Creativity Without Frontiers: A book review by Bob Morris

 

Creativity Without Frontiers: How to Make the Invisible Visible by Lighting the Way Into the Future
Roy Sharples
Unknown Origins (April 2021)

An essential aspect of creativity is having no fear of failure.” Edwin Land

Most (not all) human limits are self-imposed and that is especially true in a workplace culture in which people are urged to think creatively, to produce breakthrough innovations, to think outside the box in order to solve problems inside the box, etc. Most people cannot do that because most people are unwilling and/or unable to think creatively about creativity.

Roy Sharples explains that his approach “blends the art and science of the creative process: Dream, Make, and Do.  The sequence is iterative and constant, and the alchemy lies in bringing it to life with purpose and impact…To help you become an influential creative leader, I’ve established a Creative Excellence Model that details the collection of skills and competencies. These comprise principles that define what creative leaders must know andc practice, and that holistically address leadership at the individual, team, and organizational levels. It is also relevant to and infuses the practices essential at all levels, from Fledgelings to Journeymen, Experts to Innovators, and ultimately Artists.”

There are five stages to the learning process:

1. FLEDGELING: Acquiring knowledge and knowhow [i.e. WHAT and HOW]
2. JOURNEYMAN: Apply insight and contributing independently
3. EXPERT: Guiding through domain expertise
4. INNOVATOR: Innovating through breakthrough execution
5. ARTIST: Leading through artistry and personal mastery

Sharples carefully guides his reader through each of these stages. “The learning never stops!” Actually, it can and often does stop when pilgrims embarked on the journey lose curiosity and/or energy and/or determination…or all of the above.

Staples suggests that these are the principles that guide and inform the process of learning how to create without frontiers:

o Know that ridicule is nothing to be afraid of.
o Never be “another brick in the wall.”
o Lead without frontiers.
o Provoke actions that change minds.
o Keep true to the dreams of your youth and create outside of the boundaries.

With all due respect to the value of the information, insights, and counsel that Roy Sharples shares in this book, it remains for each reader to absorb, digest, and then commit to acting upon the material that is most relevant to the given circumstances.

To those who doubt that they can complete the process, here is a reply from Henry Ford: “Whether you think you can or think you can’t, you’re probably right.”

If you share my high regard for this book, check out these two classics: Keith Sawyer’s Explaining Creativity: The Science of Human Innovation (2012) and Creative Confidence: Unleashing the Creative Potential Within Us All (2013) co-authored by David Kelley and Tom Kelley.

 

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