We read incessantly. Before work, on the way to work, on Saturday afternoons, it's what we love to do. And it's the foundation of our expertise in creativity and innovation. Here is a small fraction of our favorites that we'd like to share with you.
Index
- Creativity & Innovation
- Our favorites on the subject.
- Idea Library Selections
- Read more about the ideas in our library.
- Marketing
- Do you know who you are you innovating for?
- Trends
- How does your innovation fit with current trends?
Creativity and Innovation
Adams, James L. Conceptual Blockbusting: A Guide to Better Ideas. Cambridge: Perseus Books Group, 2001.
Altshuller, G., and H. Altov. And Suddenly the Inventor Appeared: TRIZ, the Theory of Inventive Problem Solving. Trans. Lev Shulyak. Worcester: Technical Innovation Center, Inc., 1996.
Ayan, Jordan. Aha! 10 Ways to Free Your Creative Spirit and Find Your Great Ideas. New York: Three Rivers Press, 1996.
Bennis, Warren G., and Patricia Ward Biederman. Organizing Genius: The Secrets of Creative Collaboration. Cambridge: Perseus Books Group, 1998.
Claxton, Guy. Hare Brain, Tortoise Mind: How Intelligence Increases When You Think Less. New York: Harper Perennial, 2000.
Csikszentmihalyi, Mihaly. Creativity: Flow and the Psychology of Discovery and Invention. New York: Harper Perennial, 1997.
Csikszentmihalyi, Mihaly. Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience. New York: Harper Perennial, 1991.
De Bono, Edward. Serious Creativity: Using the Power of Lateral Thinking to Create New Ideas. London: HarperCollins, 1995.
Drucker, Peter F. Innovation and Entrepreneurship. New York: Collins, 1993.
Dundon, Elaine. The Seeds of Innovation: Cultivating the Synergy That Fosters New Ideas. New York: AMACOM/American Management Association, 2002.
Flatow, Ira. They All Laughed... From Light Bulbs to Lasers: The Fascinating Stories Behind the Great Inventions That Have Changed Our Lives. New York: Harper Paperbacks, 1993.
Gelb, Michael J. How to Think Like Leonardo da Vinci: Seven Steps to Genius Every Day. New York: Delacorte Press, 1998.
Godin, Seth. Unleashing the Ideavirus. New York: Hyperion, 2001.
Grand, Steve. Creation: Life and How to Make It. Cambridge: Harvard UP, 2001.
Hall, Doug. Jump Start Your Brain. New York: Warner Books, 1996.
Hargadon, Andrew. How Breakthroughs Happen: The Surprising Truth About How Companies Innovate. Boston: Harvard Business School Press, 2003.
Harrison, Sam. Ideaspotting: How to Find Your Next Great Idea. Cincinnati: How Books, 2006.
Hawkins, Jeff, and Sandra Blakeslee. On Intelligence. New York: Owl Books, 2005.
Heath, Chip, and Dan Heath. Made to Stick: Why Some Ideas Survive and Others Die. New York: Random House, 2007.
Hesse, Hermann. The Glass Bead Game: Magister Ludi. New York: Owl Books, 1990.
Johansson, Frans. The Medici Effect: Breakthrough Insights at the Intersection of Ideas, Concepts, and Cultures. Boston: Harvard Business School Press, 2004.
Kao, John. Innovation: Breakthrough Thinking at 3M, DuPont, GE, Pfizer, and Rubbermaid. New York: Collins, 1997.
Kelley, Tom, and Jonathan Littman. The Ten Faces of Innovation: IDEO's Strategies for Defeating the Devil's Advocate and Driving Creativity Throughout Your Organization. New York: Currency, 2005.
Kelley, Tom, and Jonathan Littman. The Art of Innovation: Lessons in Creativity from IDEO, America's Leading Design Firm. New York: Currency, 2001.
Kemper, Steve. Code Name Ginger: The Story Behind Segway and Dean Kamen's Quest to Invent a New World. Boston: Harvard Business School Press, 2003.
Koberg, Don, and Jim Bagnall. Crisp: Universal Traveler. Menlo Park: Crisp Learning, 2003.
Koberg, Don, and Jim Bagnall. The Universal Traveler: a Soft-Systems Guide to Creativity, Problem-Solving, and the Process of Reaching Goals. Menlo Park: Crisp Publications, 2003.
Koestler, Arthur. The Act of Creation. New York: Penguin, 1990.
Lakoff, George, and Mark Johnson. Metaphors We Live By. Chicago: University Of Chicago Press, 2003.
MacKenzie, Gordon. Orbiting the Giant Hairball: A Corporate Fool's Guide to Surviving with Grace. New York: Viking Adult, 1998.
Mathews, Ryan, and Watts Wacker. The Deviant's Advantage: How Fringe Ideas Create Mass Markets. New York: Crown Business, 2002.
Mauzy, Jeff, and Richard A. Harriman. Creativity Inc.: Building an Inventive Organization. Boston: Harvard Business School Press, 2003.
Michalko, Michael. Cracking Creativity: The Secrets of Creative Genius. Berkeley: Ten Speed Press, 1998.
Michalko, Michael. Thinkertoys: A Handbook of Creative Thinking Techniques. 2nd ed. Berkeley: Ten Speed Press, 1991.
Nalebuff, Barry J., and Ian Ayres. Why Not? How to Use Everyday Ingenuity to Solve Problems Big and Small. Boston: Harvard Business School Press, 2003.
O'Connor, Kevin, and Paul B. Brown. The Map of Innovation: Creating Something Out of Nothing. New York: Crown Business, 2003.
Perkins, David N. Archimedes' Bathtub: The Art and Logic of Breakthrough Thinking. New York: W. W. Norton & Company, 2000.
Peters, Thomas J. The Circle of Innovation. New York: Coronet Books, 1999.
Peters, Tom. The Pursuit of Wow! New York: Vintage Books, 1994.
Petroski, Henry. The Evolution of Useful Things: How Everyday Artifacts-From Forks and Pins to Paper Clips and Zippers-Came to be as They are. New York: Vintage Books, 1994.
Reese, Harvey. How to License Your Million Dollar Idea: Everything You Need to Know to Make Money from Your New Product Idea. New York: John Wiley & Sons, 1993.
Restak, Richard. Mozart's Brain and the Fighter Pilot: Unleashing Your Brain's Potential. New York: Three Rivers Press, 2001.
Rogers, Everett M. Diffusion of Innovations. 5th ed. New York: Free Press, 2003.
Schrage, Michael. Serious Play: How the World's Best Companies Simulate to Innovate. Boston: Harvard Business School Press, 1999.
Schwartz, Evan I. Juice: The Creative Fuel That Drives World-Class Inventors. Boston: Harvard Business School Press, 2004.
Seybold, Patricia B. Outside Innovation: How Your Customers Will Co-Design Your Company's Future. New York: Collins, 2006.
Shekerjian, Denise. Uncommon Genius. New York: Penguin, 1991.
Taylor, William C., and Polly G. LaBarre. Mavericks at Work: Why the Most Original Minds in Business Win. New York: William Morrow, 2006.
Thompson, Charles. What a Great Idea: The Key Steps Creative People Take. New York: Perennial, 1992.
Ueland, Brenda. If You Want to Write: A Book about Art, Independence and Spirit. Saint Paul: Graywolf Press, 1997.
Vogel, Craig M., Jonathan Cagan, and Peter Boatwright. The Design of Things to Come: How Ordinary People Create Extraordinary Products. Upper Saddle River: Wharton School Publishing, 2005.
Von Hippel, Eric. Democratizing Innovation. Cambridge: The MIT Press, 2005.
Von Oech, Roger. A Whack On the Side of the Head. Menlo Park: Creative Think, 1973.
Watson, James D. The Double Helix: A Personal Account of the Discovery of the Structure of DNA. New York: Touchstone, 2001.
White, Shira P., and G. Patton Wright. New Ideas About New Ideas. Cambridge: Perseus Books Group, 2002.
Idea Library Selections
Archeology
Diamond, Jared M. Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies. New York: W. W. Norton & Company, 1999.
Wright, Robert. Nonzero: The Logic of Human Destiny. New York: Vintage, 2001.
Biomimicry
Benyus, Janine M. Biomimicry: Innovation Inspired by Nature. New York: Perennial, 1998.
Cave Painting
Mithen, Steven. After the Ice Age: A Global Human History. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 2003.
Cognitive Maps
Morville, Peter. Ambient Findability. Cambridge: O'Reilly Media, 2005.
Cryogenics
Regis, Edward. Great Mambo Chicken and the Transhuman Condition: Science
Slightly over the Edge. Reading: Addison Wesley Publishing Company, 1991.
Database of Intentions
Battelle, John. The Search: How Google and Its Rivals Rewrote the Rules of Business and Transformed Our Culture. New York: Portfolio Hardcover, 2005.
Disruptive Technology
Christensen, Clayton M. The Innovator's Dilemma: The Revolutionary Book that Will Change the Way You Do Business. New York: HarperBusiness Essentials, 2003.
Evolution
Dennett, Daniel C. Darwin's Dangerous Idea: Evolution and the Meanings of
Life. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1996.
Weiner, Jonathan. The Beak of the Finch: A Story of Evolution in Our Time. New York: Vintage, 1995.
Genetic Algorithms
Johnson, Steven. Emergence: The Connected Lives of Ants, Brains, Cities, and Software. New York: Scribner, 2002.
Kelly, Kevin. Out of Control: The New Biology of Machines, Social Systems and the Economic World. Cambridge: Perseus Books Group, 1995.
G-Force Chickens
Regis, Edward. Great Mambo Chicken and the Transhuman Condition: Science Slightly over the Edge. Reading: Addison Wesley Publishing Company, 1991.
LEGO Mindstorms
Pesce, Mark. The Playful World: How Technology Is Transforming Our Imagination. New York: Ballantine Books, 2000.
LEGO Bricks
Pesce, Mark. The Playful World: How Technology Is Transforming Our Imagination. New York: Ballantine Books, 2000.
Longitude
Sobel, Dava. Longitude: The True Story of a Lone Genius Who Solved the
Greatest Scientific Problem of His Time. New York: Penguin, 1996.
Meme
Blackmore, Susan. The Meme Machine. New York: Oxford UP, 2000.
Dawkins, Richard. The Selfish Gene. New York: Oxford UP, 1990.
Dennett, Daniel C. Darwin's Dangerous Idea: Evolution and the Meanings of Life. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1996.
Memex
Brate, Adam. Technomanifestos: Visions of the Information Revolutionaries. New York: Texere, 2002.
Moore's Adoption Curve
Moore, Geoffrey A. Crossing the Chasm. New York: Collins, 2002.
Moore, Geoffrey A. Inside the Tornado: Marketing Strategies from Silicon Valley's Cutting Edge. New York: HarperBusiness, 1999.
Nanotechnology
Drexler, Eric. Engines of Creation: The Coming Era of Nanotechnology. New York: Anchor, 1987.
Red Queen's Race
Ridley, Matt. The Red Queen: Sex and the Evolution of Human Nature. New York: Harper Perennial, 2003.
Role-Playing Games
Castronova, Edward. Synthetic Worlds: The Business and Culture of Online Games. Chicago: University Of Chicago Press, 2005.
Six Degrees of Separation
Barabasi, Albert-Laszlo. Linked: How Everything Is Connected to Everything Else and What It Means. New York: Plume, 2003.
Tipping Point
Gladwell, Malcolm. The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference. Boston: Back Bay Books, 2002.
Swarm Intelligence
Kelly, Kevin. Out of Control: The New Biology of Machines, Social Systems and the Economic World. Cambridge: Perseus Books Group, 1995.
The Hero's Journey
Campbell, Joseph. The Hero with a Thousand Faces. Princeton: Princeton UP,
1972.
Campbell Joseph, and Bill Moyers. The Power of Myth. New York: Anchor, 1991.
The Tipping Point
Gladwell, Malcolm. The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference. Boston: Back Bay Books, 2002.
TREND: Boomers
Peters, Tom. Re-imagine! New York: DK Publishing Inc., 2003.
TREND: In-forming
Friedman, Thomas L. The World Is Flat: A Brief History of the Twenty-first Century. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2005.
TREND: Insourcing
Bosshart, David. Cheap. Philadelphia: Kogan Page, 2004.
Friedman, Thomas L. The World Is Flat: A Brief History of the Twenty-first Century. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2005.
TREND: Offshoring
Bosshart, David. Cheap. Philadelphia: Kogan Page, 2004.
Friedman, Thomas L. The World Is Flat: A Brief History of the Twenty-first Century. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2005.
Hundt, Reed. In China's Shadow: The Crisis of American Entrepreneurship. New Haven: Yale UP, 2006
TREND: Outsourcing
Friedman, Thomas L. The World Is Flat: A Brief History of the Twenty-first Century. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2005.
Stiglitz, Joseph. Making Globalization Work. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 2006.
TREND: Rise of the Creative Class
Florida, Richard. The Rise of the Creative Class. New York: Basic Books, 2002.
TREND: Supply Chaining
Friedman, Thomas L. The World Is Flat: A Brief History of the Twenty-first Century. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2005.
Lynn, Barry C. End of the Line. New York: Doubleday, 2005.
TREND: Women Shop
Peters, Tom. Re-imagine! New York: DK Publishing Inc., 2003
Peters, Tom, and Martha Barletta. Trends. New York: DK Publishing Inc., 2005.
Wayfinding
Morville, Peter. Ambient Findability. Cambridge: O'Reilly Media, 2005.
Wisdom of Crowds
Rheingold, Howard. Smart Mobs: The Next Social Revolution. Cambridge: Basic Books, 2002.
Marketing
Godin, Seth. All Marketers Are Liars: The Power of Telling Authentic Stories in a Low-Trust World. New York: Portfolio Hardcover, 2005.
Godin, Seth. Free Prize Inside: The Next Big Marketing Idea. New York: Portfolio Hardcover, 2004.
Godin, Seth. Purple Cow: Transform your Business by Being Remarkable. New York: Do You Zoom, Inc., 2005.
Godin, Seth. Small Is the New Big: and 183 Other Riffs, Rants, and Remarkable Business Ideas. New York: Portfolio Hardcover, 2006.
Godin, Seth. Survival Is Not Enough: Why Smart Companies Abandon Worry and Embrace Change. New York: Free Press, 2002.
Godin, Seth. Unleashing the Ideavirus. New York: Hyperion, 2001.
Lakoff, George. Don't Think of an Elephant: Know Your Values and Frame the Debate—The Essential Guide for Progressives. White River Jct.: Chelsea Green Publishing Company, 2004.
Trends
Burrus, Daniel. Technotrends: How to Use Technology to Go Beyond Your Competition. New York: Collins, 1994.
Florida, Richard. The Flight of the Creative Class. New York: Harper Business, 2005.
Howkins, John. The Creative Economy: How People Make Money from Ideas. New York: Penguin Books, 2002.
Kynge, James. China Shakes the World. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 2006.
Murray, Janet H. Hamlet on the Holodeck: The Future of Narrative in Cyberspace. Cambridge: The MIT Press, 1998.
Noxon, Christopher. Rejuvenile: Kickball, Cartoons, Cupcakes, and the Reinvention of the American Grown-up. New York: Crown, 2006.
Peters, Tom. Design. DK Publishing Inc., 2005.
Peters, Tom. Re-imagine! New York: DK Publishing Inc., 2003.
Roy, Subir. Made in India. New York: Tata McGraw-Hill Publishing Company Limited, 2005.
Stiglitz, Joseph. Globalization and its Discontents. W. Norton & Company, 2002.
Stiglitz, Joseph. Making Globalization Work. New York: W. Norton & Company, 2006.
Stiglitz, Joseph. The Roaring Nineties. New York: W. Norton & Company, 2003.
