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HomeShop at BookSurgeBusiness & EconomicsGeneralMake Your Ideas Mean Business |
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Excellent piece of work!...Strictly for the busy professional! Jul 20, 2006
This book was published about four years ago but it has only caught my eye very recently.
At first glance, it is probably the only recent creativity book that I have read so far that contains no pictorial or graphic llustrations. It is relatively text heavy, but straight-to-the-point, content-wise.
Surprisingly, there is no bio-data about the author & his work. I find this very strange. The usual credits are also missing.
The bibliography is sketchy, too.
In a nutshell, these are the chapters of the book:
Part I: The Basics of Onnovation
Chapter 1: Brainstorming, Why & How;
Chapter 2: Clarify for Shared Meaning;
Chapter 3: The Joy of Sorting;
Chapter 4: Selection & the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance;
Chapter 5: Level the Playing field;
Part II: Where the Ideas Are
Chapter 6: Focus on Purpose;
Chapter 7: Welcome to the Performance Gap;
Chapter 8: Scotty, Give me Maximum Process;
Chapter 9: That's Why They Play the Game;
Chapter 10: Everything Old Just gets Old;
Part III: Mindblowing Thoughts for the Read World
Chapter 11: Welcome to the Idea Jungle;
Chapter 12: Like Money in the Idea Bank;
Chapter 13: Playing the Meeting Market;
Chapter 14: Passing It On;
However, & to my relief, the book has been very clearly & concisely written for the busy professional, who demands a systematic approach to problem/opportunity finding. In other words, this book is designed precisely as a workplace toolkit.
To maintain brevity, the author has narrowed down the creative cycle to four refreshing steps:
- brainstorming, using a disciplined set of tools outlined in the book;
- clarifying for shared meaning;
- sorting random batches of ideas & organising them into categories;
- selecting ideas for implementation;
Although the tools outlined in the book are not ground breaking, the author's presentation of them is commendable. In fact, there are the usual classic tools one would find in most creativity books. What the author has done specifically is adapting & synthesising them for business users to direct all creative efforts appropriately towards these strategic areas (of opportunity), within the context of the organisation's mission & vision:
- establishing purposes;
- defining gaps;
- improving processes;
- anticipating events;
- changing structures;
In this respect, the author has drawn some inspiration from Peter Drucker's pioneering work in innovation, management thinking & business leadership.
Additionally, what I like about the book is the numerous idea bank worksheets & checklist directions. They are well crafted by the author for use in a team setting.
The 'Wild Ideas at your Fingertips' at the end of the book is my favourite.
The author has also conveniently incorporated a Getting Started Checklist to help you start putting his tools to work immediately as follows:
1. Supply of sticky notes, index cards, or paper for Idea Cards;
2. Flipchart, whiteboard, bulletin board, or wall to post Idea Cards;
3. Pens, pencils, and other writing instruments;
4. Tape if not using sticky notes;
5. Information about your organization and workplace (e.g. Mission and Vision Statements);
6. Gather a wide mix of information that interests you e.g. newspapers, magazines, books, posters;
7. Printed copies of Idea Bank Worksheets and Directions from the book;
Although the book mentions a website (brainstormingAtWork) to go to, it is a dead end. What a disappointment! Even the link to the author at the publisher/distributor's website (BookSurge) also draws a blank. I am quite puzzled. When I read, I often like to know the author's biography & background as well as also to peek into his references/bibliography to see who & what had influenced him.
For a quick, no-frills but systematic approach to problem/opportuntiy finding in the real world, this is one marvellous book to read/digest/work with.
To conclude my review, I reluctantly give this book a rating of 5 because it lives up to its title, Make Your Ideas Mean Business. In reality, I am very inclined to give it a rating of 4 in the light of the missing details.
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