Innovating Minds

A groundbreaking, scientific approach to creative thinking From entrepreneurs to teachers, engineers to artists, almost everyone stands to benefit from becoming more creative. New ways of thinking, making, and imagining have the potential to bring about revolutionary changes to both our personal lives and society as a whole. And yet, the science behind creativity has largely remained a mystery, with few people aware of the ways we can optimize our own creative and innovative ideas. Innovating Minds: Rethinking Creativity To Inspire Change offers a perspective, grounded in science, that allows us to achieve both individual and collective creative goals. Wilma Koutstaal and Jonathan Binks draw upon extensive research from brain, behavioral, and organizational sciences to present a unique five-part "thinking framework" in which ideas are continually refined and developed. Beyond scientific research, Innovating Minds also describes the everyday creative challenges of people from all walks of life, offering insights from dancers, scientists, designers, and architects. The book shows that creativity is far from a static process; it is steeped with emotion and motivation, involving the dynamic interactions of our minds, brains, and environments. Accordingly, it challenges readers to put its material into use through thinking prompts, creativity cross-checks, and other activities. Vibrant and engaging, Innovating Minds reveals a unique approach to harnessing creative ideas and putting them into action. It offers a fascinating exploration of the science of creativity along with new and valuable resources for becoming more innovative thinkers and doers.

Wilma Koutstaal is a psychology professor at the University of Minnesota, with a PhD in experimental psychology from Harvard University. She is the author of The Agile Mind (winner of the 2012 William James book Award from the American Psychological Association) published by Oxford University Press. In February 2015, she was inducted as a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science for her work on memory, cognition, and creativity. Jonathan Binks runs InnovatingMinds4Change (IM4Change), a consulting firm focusing on fostering organizational innovation and strategic renewal. Jon holds a JD from Queen's University Law School, with expertise in intellectual property and organizational change.

About this book
1. What are ideas--and where do they come from?2. Seeing the forest and the trees: Varying our levels of abstraction3. Staying the course and letting go: Varying our degrees of mental control4. Making, finding, and improvising5. Past to future, future to future: Innovating together over time6. Ever-renewing goals and keeping our aims in view
Concepts GuideNotesReferences Index