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Business Playground: Where Creativity and Commerce Collide, The

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Business Playground: Where Creativity and Commerce Collide, The

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Description

  • Copyright 2010
  • Edition: 1st
  • Book
  • ISBN-10: 0-321-72058-X
  • ISBN-13: 978-0-321-72058-0
  • eBook
  • ISBN-10: 0-13-211842-4
  • ISBN-13: 978-0-13-211842-2

The Business Playground is the definitive guide to creativity and innovation

Written by musician/entrepreneur Dave Stewart and branding expert Mark Simmons, The Business Playground offers a revealing look at what creativity is and how to apply it in business through an inspiring mix of scientific studies, anecdotes, high-profile interviews, and thought-provoking games that you can play alone or with your co-workers.

The Business Playground is not your average business book. Former Eurythmics band member Dave Stewart turns on his rock and roll charm with personal, inspirational stories from his own career as well as interviews with such innovative and influential thinkers as Mick Jagger, Microsoft’s Paul Allen, and Twitter’s Evan Williams. The legendary Sir Richard Branson makes a guest appearance as the author of the book’s foreword where he sets the tone for this quirky, fun, emminently useful guide to creative business thinking.

Whether you’re running a one-man show or heading up a multinational corporation, you’ll discover new techniques for finding and harnessing your creative abilities and putting them to work for your business in this entertaining book.

The Business Playground includes real-world examples of innovation in action, as well as substantial and practical techniques that you can use immediately to aid in creative thinking and problem solving. Play the games at the end of each chapter and you’ll learn how to:

  • Ask the right questions so you can find the right answers
  • Rediscover, train, and utilize your innate creative abilities
  • Conduct “the perfect brainstorm”—yes, such a thing really does exist
  • Create a work culture that’s conducive to creativity
  • Help people collaborate with others within and outside of the organization
  • Kill ideas that aren’t working before they waste too much time and too many resources
In his foreword Sir Richard Branson says, “Dave and Mark’s enthusiasm for creativity and how it can be applied in business leaps off every page. The Business Playground will bring out the creative child inside all of us and I can’t imagine many readers being left uninspired to try it out for themselves. Their mix of insights about creativity, revealing examples, anecdotes, interviews with creative thinkers, and games make for an entertaining and informative read. If you get half as much out of this book as I did, you’re in for quite a treat.”

Join in the fun with the Business Playground Facebook community at: www.facebook.com/businessplayground

Sample Content

Online Sample Chapter

The Business Playground: Idea Spaghetti

Downloadable Sample Chapter

Download Chapter 2: Idea Spaghetti

Sample Pages

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Table of Contents

Foreword by Richard Branson

INTRODUCTION
Why business needs creativity

CHAPTER 1: HOW TO PLAY
When we unleash our natural creative potential, anything is possible.

CHAPTER 2: IDEA SPAGHETTI
Having lots and lots of ideas increases the chance of having some really great ones.

CHAPTER 3: SCAVENGERS
Always on the hunt for things to innovate.

CHAPTER 4: THE ANSWER IS IN THE QUESTION
Why getting the best answer means asking the right questions in the first place.

CHAPTER 5: LEFT BRAIN, MEET MR RIGHT
Helping the two halves of our brains work together.

CHAPTER 6: BRAIN FLASH
Using visualisation to come up with creative solutions.

CHAPTER 7: THE IDEA COMMUNE
Working (and playing) with others to come up with ideas.

CHAPTER 8: FAR OUT
Think big and don't let the truth get in the way of a good story.

CHAPTER 9: SHOE SWAPPER
Looking at problems from different perspectives.

CHAPTER 10: CONNECTED
The art of putting unconnected things together to create something completely new.

CHAPTER 11: KILL THE IDEA
Choosing which ideas to focus our time, money and energy on.

CHAPTER 12: BLAST OFF!
Creating environments that put creativity into orbit.

CONCLUSION

Updates

Errata

Page 22, first paragraph: Edison's lab was in Menlo Park, NJ, not Menlo Park, CA.

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