A book review by: Gaia Grant
Managing Director of Tirian International
Buffalo State College
inGenius
Tina Seelig is truly inGenius,
and her recent publication in the
field of creativity which bears this title is testament to that!
Tina has come to the field from an unusually eclectic
background. Starting with a medical Ph.D. in neuroscience, Seelig moved into
engineering, management consultancy, and multi-media production before deciding
to focus on the area of creativity, innovation and entrepreneurship. Perhaps
not surprisingly, she has written books on a range of different topics,
including popular science books on the chemistry of cooking, practical books on
neuroscience designed to develop the brain, and a book of advice for young
people on how to prepare for professional life. She certainly has an
appropriately broad range of experiences to draw from in her current role.
Seelig is now Professor of the Practice in the Department of
Management Science and Engineering (MS&E) at Stanford University, the
executive director of the Stanford Technology Ventures program (STVP), and the
director for the National Center for Engineering pathways. As well as teaching
on creativity, innovation and entrepreneurship at the Department of Management
Science and Engineering, she also teaches at the well-known Hasso Plattner
Institute of Design (also known as the d.school) at Stanford. Seelig is a
popular teacher who has been awarded for her ingenuity in the classroom and
excellence in teaching.
inGenius, Seelig’s latest book, was her first popular work
specifically focused on the creativity and innovation domain. The subtitle
refers to the book as ‘a crash course on
creativity’, and the resource does indeed provide a brief but illuminating
overview of the area. What is most appealing about the book is that as you read
it you feel like you have been invited to sit in as an observer of some of
Seelig’s classes. There are plenty of interesting personal anecdotes from
Seelig’s personal and professional life, along with a number of fascinating case
studies. What is especially fascinating is that she also describes the sorts of
unique exercises that she has devised to help teach about creativity. The
result is a smooth flow of practical ideas delivered in a conversational style
that draws in the reader in. The narrative interweaves both solid theoretical
foundations and useful applicable ideas on how to develop creativity.
Even the title itself is ingenious! Seelig explains that she
chose the title to reflect the fact that, “we each have creative genius waiting
to be unlocked”. She goes on to explain how the word ingenius actually comes from the Latin word, ingenium, which refers to a natural capacity or innate talent. She
asserts that we don’t need to look outside of ourselves to find creative inspiration
(like the ancient Greeks), but rather that we all have the inherent ability to
be creative. She is adamant that creativity can be taught and developed, just
as muscles can be developed through exercise.
After introducing her philosophy on creativity as an
accessible and limitless renewable resource (she says, “Ideas aren’t cheap at
all – they’re free!”) and touching on the fact that our brains are wired for
creative thinking, Seelig compares creative methods to scientific methods and
concludes that creative thinking best applies when you want to invent rather than discover. She then goes on to introduce her unique model of
creativity, which includes the ‘inside’ factors of Knowledge, Attitude and
Imagination – along with the ‘outside’ factors of Resources, Habitat and
Culture. The ‘inside’ factors are those that apply at the individual level,
while the ‘outside’ factors apply at the organisation environmental level.
Having read a number of books in the field of creativity, I
discovered that some of the stories and content were not original, which I
would have hoped for in a book like this. Although designed as a ‘crash
course’, I also came away with the impression that the overview was just too
brief, and that a number of areas were touched on that could have benefitted
from much deeper exploration. Also, a number of areas that I think are also
important to creativity were omitted. Although there were some vague references
to creative thinking skills, for example, there was no clear link to the model.
This meant that although there was a general framework for approaching creative
thinking, there wasn’t a specific guide on how to actively develop it. Some of
the four Ps of creativity (Person, Product, Process and Press) are alluded to, but
not all are covered consistently, which made it feel like the content was a
little patchy.
Seelig says herself that she came up with the model after
writing the main content of the book, and unfortunately that is the way it
feels as you read the book. It feels as if the model is an after-thought, as if
it is somewhat forced on the content, and it isn’t always a comfortable fit. I
would like to have seen the main content of the book more clearly linked to the
model as the book progresses so that the connections and theoretical flow is
clearer.
Having said that, if the book was designed to be an
introduction to the field and merely to incite interest and motivation it
achieved this purpose very well. The model that Seelig introduces is definitely
useful, and I found that the structure of the model (which shows an intimate
interrelationship between the ‘inside’ and the ‘outside’ factors that impact
creativity) quite fascinating. I was drawn to the book originally for this
interesting integrated approach to the internal and external factors, and I
will certainly draw from the model in my own work on how to build a
constructive culture for creative thinking and innovation.
inGenius is a compact, accessible and easy-to-read book that would
no doubt appeal to a broad audience, and particularly business people, who are
interested to find out how creativity can apply in their lives and in their
work. For the more learned reader in the field, there are still plenty of
useful ideas and anecdotes that should inspire thoughtful reflection and
motivation for action. The book is a valuable addition to the literature.
References
Seelig, T. (2012). inGenius:
A crash course on creativity. New York, NY: HarperCollins.
Nonfiction.
Gaia Grant is the co-Founder and Managing Director of Tirian
International, an organizational learning and development consultancy which
specialises in organization innovation and transformation (www.tirian.com ). Gaia is also the author of a number of books (including Who Killed Creativity?... And How Can We Get
It Back?; Seven essential strategies for making yourself, your team and your
organization more innovative (Jossey Bass, 20120) www.whokilledcreativity.com ). She regularly contributes to international publications
and has featured on international radio and TV and in several international
news and business journals. Some of Gaia’s clients have included: BASF,
Deutsche Bank, Four Seasons Hotels, Fuji Xerox, IFC World Bank, JP Morgan,
Baker & McKenzie, Newmont Mining, Optus, and Visa.
**Looking for more books on creativity? Visit the ICSC Amazon Bookstore.
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