Creative Leadership: Skills That Drive Change [Paperback]

Gerard J. Puccio (Author), Mary C. Murdock (Author), Marie Mance (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 1412913802 | ISBN-13: 978-1412913805 | Publication Date: September 7, 2006

Creative Leadership: Skills That Drive Change demonstrates how creative thinking is an essential element of leadership, especially when bringing about change. In this engaging book, authors Gerard J. Puccio, Mary C. Murdock, and Marie Mance provide a unique combination of conceptual arguments, practical principles, and proven tools to enhance future leaders’ effectiveness in creating and managing change.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Dr. Gerard J. Puccio is Professor and Chair of the International Center for Studies in Creativity at Buffalo State, a unique academic department founded in 1967 that offers a Master of Science degree in creativity and a Graduate Certificate in Creativity and Change Leadership. Dr. Puccio has published more than 40 scholarly works and delivered more than 40 presentations at conferences and research meetings. As an internationally recognized creativity researcher, Dr. Puccio has presented his work in such countries as England, Italy, the Netherlands, Canada, France, Singapore, India and Hong Kong. Recently Dr. Puccio was one of the featured speakers in a panel discussion on creativity and intelligence at an international conference sponsored by the French Federation of Psychology to celebrate the one-hundredth anniversary of Binet’s work. In recognition of his scholarly efforts, Dr. Puccio received the State University of New York’s award for exemplary contributions to research.

In addition to his scholarly work, Dr. Puccio has delivered workshops and consulting services to numerous organizations including: Procter & Gamble, Kraft, Nabisco, 3M, IBM, Fisher-Price Toys, Rich Products, and many others. He has delivered creativity training programs and courses in a number of countries, including: Spain, Ireland, Brazil, England, and Tanzania.

Dr. Puccio received his doctoral degree in Organizational Psychology from the University of Manchester, England.

 Mary C. Murdock was an Associate Professor and graduate faculty member at the International Center for Studies in Creativity, Buffalo State College, Buffalo, NY, where she taught graduate courses and supervised master’s work. Through her career, Dr. Murdock was involved in international work, including work as a guest lecturer on qualitative research in the Cognitive Psychology Unit of the University of Bergen and in teaching Creative Problem Solving courses at international schools in five countries (Colombia, Dominican Republic, Tanzania, China, Malaysia).

Her publications included two texts: Creative Problem Solving and Role Playing, co-authored with E. Paul Torrance and Creativity Assessment: Readings and Resources with Gerard Puccio. She was also a co-editor along with Center colleagues, of Understanding and Recognizing Creativity: The Emergence of a Discipline and Nurturing and Developing Creativity: The Emergence of a Discipline.

Mary held a BA in English from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, an M.Ed. in Gifted Education and a doctorate in Educational Psychology from the University of Georgia.

Marie Mance is Director of Leadership Development at Buffalo State College and an adjunct faculty member at the International Center for Studies in Creativity, teaching in the undergraduate and graduate programs. She holds an M.S. in Creativity and M.Ed. in Counseling/Student Personnel. She has traveled internationally to present creativity and creative problem solving courses and workshops in Nigeria, Singapore and South Africa. She has also designed and delivered workshops in creativity, strategic planning and other change initiatives for a number of organizations in the public and private sector. Currently she is developing and presenting leadership programs for faculty, staff and students at Buffalo State with creativity as a core component. Marie also coaches in the leadership program and has completed training at the Coaches Training Institute. She is pursuing certification to become a Certified Professional Co-Active Coach. She is President of the Niagara Frontier chapter of ASTD (American Society for Training and Development) and a Colleague of the Creative Education Foundation.

Product Details

• Paperback: 328 pages
• Publisher: Sage Publications, Inc (September 7, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1412913802
• ISBN-13: 978-1412913805
• Product Dimensions: 9.8 x 6.6 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #860,337 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Gerard J. Puccio, Ph.D., is Department Chair and Professor at the International Center for Studies in Creativity, Buffalo State; a unique academic department that offers a Master of Science degree in Creativity and a graduate certificate in Creativity and Change Leadership (www.buffalostate.edu/creativity). Gerard has written more than 50 articles, chapters and books. In recognition of his outstanding work as a scholar, Gerard received the State University of New York Chancellor's Recognition Award for Research Excellence and the President's Medal for Scholarship and Creativity.


Dr. Puccio is an accomplished speaker and consultant; he has worked with major corporations, universities, and numerous school districts. His list of more than 200 client organizations include: the BBC, Fisher-Price Brands, Blue Cross and Blue Shield, Kraft Foods, Rich Products, BNP Paribas, Rubbermaid, Rochester Institute of Technology, Oklahoma State University, the Fashion Institute of Technology, and many more. Due to his international reputation as a thought leader in applied creativity, organizational innovation, and creative leadership, Gerard has delivered creativity workshops, presentations and keynote speeches in over a dozen countries across the globe.

Based on his research, Gerard developed a self-report measure called FourSight that identifies individuals' preferences within the creative process. Numerous organizations have used this tool to help their associates and teams sharpen their creativity skills and to increase the probability of developing breakthrough ideas (see www.foursightonline.com).

Gerard holds a Ph.D. in organizational psychology from the University of Manchester, England. To e-mail Gerard use '[e-mail]'

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Books Shows How Creativity Powers Change, February 15, 2007

By 

Joseph Tay (Singapore) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Creative Leadership: Skills That Drive Change (Hardcover)

The authors put up a strong case of the leadership-creativity connection. Using research by other scholars, the authors highlight problem solving as an important skill set of a leader. The book takes the reader through the creative problem solving process that Buffalo is renowned for and the techniques to facilitate divergent and convergent thinking.

The book is easy to read with practical examples to aid learning. The coverage is comprehensive including sections on creative styles and climate. There is theorectical basis which helps the reader to understand and build confidence.

This book guides me on how to get out of the rut and inspires me that things can be different. A great resource book.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Current Thinking About Thinking, December 12, 2010

By 

Gregg Fraley "Author of Jack's Notebook" (Three Oaks, Michigan, USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Creative Leadership: Skills That Drive Change (Paperback)

As a student of creative process, I've made it a point to read nearly every book that comes out on the subject. Creative Leadership: Skills That Drive Change is a seminal book on the topic, a must read if you want to be aware of the latest thinking about creative thinking.

Gerard Puccio, Mary Mance, and the late Mary Murdock, have written a book that forwards the field, and adds new thinking to how people think. Importantly, this is not just a book about creative thinking, but a book about how that topic connects with the all important skills of leadership and change. This is a scholarly book, and yet, it is highly readable, with good examples and case studies. I've read this book several times because there is no better guide, no better text, for understanding how structured creative thinking can help solve complex challenges.

For those who care, this book modifies, extends, and adapts the 55 year old Osborn-Parnes model of creative problem solving. The new model improves on the old one by recognizing that it is not always necessary to walk through every step in a structured model. It adds a diagnostic step that is missing in the original Osborn-Parnes, and it includes in the idea development phase, the idea refinement step. These subtle shifts from the original process are helpful in adapting the process to real world challenges. Puccio has also developed the FourSight Online Assessment which works hand in glove with the adapted creative problem solving model, see: [...]

Jack's Notebook: A business novel about creative problem solving -- for another perspective on structured creative problem solving in the form of a business novel.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Required reading for business innovation leadership, May 5, 2009

By 

S. C, Martin (Buffalo, NY) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Creative Leadership: Skills That Drive Change (Paperback)

Best practices is now telling us that innovation (creativity) in business is the next challenge that even the best businesses must take on. Reports on the successes and failures of businesses using Six Sigma, Lean, TQM and other change models reveal that no business, no matter how efficient, can succeed in the long term without innovation.

Most people do not understand creativity much less have the skills necessary to lead innovation. "Creative Leadership" contains the information that managers need to have in their personal tool kits to become innovation leaders.

Creativity can be taught, innovation can be lead and, in my opinion, you can be on that leading edge when you read "Creative Leadership."

The authors know the creative discipline as they are members of the faculty of The State University College at Buffalo which is the only college in the world that grants a Master of Science degree in creativity. This knowledge is shared generously in "Creative Leadership."