Creative Confidence

Unleashing the Creative Potential Within Us All

by David Kelley , Tom Kelley

Number of pages: 288

Publisher: Crown Business

BBB Library: Creativity and Innovation

ISBN: 9780385349369



About the Authors

David Kelley : David Kelley is the founder of IDEO. David's most enduring contributions

Read More...

Tom Kelley : Tom Kelley is a business consultant, author, and public speaker who

Read More...

Editorial Review

When you hear the word “creativity,” what do you think of next? You may equate “creative” with “artistic.” You may believe that architects and designers are paid to be creative thinkers, but CEOs, lawyers, and doctors are not. Or you may feel that being creative is a fixed trait, either you’re born with creative genes, or you’re not. This set of misconceptions is “the creativity myth.” The opposite of that myth is what is called “creative confidence.” And at its foundation is the belief that we are all creative. The truth is, we all have far more creative potential waiting to be tapped. At its core, creative confidence is about believing in your ability to create change in the world around you. It is the conviction that you can achieve what you set out to do. This self-assurance, this belief in your creative capacity, lies at the heart of innovation. In the business world, creativity manifests itself as innovation. No individual executive or division holds a monopoly on new ideas. People need help to rediscover what they already have: the capacity to imagine or build upon new ideas. But the real value of creativity doesn’t emerge until you are brave enough to act on those ideas. That combination of thought and action defines creative confidence: the ability to come up with new ideas and the courage to try them out. We forget that back in kindergarten, we were all creative. We all played and experimented and tried out weird things without fear or shame. The fear of social rejection is something we learned as we got older. And that’s why it’s possible to regain our creative abilities so swiftly and powerfully.  

Book Reviews

"The Kelleys believe each of us is more creative than we realise but we put constraints on ourselves that prevent us from harnessing that inventiveness."The Financial Times

"Creative Confidence is an empowering, compelling, relentlessly hopeful and optimistic read that brilliantly captures the Silicon Valley mindset in its most ennobling form." Forbes

Books on Related Topics

Wisdom to Share

Design thinking is a way of finding human needs and creating new solutions using the tools and mindsets of design practitioners.

People with a fixed mindset prefer to stay behind in their comfort zone.

People who have creative confidence see new possibilities and collaborate with others to improve the situations around them.

The inescapable link between failure and innovation is a lesson you can learn only through doing.

But even after you overcome your initial fear of failure and gain creative confidence, you need to continue stretching yourself.

Relentless practice creates a database of experience that you can draw upon to make more enlightened choices.

In cultures that encourage entrepreneurs, there is a greater appreciation and understanding of “constructive failure.”

Lower others’ expectations, so that failure can lead to learning without career damage.

You have to figure out what went wrong and what to do better next time.

When people are insecure, they’re not at their best.

One way to embrace creativity is to let go of comparison.

Allowing the mind to make new connections between seemingly unrelated ideas.

You come up with more innovative ideas when you better understand the needs and context of the people you are creating solutions for.

A series of “why?” questions can brush past surface details and get to the heart of the matter.

Starting from a different point of view can help you get to the essence of a problem.

Creativity can flow more easily and be more fun when you have others to collaborate with and bounce ideas off.

Innovation is all about quickly turning ideas into action. Don’t get stuck in the planning stage.

To overcome inertia, good ideas are not enough.

One of the qualities we admire most about people with creative confidence is that they are not passive observers.

The first step toward being creative is often simply to go beyond being a passive observer and to translate thoughts into deeds.

the desire to be best can get in the way of getting better.

It’s hard to be “best” right away, so commit to rapid and continuous improvements.

With a more proactive mindset, you will start to see more opportunities for action around you.

Making “bug lists” can help you to see more opportunities to apply creativity.

We are surrounded every day by products that don’t work well and services that slow us down.

A running list can serve as a useful source of ideas when you’re looking for a new project to tackle. The point is to notice more opportunities to do things better.

But constraints can spur creativity and incite action, as long as you have the confidence to embrace them.

To get under way, work on the easiest part first. Constrain your options by looking at how you can make progress right now.

Set smaller, achievable goals you can act on.

Project teams tend to experience a surge of enthusiasm and productivity whenever a deadline looms.

Some failure is unavoidable. So you need to relentlessly seek out clever new ways to create low-cost experiments.

Creativity requires cycling lots of ideas.

So instead of making a big bet on one approach, you can develop and test multiple ideas.

Society places great value on affluence and the privileges of wealth.

No matter what your age, you can still pursue your passions.

shift in perspective can open up a world of possibilities.

When people seek out passion in their work they can tap into and unleash inner reserves of energy and enthusiasm.

If you make the first step small enough, it can nudge you toward your goal.

Change within organizations and institutions is seldom a solo activity.

To start building a culture of innovation, you need support from both the top and the bottom.

When you influence the dialogue around new ideas, you will influence broader patterns of behavior.

To change attitudes and behaviors, it helps to first change the vernacular.

Words we choose do more than just reflect our thought patterns—they shape them.

Give team members ownership of results and invest in their success.

But the rewards for creativity and individuality are well worth the effort. Every person’s situation is unique.

Creativity isn’t some rare gift to be enjoyed by the lucky few—it’s a natural part of human thinking and behavior.

Instead of being paralyzed by the prospect of failure, they see every experience as an opportunity they can learn from.

When people transcend the fears that block their creativity, all sorts of new possibilities emerge.

The fear of social rejection is something we learned as we got older.

Creative confidence: the ability to come up with new ideas and the courage to try them out.

But the real value of creativity doesn’t emerge until you are brave enough to act on those ideas.

People need help to rediscover what they already have: the capacity to imagine or build upon new ideas.

In the business world, creativity manifests itself as innovation.