, while I was still a corporate rat during that period. Later on, from the early nineties, both books were pivotal in helping me to design my own training curriculum pertaining to visual thinking & idea mapping strategies. I believe the former book has some intellectual heritage from the former SRI research outfit, while the latter book has its origins from a graduate program at the Stanford University School of Business. 'The Creative Edge' introduced me to the original concepts & practices of 'The Creative Journey' & also to the 'Innovative Leadership Styles'. What is quite boring for me is that I have to keep reading about these concepts in the author's subsequent works, which include 'Quantum Quality: Quality Improvement through Innovation, Learning & Creativity', published in the mid-nineties. Even his musings on the many creative moments in history, including Friedrich Kekule's insight & intuition that led to the discovery of the molecular structure of benzene, & Arnold Fornachou's spontaneous solution to the challenge of the ice-cream cone, as examples of how inspiration can strike, are rehashed in this book. I do not deny that the 'Flash of Brilliance' is both an entertaining & practical hand-book for managers & professionals interested in leading for creativity rather than simply managing for productivity. This is particularly so if they have not yet read any of the author's earlier works. I would even concur that the companion workbook is a reasonably good interactive guide. Unlike most business creativity books, this book has a deeper focus on the spirituality aspect: "only when we venture deep within o

In many ways "creativity" is the new competitive edge. While this book is targeted at classic corporate America, it will give entrepreneurs insight into how to take your creativity to the next level. Companies that encourage inspiration and innovation, and allow people to make a difference will soar high above others in the long-run. Divided into four parts, Miller outlines how you can be more creative alone and more importantly - as part of a team. Miller organizes his book into four sections: Breathe New Life into Your Work Foster Breakthrough Innovation in Groups Revitalize the Soul of Corporate Creativity Keep the Faith - Integrate Profits and Prophets William Miller also introduces a concept called the "Creative Journey" that is a four stage process through which every endeavor passes. This Creative Journey offers a framework for identifying a challenge, focusing on priority issues, generating creative ideas, and implementing them. What seems to be most important is the ability to ignite the internal fire within yourself and others to unleash the fullest potential of creativity. Creativity is the fuel that drives innovation and energizes companies. As an entrepreneur it's important to remember that people become truly creative only when they decide "internally" to take personal responsibility for results. As you create and develop your leadership team, be sure to find people who are internally driven and committed to your company's core vision. Michael Davis, Editor - Byvation

This is a how-to manual for inspiring and supporting creativity at the individual, group, and organizational level. It teaches you how to recognize your own innvate creative qualities. You will then be introduced to what Miller calls the "Creative Journey" -- a four stage process through which every type of creative endeavor passes. It offers a framework for identifying a challenge, focusing on priority issues, generating creative ideas, and implementing them. The gbook offers a variety of techniques for developing ideas and shows you the four "innovation styles" on which all idea-generation techniques are based. Also learn how to spark the motivation required for high level creativity by uniting people behind a shared purpose, a vision for thefuture, and aset of core values. It shos you how to ignite the internal drive and enthusiasm in yourself and others that launch creativity to its fullest potential. ...from Soundview Executive Book Summaries