Creativities

‘The title Creativities, with its nod to the five of the serving men of Rudyard Kipling, serves its purpose well. It captures what is provided in the book, which is essentially a template for stimulating creativity. Or, more precisely, for stimulating the plurality of creativities found across its various contexts in use. Importantly within this book, there isn’t really a plan of how to do creativity, it is more about using the tools within to develop your own version of creativity.’
– Tudor Rickards, Action Learning: Research and Practice

‘Whether you’re an entrepreneur, a business leader, an artist, or a community activist, it’s your creativity that helps you and others make meaningful and positive change. Creativities is revolutionary in showing how everybody has a creative spark that can be developed, and it provides a framework to help you to reach your potential by making the most of your distinctive gifts for today’s innovation economy.’
– Dr. E. LaBrent Chrite, President Bentley University

‘If you want to combine your unique talents and passion to create value in today’s entrepreneurial world, read Creativities to learn an original approach that is both simple and profound.’
– Dorie Clark, Wall Street Journal bestselling author of The Long Game, Thinkers50, and executive education faculty, Duke University Fuqua School of Business  

‘Creativity is a highly personalized process. It includes our own unique gaifts, perspectives, and styles. Creativities guides the reader through a series of key questions, cases, and methods to help them find their authentic creative talents and put them into practice. A must read.’
– Jeff DeGraff, Professor, University of Michigan, and author of The Creative Mindset

‘Creativity is the soul of entrepreneurship, the engine of growth, and one of the greatest joys any of us can experience. And now, finally, Creativities comprehensively and luxuriously pulls back the curtain to enable anyone to change their life by living creatively. One part rigorous analysis, one part entertainment, and one part inspirational journey, this is the one book on creativity you have to read.’
– Sydney Finkelstein, Dartmouth College professor, best-selling author of Superbosses, and host of the podcast, The Sydcast

‘Good leaders provide people space to develop their creative talents. Creativities provides a great way for leaders and teams to surface individualized approaches to creativity.’
– Frances Frei, Harvard Professor, Ted Talker, Thinkers50, Clubhouse Host, Best-Selling Author of Unleashed and Uncommon Service

‘Creativities provides a fascinating journey through international creativity stories, analysing the ingredients of their success in an entertaining and structured way. A must read for global Executives who sometimes struggle to match their need to inspire creativity with the logic of the what, how, where, who and why of the creative process that the authors so usefully outline in this book.’
– Johann Goettler, President & CEO Siemens S.A in Greece

‘Creativities is a book for the ages. It provides substantial recommendations for how a wide variety of people can develop their creative talent: entrepreneurs, those working in creative industries, those working in creative functions in large and small organizations—in fact, any individual who just wants to become more creative. Creativities’ ideas are grounded in a broad base of literatures and brought to life through brilliant examples, making it an important treatise for scholars in creativity, innovation, and entrepreneurship. Moreover, because of their need to be increasingly more innovative to enhance their competitiveness and better satisfy their stakeholder’s needs, it should be read by employees in all organizations.’
– Michael A. Hitt is a University Distinguished Professor Emeritus at Texas A&M University. His latest book is Strategic Management: State of the Field and Its Future.

‘Creativities is a brilliant resource for both makers and entrepreneurs. It is the source to go for when navigating the different methods, the different mindsets, the different schools, and the different tools that are needed for a successful solution building journey. I am glad that it finally exists.’
– Marwan W. Jamal, Managing Director of the Global Entrepreneurship Network in Saudi Arabia and in New Zealand

‘Creativity is becoming more and more important in the digital world. By exploring the what, how, where, who, and why of creative process, Creativities shows us all how we can be more innovative, making it an exceptional resource for learning and teaching creativity and innovation.’
– Hao Jiao, Distinguished Professor in Strategy, Innovation & Entrepreneurship, Beijing Normal University, P.R. China

‘Creativity is the rootstock of the anatomy of creative endeavors.  Bilton, Cummings, and ogilvie brilliantly deconstruct these endeavors, and in doing so have produced a work with the power to teach us all to appreciate our own creativity as well as that of others. The structure the authors place around creative occurrences enables the book to read like a collection of short stories, making Creativities a truly enjoyable read wherever you open it. Seldom have I been more invigorated by a book of nonfiction; Creativities helped me to see and understand parts of my world I''ve spent decades overlooking. Don''t make the mistake of assuming that Creativities is solely a book for entrepreneurs, anyone with a genuine interest about how the world is built will be drawn to this, a creative work in itself.’
– Tom Kolditz, Founding Director, Doerr Institute for New Leaders, Rice University and author of Leadership Reckoning: Can Higher Education Develop the Leaders We Need?

‘In order to face the real social, environmental and economic challenges we now face, business and community organizations must encourage people’s creative thinking rather than stifle it. Creativities shows us how we can harness our unique approaches to creative thinking for the greater good.’
– Bernard J. Milano, President, KPMG Foundation (1992-2019) and President, The PhD Project (1994-2019)

‘Finally, with this book, we''re seeing creativity democratised, and excellent approaches like jua kali from Kenya and jugaad from India getting recognised. By also focusing on the why of creativity, the authors confirm that necessity should indeed be the mother of invention.’
– Vincent Ogutu, Vice Chancellor, Strathmore University, Kenya, and inventor of The Innovation Algorithm

‘Creativities offers an incisive and inspiring examination of an elusive subject. If you’re seeking to understand what, how, where, who, why of creativity, this book is an essential read.’
– Daniel H. Pink, #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Power of Regret, A Whole New Mind, and Drive

‘If you suspected that there must be more than one type of face, place or case of where creativity comes from then this book is for you. Creativities contains amazing creative approaches from around the world and a cool ‘Creativities Canvas’ for thinking through what kind of creator you want to be.’
– Jeffrey A. Robinson. Prudential Chair in Business at Rutgers University and author of Black Faces in High Places

‘Creativities shows there is no “one way” to be creative and that we can all find our own creative approach. It then provides processes, frameworks and ways of thinking to help readers do just that. The 30 inspirational illustrative “recipes” are the highlight, and the whole package an ideal manual for courses in creativity and innovation in business schools and beyond. One suspects that a certain amount of fun was had in the writing of the book. Certainly, there’s a promise of fun and enlightenment in its use!’
– Ed Snape, Dean & Chair Professor in Management, School of Business, Hong Kong Baptist University

‘Sigmund Freud warned that society is changed by the discontented to explain why creators can be difficult personalities while his renegade disciple Otto Rank warned that creators are haunted by an elevated fear for their mortality. Meanwhile the intrapreneurship rage of Tracy Kidder and Gifford Pinchot three decades years ago saw creators as covert, angry, revolutionaries from within. Bilton, Cummings, and ogilvie, by contrast, provide a uniquely positive and practical framework for inventing new solutions for societies, communities, and companies built on tools for imagination, invention, inspiration, and influence. Rather than seeing creatives as iconoclastic geniuses, and corporate malcontents, Creativities—with its engaging cases, concepts, and guidance—captures the spark in us all to be seen as net producers instead of net consumers. It provides all of us readers with the tools to leverage ourselves on that mission.’
– Jeffrey A. Sonnenfeld, “CEO Whisperer,” Professor & Senior Associate Dean, Yale University, founder of the Yale Chief Executive Leadership Institute (CELI), and best-selling author of The Hero''s Farewell: what happens when CEOs retire and FIRING BACK: How Great Leaders Rebound After Career Disasters.

‘By addressing the ’what’, the ’how’, the ‘where’, the ‘who’ and the ‘why’ of creative processes, Creativities informs, expands and inspires. The book applies a wealth of relevant cases from popular culture that are smoothly engrained within different models and frameworks of creative practices. An accessible and essential read for students and practitioners within the field of creative industries. Creativities is stimulating, enjoyable, and most importantly, creative!’
– Bjarki Valtysson, Associate Professor, Department of Arts and Cultural Studies, University of Copenhagen

‘Leaders today are tasked with navigating their organizations through many novel and complex challenges. Success in this environment requires getting the most out of our people. Creativities provides insightful and practical tools leaders can use to unlock the creative potential of their people, which in turn will support the development of innovative services, products and practices.’ 
– Ian O. Williamson, Dean, Paul Merage School of Business at the University of California, Irvine

‘Wherever you are in your creative journey – a first timer or seasoned professional – Creativities will coach you to ask the right questions and discover your own insightful answers.’ 
– Nick Wilson, Professor of Culture and Creativity, Kings College London

‘To be successful, leaders must continuously develop creativity in their selves, teams, and organizations. Creativities provides an essential ‘recipe book’ with an overarching framework, multiple tools and case studies, for the what, how, where, who, and why of doing the leadership work of cultivating creativity. It is a book all leaders should reference and deploy.’
– Lynn Perry Wooten, President, Simmons University; author of Wall Street Journal best seller, Arrive and Thrive: 7 Impactful Practices for Women Navigating Leadership

‘Creativity drives individual development and is the driving force of society today. In the digital economy era, social production is a creative production and social consumption is an imaginative consumption. Creativity is the thinking tool and action path to solve complex global affairs and create a better life for Human Beings. The three authors of Creativities, through cooperation across the gap of different time zones and the barriers of the COVID-19 epidemic, with extraordinary academic insights and the use of 4W1H (who, what, where, when, and how) logical clues, have sorted out the secret of Creativity. They open a door to a new world of creativity for each of us.’
– Yong Xiang (Hardy), Professor and Dean of Institute for Cultural Industries, Peking University, P.R.China, and author of Introduction to Creative Management.

Contents: Nigella, Jamie and the process of encouraging creativities PART I THE WHAT – CREATIVE ELEMENTS The ‘What’ framework: the market crate PART II THE HOW – CREATIVE BLENDS The ‘How’ framework: blending creative teams using creative leadership PART III THE WHERE – THE CREATIVE SET-UP The ‘Where’ framework: the creative bench formation PART IV THE WHO – ENGAGING CREATIVE USERS AND COMMUNITIES The ‘Who’ framework: four circles of co-creation PART V THE WHY – CREATIVE PURPOSES The ‘Why’ framework: the creative pathways matrix Index