Nancy K. Napier

Mikael Nilsson

This book outlines how an organisation can use proven methods to increase organisational innovation, bringing benefits to profitability. Why are some organisations more creative than others? What sets innovative, high-performing organisations apart? Can creativity and innovation be learned and enhanced? The answer to the last question, say creativity experts Nancy Napier and Mikael Nilsson, is a resounding yes. And with general consensus that creativity and innovation drive business growth, fostering creativity couldn't be more important. In "The Creative Discipline", the authors illustrate six key factors that power creative, high-achieving organisations, and they provide managers with guidelines for incorporating those factors into their own companies. Business people will learn how innovative organisations get superior results from employees not just through disciplined methods of thinking, but also through free-flowing work spaces and work practices that help supercharge the imagination.Combining research on creative organisations in several sectors, this book argues that innovative organisations known for doing things differently (and profitably) approach creativity and innovation in similar, disciplined ways, regardless of industry or field. That discipline fosters new ideas, solutions, and approaches, and it ensures that the flow of creativity is constant. "The Creative Discipline" demonstrates that innovative, high-performing organisations have three disciplines in common: "within discipline" mastery; "out of discipline" thinking; and a disciplined process that leads to innovation. The book explains each factor for creative success in detail and show creativity and innovation at work in a range of sectors from sports to software. It also shows how innovative practices in developed countries like the U.S. and Sweden compare to those in developing countrieslike Vietnam. Companies can learn to innovate and in the process reap benefits like higher sales and

Mastering the Art and Science of Innovation

The Creative Discipline

"We live in an era where innovation adn creativity have become buzzwords, hundredes of un-innovative articles and books are being pulished on these topics, and we are bombarded by academics and wannabe experts telling us we need to be more creative and innovative. Swimming strongly counter current, Napier has written a book that actually explains how to do it and, even more improtantly, how to do it faster! Insight: Econuraging Aha! Moments for Oraganizational sucess is without a doubt a deeply needed, rigoriusly researched, and iconoclastically written book which overflows wiht provocative ideas." Marco Busi CEO and head of reseach, Carisma RCT Ltd Editor-in-Chief, Startegic Outsourcin, an International journal "As someone whose work is entirely builts upon generating 'aha!' experiences in others,' Nancy Napier's ideas ring remarkabley true to em. Napier's call to 'make insight thinkign a habit' is a quietly revolutionary notion that can be applied with ease to any field. this is a must read for any leader or manager who desires a rich and exopansive creative contribution from those whom s/he leads." Risa Brainni Freelance Theatre Director "Dr. Napier discribes a powerful phenomenon that I was only viscerally aware of. As a manger, mentor, and coach, I now know tha tthe 'aha!' Moment is in front of eevery business problem and my job is to help others to get to that point more quickly." Greg Hanmer It Directror, Hewlett Packard Company "To find tha having 'aha!' moments of creativity is spread far beyond the arts across the whole range of human work and activity is this book's own aha! moment. Napier finds a wide range of examples which make clear how all of us can and do have aha! breakthroughs, and from these stories, I learned ways to encourage those idea leaps for myself. AHA!" Ben Shedd Academy Award-winning filmmaker, The flight of the Gossamer Condor, IMAX Films, NOVA Series, adjunct Professor "Fed up with dull, pompous management books? Want something that grabs you with information you can use? Look no further. Insight: Encouraging Aha! Moments for Organizational Success suplies insights---or rather insights abotu insights---on literally every page of this lively and illuminating book." Professor Nigel J. HOlden dierctor, Institute of International Business Greenbank Bilding Lancashire Business School University of Central Lancashire "This insighful book demystifies the process o crating of 'aha!' moments, which happen to all of us. But Napier proves they don't have to happen by chance. Those moments of brilliance can be conditioned if we reporogram our radars to accept the clues leading up to an `aha!' moment. Enjoy the transformatio protential!" Ross Corthell General Manager, Transportation, Boise Inc. Aha! We all Know the moment when something utterly bafflng all of the suden be comes clear. Or when a new idea or crative solution seemingly pops up from nowhere. But "aja!" moments don't come from no where, and while there is no way to summon them at will, there are ways to make them far more likely. Insight:" Encouraging Aha! Moments for Oragnizational Sucess helps individuals an organizations crate the conditions that lay the groundwork for the distinct "aha!" instances of insight---when connections between diferenc pieces of information are revealed and ideas come together in ways that have never existed beofore. Insight examines three stages of the "aha!" experiencs, from the early confusion and chasos of "too much information" and how to organize and try out what comes through , to techniques that people use to spark the creative "aha!" experience, and the ways that people check to confirm their insights will hold beyond a single experience. The book offers practical techniques that will work in a privat business, education, government, nonprofit, and any other organizational setting. Insight is based on interviews with over 100 people of all ages, backgrounds, and professions---from software developers to dancers, from software developers to dancers, from detectives to football coaches---as well as teh latest research results from management, psychology, an dneuroscience studies about the workings of the brain in creative situations.

Encouraging Aha! Moments for Organizational Success

Insight

David C. Thomas

Dr David C Thomas

Helps foreign managers working in transition economies and their host-country counterparts to understand the nature of change they have encountered, and will experience, in transition economies and to manage the process of building relationships more smoothly.

Managing Relationships in Transition Economies

Why are some organizations more creative than others? What sets innovative, high-performing organizations apart? Can creativity and innovation be learned and enhanced? The answer to the last question, say creativity experts Nancy Napier and Mikael Nilsson, is a resounding yes. And with general consensus that creativity and innovation drive business growth, fostering creativity couldn't be more important. In The Creative Discipline, Napier and Nilsson illustrate six key factors that power creative, high-achieving organizations, and they provide managers with guidelines for incorporating those factors into their own companies. Business people will learn how innovative organizations get superior results from employees not just through disciplined methods of thinking, but also through free-flowing work spaces and work practices that help supercharge the imagination. Combining research on creative organizations in several sectors, this book argues that innovative organizations known for doing things differently (and profitably) approach creativity and innovation in similar, disciplined ways, regardless of industry or field. That discipline fosters new ideas, solutions, and approaches, and it ensures that the flow of creativity is constant. The Creative Discipline demonstrates that: -Innovative, high-performing organizations have three disciplines in common: (1) within discipline mastery, (2) out of discipline thinking, and (3) a disciplined process that leads to innovation. -Innovative organizations also have three factors that strengthen the creative disciplines: faces (creative entrepreneurs, leaders, and teams); places (the physical and organizational infrastructure that is reflected in offices, buildings, and location); and traces (elements that act as catalysts for creativity—the culture, networks, and policies that support creative and innovative endeavors). The book explains each factor for creative success in detail. Best, Napier and Nilsson show creativity and innovation at work in a range of sectors from sports to software to theater and contemporary circus. They also show how innovative practices in developed countries like the U.S. and Sweden compare to those in developing countries like Vietnam. Companies can learn to innovate and in the process reap benefits like higher sales and profits, greater productivity—while regaining a valuable element missing in so many workplaces: fun.

The Creative Discipline: Mastering the Art and Science of Innovation

An expert shows how to cultivate "aha" moments—flashes of insight—that lead to business innovation and personal success. • Includes over 100 interviews with people of diverse ages, jobs, organizations, and perspectives about how they encourage aha! experiences in themselves and others • Presents multiple frameworks to illustrate how the insight experience happens and what activities help encourage it • Offers endnotes and additional sources to explore • Includes exercises and puzzles to encourage creativity and generate ideas

Nancy K. Napier

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