(Book Review) The Creativity Leap, 1st Edition

Overview

Review Published: November, 2020.

From Creativity Strategist, speaker, and educator Natalie Nixon comes an examination of creativity and how it can encouraged within organizations.

From an overview of how creativity happens, to how it can be leveraged for competitive advantage, this book serves as an introduction for those seeking to better understand the aspects and uses of creativity in a competitive context.

Rating:

4 / 5

(Great Content, Presentation is Clear)

What does this score mean?

Difficulty:

Beginner (Written to be accessible for a broad audience).

Length:

147 pages.

Where to Buy It:

(Quick Note) To maintain editorial integrity, I do not use affliate links or any other kind of affiliate marketing in my reviews.

Check your Local Library:

In addition to books and periodicals, many local libraries give their patrons access to a wide array of video and instructional resources. Check with your local library for details.

What's Good

A great primer for creativity; designed to be read by virtually everyone, this book offers a fairly succinct overview of what creativity is, how it works, and how organizations can leverage it for their own competitive advantage.
Well researched & sourced; the author draws her insights from dozens of interviews, secondary sources (i.e. books/articles included in the references), and her own considerable professional experience.
Accessible real-world knowledge & examples; the author is able to take the complexity and mystery surrounding the creative process, and make it very accessible to the average reader.

What Can Be Improved

Some missed details; there are a few instances where the author introduces a concept, but doesn’t explore the options within that concept (i.e. using intuition, design ethics when adopting new technologies, etc.) and the inclusion of these important aspects of design would make for a great 2nd edition (in the meantime, check out “Originals” and “Design for Cognitive Bias” for deeper examinations of the topics listed above).

The Bottom Line

Worthwhile general introduction & reference; this book does a comprehensive job of introducing how creativity generally works, and makes a worthwhile reference for anyone looking to introduce creativity-based frameworks into their own work/organization.
Mainly for beginners to understand the value of leveraging creativity; this book is a great primer for those new to a creative field, or those outside of those fields looking to understand the creative process at a broad level (but does contain several valuable frameworks that more seasoned professionals can make use of).
A solid value at a low price; priced at around $20, this book is a worthwhile and inexpensive way to introduce anyone to the creative process, and a great initial resource to share/distribute to project teams, stakeholders, or anyone with an interest in creativity.