An absolute cracker.

I have just finished reading Imagine - The Science of Creativity by Jonah Lehrer (Text Publishing 2012). Tim read it a few weeks back and the book is going around the studio. Great find bro!

This is one of the best books I have read recently on creativity, perhaps minus the introduction (why Jonah chose the P&G Swifter example I do not know, probably a poor example in an opening pitch on the topic of the power of imagination - the world really doesn’t need another mop).

This book is however a must read for all creatives. It puts some scientific basis to the way the mind works, and by doing so, Jonah and the various sources put forward insights for how you may change your behaviour and activity at certain points (say when faced with different or difficult creative challenges) to enhance your ability to harness the way your mind works and increase alpha waves to improve your creative output.

This is full of many interesting insights, from how to build powerful teams and The Power of Q; to the Outsider vs Insider mindset, perhaps explaining why kiwis are so bloody good at coming up with ideas (outsider mindset) but so poor at delivery (insider mindset).

There is a good discussion on why density, concentration and the talent you surround yourself with is so important. And why your team culture starts with the architectural design of the space where they work, to force interaction and accidental connectivity between people like a dense city as the science shows.

Jonah suggests the path to multiplying innovation starts with sharing more ideas. In Imagine it's pretty conclusive: the cities and teams that share more have been proven to inevitably become much more innovative than those that don’t and are faster at doing it.

In this book it was also good to see that someone has talked about persistence and grit in the same conversation around creativity (something normally separated out), and why the almost single-minded pursuit of a goal is a core part of the creative process - which it is.

Here’s to the avant-garde.