Creative Thinkering and over one million other books are available for Amazon Kindle. Learn more



or
Sign in to turn on 1-Click ordering
Sell Us Your Item
For a $1.05 Gift Card
Trade in
More Buying Choices
Have one to sell? Sell yours here
Start reading Creative Thinkering on your Kindle in under a minute.

Don't have a Kindle? Get your Kindle here, or download a FREE Kindle Reading App.
Sorry, this item is not available in
Image not available for
Color:
Image not available

To view this video download Flash Player

 

Creative Thinkering: Putting Your Imagination to Work [Paperback]

Michael Michalko
4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (24 customer reviews)

List Price: $15.95
Price: $11.68 & FREE Shipping on orders over $25. Details
You Save: $4.27 (27%)
o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o
Only 16 left in stock (more on the way).
Ships from and sold by Amazon.com. Gift-wrap available.
Want it tomorrow, May 22? Choose One-Day Shipping at checkout. Details

Formats

Amazon Price New from Used from
Kindle Edition $8.77  
Paperback $11.68  
Unknown Binding --  
Image
Looking for the Audiobook Edition?
Tell us that you'd like this title to be produced as an audiobook, and we'll alert our colleagues at Audible.com. If you are the author or rights holder, let Audible help you produce the audiobook: Learn more at ACX.com.

Book Description

September 6, 2011
Why isn’t everyone creative? Why doesn’t education foster more ingenuity? Why is expertise often the enemy of innovation? Best-selling creativity expert Michael Michalko shows that in every field of endeavor, from business and science to government, the arts, and even day-to-day life — natural creativity is limited by the prejudices of logic and the structures of accepted categories and concepts. Through step-by-step exercises, illustrated strategies, and inspiring real-world examples he shows readers how to liberate their thinking and literally expand their imaginations by learning to synthesize dissimilar subjects, think paradoxically, and enlist the help of the subconscious mind. He also reveals the attitudes and approaches diverse geniuses share — and anyone can emulate. Fascinating and fun, Michalko’s strategies facilitate the kind of light-bulb moment thinking that changes lives — for the better.

Frequently Bought Together

Creative Thinkering: Putting Your Imagination to Work + Thinkertoys: A Handbook of Creative-Thinking Techniques (2nd Edition) + Cracking Creativity: The Secrets of Creative Genius
Price for all three: $41.02

Buy the selected items together


Editorial Reviews

Review

“Michael Michalko alters thinking, and his books alter actions. Creative Thinkering is amazing in three ways: it’s easy to read, easy to understand, and easy to apply the minute you read it. Every time I read a chapter in a Michael Michalko book I learn something so new, I say, ‘aha!’ So will you.”
— Jeffrey Gitomer, author of The Little Red Book of Selling

“A gym for your genius and a playground for practicing creative problem solving, Creative Thinkering is equipped with innovative exercises to strengthen your intuition. Michael Michalko’s mind-bending tips and techniques invite fresh perspectives that lead to remarkable results.”
— Jennifer Lee, author of The Right-Brain Business Plan

“Michael Michalko will take you on a delicious ride to the next evolutionary level of understanding why creative thinking is often counterintuitive and what methods work to break stilted thinking. Not a day goes by that I don’t employ several of Michael’s methods. I hope you employ the genius found in Creative Thinkering and carve out a new way of thinking and living that will bring you the fulfillment those methods have brought me.”
— Terry Stickels, puzzle writer and columnist

“In Creative Thinkering, we learn how to tease creativity out of life through the power of intention, letting the subconscious do the rest. The book includes ample exercises, techniques, and puzzles, and is full of ways to engage your brain, a suitable pursuit for anyone who wants to have a little more fun with life — or to avoid senility. Use Mr. Michalko’s tricks to step outside your cone of expectations and intentions the next time you need to develop a fantastic idea.”
The New York Journal of Books

About the Author

Michael Michalko is one of the most acclaimed creativity experts in the world. His bestselling books include Thinkertoys, ThinkPak, and Cracking Creativity. He has given speeches, workshops, and seminars on fostering creative thinking for clients ranging from associations and government agencies to Fortune 500 corporations, such as DuPont, Kellogg’s, General Electric, Kodak, Microsoft, Exxon, General Motors, Ford, AT&T, Wal-Mart, Gillette, and Hallmark. He lives in Rochester, New York.

Product Details

  • Paperback: 256 pages
  • Publisher: New World Library; Original edition (September 6, 2011)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 160868024X
  • ISBN-13: 978-1608680245
  • Product Dimensions: 6 x 0.6 x 9 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 14.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
  • Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (24 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #161,145 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Michael Michalko is one of the most highly acclaimed creativity experts in the world. As an officer in the U.S. Army, Michael organized a team of NATO intelligence specialists and international academics in Frankfurt, Germany, to research, collect, and categorize all known inventive-thinking methods. His team applied the methods to various NATO military, political, and social problems and produced a variety of breakthrough ideas and creative solutions to new and old problems. Michael later applied these creative-thinking techniques to problems in the corporate world with outstanding successes. The companies he worked with were thrilled with the breakthrough results they achieved, and Michael has since been in the business of developing and teaching creative-thinking workshops and seminars for corporate clients around the world.
.

He is the author of the best-seller THINKERTOYS: A HANDBOOK OF CREATIVE THINKING TECHNIQUES.

He is also the author of Thinkpak (A Brainstorming Card Set), which is a novel creative-thinking tool that is designed to facilitate brainstorming sessions, and Cracking Creativity (The Secrets of Creative Geniuses)which describes the common thinking strategies creative geniuses have used in the sciences, art, and industry throughout history and shows how we can apply them to become more creative in our business and personal lives.

Customer Reviews

4.7 out of 5 stars
(24)
4.7 out of 5 stars
I learned so much from him over the years! Raymond Anthony  |  2 reviewers made a similar statement
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
17 of 18 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars Another Masterpiece From the Master September 4, 2011
Format:Paperback
Michael Michalko will take you on a delicious ride to the next evolutionary level of understanding why creative thinking is often counterintuitive and what methods work to break stilted thinking. Not a day goes by that I don't employ several of Michael's methods. I hope you utilize and enjoy the genius found in CREATIVE THINKERING to carve out a new way of thinking and living that will bring you the fulfillment those methods have brought me. Michael Michalko is the only writer on creativity who offers palpable, common sense tools you can put to work on a daily basis. It is beyond me why anyone would not want to have all of Michalko's books. Simple methods, inexpensive, fascinating, fun . . . and they produce results.
Comment | 
Was this review helpful to you?
12 of 13 people found the following review helpful
4.0 out of 5 stars Kindle version needs ability to resize insets February 16, 2012
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
Just starting chapter 4 in the kindle version. The book so far is illuminating except it is very hard to read some of the thought-exercise insets as the format does not resize these. This makes me regret buying this book. I don't know if this is a problem particular to this book or a kindle issue. Either way it, is ripe for some 'Creative Thinkering'.
Was this review helpful to you?
16 of 19 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars A creative gem stone! August 29, 2011
Format:Paperback
I've found a real jewel of a book recently. Let me make a direct statement here: Michael Michalko's new book Creative Thinkering -- is a real gem stone. Just finished reading in one go on a flight across the pond -- and it was a mind-bendingly delightful and informative read - Chicago to London has never gone so quickly.

Thought provoking and interactive, Creative Thinkering, really gets you...thinking...in a fresh way about the meaning and "how to" of invention and breakthrough problem solving. It's packed with information about the nature of creativity. It flows logically, it has lots of juicy real life stories and examples, and it's absolutely loaded with germane and fun visuals. I'd add that it's also emotionally engaging and it has you realising that, yes, I can be more creative. His "thinkering" exercises have you proving it to yourself, it's really creative empowerment.

This book deserves a wide readership -- creative thinking could use a breakthrough book. It's one of the weird things about the field, that is, the people mostly likely to read a creativity book are those that don't need it. Creative Thinkering bridges the perception gap and opens up creative vistas -- even for those who don't believe they have the creative gene. Creative Thinkering de-mystifies the mythology that surrounds creativity, although if anything I finish the book even more awestruck about the power of imagination. Michalko elaborates extensively on the concept of "conceptual blending" which, in essence, is a mash-up in someone's mind of unrelated concepts that has them coming up with fresh, breakthrough ideas. This is a thinking capacity we all have, but one that few of us tap into. This conceptual blending is not an entirely new idea, but it's never been so well explained. In summary, I'd say that Creative Thinkering provides greater access to creativity -- served up in this gleaming silver platter of a book.

Order a copy now and give yourself the gift of imagination.
Comment | 
Was this review helpful to you?
Most Recent Customer Reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars Creativity and imagination
Special book, very interesting info here for anyone interested in creative thinking outside the box. Read more
Published 1 month ago by Ronald
5.0 out of 5 stars Learn to think creatively
Creative Thinkering by Michael Michalko provides readers with actionable methods to tap into and broaden their natural creativity. Read more
Published 1 month ago by Nathan Ives
5.0 out of 5 stars Practical and Compelling Argument
Especially as a high school educator and as a new grandmother, I found this discussion of how creativity is nurtured compelling and counter to most of what we do as educators of... Read more
Published 1 month ago by Karen Billings
5.0 out of 5 stars Fantastic
What an eye opener to Creative Thinking. Well written and easy to follow with many great examples and thought provoking ideas.
Published 3 months ago by Geoff Harrison
5.0 out of 5 stars A Major Contribution to the Creative Thinking Literature by One of the...
Sorry for the gushing title, but this book really hit the creativity spot. Michael Michalko is one of the big minds in the teaching of creative thinking and this book demonstrates... Read more
Published 4 months ago by bronx book nerd
4.0 out of 5 stars Your Monthly Book Report from Murphy Business
We read 'em, so you don't have to! As the nuns used to say, put on your thinking caps. Remember that, when you'd have to fake-tie on your cap? Read more
Published 4 months ago by CHRISTOPHER M. BOND
5.0 out of 5 stars A must read for all
A great book, thought provoking discussion, great examples and games. Learn to uncover your secret genius, your creative soul, and your wonderful ideas. Read more
Published 4 months ago by Max
5.0 out of 5 stars This should be required reading for every high school kid
Great book with lots of ideas for thinking "outside the box" and for generating new, unique, and clever ideas. Read more
Published 5 months ago by LCL
5.0 out of 5 stars Creative Thinkering
This is a great book which clearly and elegantly describes how we can increase our creative thinking - much needed in a time when the old solutions don't work with new problems -... Read more
Published 8 months ago by J. R. Mace
5.0 out of 5 stars How and why conceptual blending of dissimilar subjects, ideas, and...
Those who have read any of Michael Michalko's previously published books, notably Cracking Creativity and Thinkertoys, already know that he has a unique talent for explaining the... Read more
Published 13 months ago by Robert Morris
Search Customer Reviews
Only search this product's reviews

What Other Items Do Customers Buy After Viewing This Item?


Forums

There are no discussions about this product yet.
Be the first to discuss this product with the community.
Start a new discussion
Topic:
First post:
Prompts for sign-in
 





Look for Similar Items by Category