I am reading an amazing book called Inside the Box: A proven system of creativity for breakthrough results by Drew Boyd and Jacob Goldenberg.
There’s so many ‘boost your creativity’ books around, most of them mediocre, that I was sceptical when I picked this up. But it’s a totally new way of thinking about how to come up with ideas.
The authors’ theory is that often you have the idea already – you just don’t know it yet. Rather than look for the idea in the big blue sky – and rarely finding it – it’s better to reformulate the ideas and knowledge your already have.
So we are given techniques for reappraising what’s already in your head ‘inside the box’. The theory is that innovation will grow out of your existing thinking.
Each chapter shows you how to do something to what you are already thinking – such as simply subtracting something. Indeed, take something away and you often have a better answer. Apple took away the call function of their iphone and ended up with the best-selling ipod touch, for example.
It’s one of the best creative thinking books I have read in years.
Here’s a link to a feature about the book in the WSJ Thinking from the inside out