The Creative Mindset

With the right mindset, creative breakthroughs can be made by anyone. Innovation experts Jeff and Staney DeGraff introduce six essential creative-thinking skills that will democratize the process of innovation.

Nearly all of today's major innovation workshops and programs call on organizations to drive innovation. What they miss is that innovation comes from the personal creativity of individuals. And creativity doesn't require an advanced education or technical skills--all employees can be creative. Often, all they lack is a fitting mindset and the right tools.

The Creative Mindset brings how-to advice, tools, and techniques from two master innovators who have taught and worked with over half of all Fortune 500 companies. Jeff and Staney DeGraff introduce six essential creative-thinking skills that can be easily mastered with limited practice and remembered as the acronym CREATE: Concentrate, Replicate, Elaborate, Associate, Translate, and Evaluate. These six skills, sequenced as steps, simplify and summarize the most important research on creative thinking and draw on over thirty years of real-world application in some of the most innovative organizations in the world. It's time to rethink the way we make innovation happen. As the spirit of chef Gusteau proclaims in the Pixar classic Ratatouille, "Anyone can cook."

About the Authors

Jeff DeGraff is a clinical professor of management and organizations at the Ross School of Business at the University of Michigan and is an advisor to Fortune 500 companies including General Electric, Coca-Cola, Google, Mercedes-Benz, and many more. He has written several books, including The Innovation Code, Innovation You, Creativity at Work, and Leading Innovation, and his thoughts on innovation are regularly covered by Inc., Fortune, and Psychology Today. He has a regular segment on public radio called The Next Idea.

Staney DeGraff is CEO of Innovatrium, a laboratory and consulting firm with multiple locations. She is the coauthor of The Innovation Code.