How to Get Ideas [Paperback]

Jack Foster (Author), Larry Corby (Illustrator)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 21, 1996

Having spent 40 years in advertising and coming up with new ideas every day, the author shows readers seven ways to condition the mind to produce ideas and four subsequent steps for creating ideas on command. 12 line drawings.

Editorial Reviews

From Scientific American

Quite simply, the best book on creativity I have ever seen.

Review

How To Get Ideas answers the basic questions of where do ideas come from, why do some people get so many of them, and is there some secret technique to getting more of them. How To Get Ideas answers these questions and demonstrates that any reader, regardless of age or skill, employment or training, can come up with more ideas, faster and easier than ever before in his or her life. Author Jack Foster shows how to condition the mind and become "idea-prone"; how to make the child within us and our sense of humor work for us; how to develop our curiosity, visualize our goals, rethinking our thinking, combine different ideas, and overcome our fear of rejection. How To Get Ideas provides a five-step procedure for solving problems and getting ideas, a proven procedure that takes the mystery and anxiety out of the idea-generating process, a procedure that works. How To Get Ideas should be in every school, community, and corporate library across the country. How To Get Ideas is the ideal place to start for anyone seeking to make improvements in the world around them. -- Midwest Book Review

If I had money enough to buy only one book, it would be Jack Foster's How to Get Ideas. It is a quick read for a quick start, a motivator to make you more productive and more secure. This book should be re-read every four or five months as food for the rest of your life. -- Dennis F. Holt, Chairman and CEO, Western International Media

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Product Details

• Paperback: 399 pages
• Publisher: Berrett-Koehler Publishers; 1 edition (October 21, 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 157675006X
• ISBN-13: 978-1576750063
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.4 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (92 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #221,033 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

41 of 42 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Thinking the Einstein way May 4, 2007

By Frank S. Joseph

Format:Paperback

"Albert Einstein said his best ideas came to him while he was shaving," Jack Foster writes in "How to Get Ideas" (2nd ed.). When I read that line, what could I do? I put the book down for a moment and went to shave.

That's about the only time I stopped reading though, and you won't be able to put it down either. For boosting creativity, this book is a lifesaver.

Foster's advice is simple -- have fun, think like a child again, open your mind to new possibilities -- but not necessarily obvious. Most of us do the same old things and think in the same old ways. Foster aims to help us spot these unhelpful patterns, then break out with easy-to-follow tips and stimulating exercises.

And anecdotes. Foster draws on decades of experience as a top creative hand in major advertising agencies, where he encountered guys and gals driven by curiosity -- people who found out how much a ten-gallon hat will hold (three-quarters of a gallon) and how many times per day an African elephant will defecate (16). Illustrating how to solve a problem by stepping around it, Foster tells the story of the woman who solved the slow-elevator problem in her building -- by mounting mirrors in the lobby. (How did she do it? See P. 134.)

You'll discover how to overcome the fears that keep you from thinking creatively ... easy ways to gather information ... combining unrelated facts for new ideas ... the five steps for getting great new ideas ... and how to put them to work for YOU.

You'll finish reading "How to Get Ideas" in an hour or two. But you'll benefit from its advice for the rest of your life.

44 of 49 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars A REAL IDEA IS RARE. May 26, 2000

By Henry Caroselli

Format:Paperback

"I spent 6 years as the Advertising Creative Director for Disneyland and 20+ years in the advertising agency business. I can comfortably say that I know the power of an idea. I know that what most people call ideas aren't real ideas. A real idea is quite rare, very precious, and requires careful nurturing so it can grow into a powerful force. Jack's book outlines the process of what it takes to come up with a real idea - and how to persevere until that idea has a life of its own. Jack's book is a must read if you want to get in (or want to stay in) the idea business."

23 of 27 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars It was great. Ideas are flowing like never before. October 13, 1998

By A Customer

Format:Paperback

Jack Foster's book "How to get ideas" helped our company create the atmosphere that we needed to generate excitement and, of course, ideas. I didn't think it was possible to teach others how to get ideas until I read Foster's book. I used to think that ideas just happened or that some people were naturally more creative then others.

Foster suggests excercises and step by step instructions in a format that is fun and easy to read.

My biggest temptation was to rip through the pages without taking the time to stop and absorb what I had just read. So I read it twice. Make that three times.

I highly recommend this book to anyone who has to get the creative juices going but just doesn't know how. If you're naturally creative but run into an occasional roadblock this book will suggest a detour to get you back on track. 5-stars.