Customer Reviews

The Innovative Leader: How to Inspire Your Team and Drive Creativity

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(2)
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The Summary
Paul Sloane, an expert on creativity and problem solving, has written a highly entertaining and idea-packed book on how to foster creativity and innovation in your teams. Every leader wants their teams to be more innovative, but don't always know how to go about it. Sloane, has gathered together a whole plethora of tools and techniques to stimulate teams into innovation overdrive.
NOTE: This review might seem a little over-excited! My only excuse is that it is hard not to be excited by Paul's exuberance that overflows throughout book!

The Audience
This booked is aimed at leaders that want to foster innovation and creativity into their teams. If you are looking for a practical book with techniques and tools that can be applied immediately to stimulate your teams, then look no further!

The Details
This is a short, fun book on how to build innovative cultures. Don't be fooled by this slim volume, it is jam-packed with innovative techniques and tools! Paul Sloane is described as an entertaining, thought-provoking and motivational speaker. I have never seen him live, but after reading this book, I can believe the hype! He has managed to imbue his enthusiasm into this very practical book!

The book is organized into 6 sections:
- Section 1 - Leading Innovation - How to become an innovative leader, how to kick of an innovative culture.
- Section 2 - Problem Analysis - How to frame problems
- Section 3 - Generating Ideas - How to generate lots of ideas!
- Section 4 - Implementing Innovation Processes - How to structure innovation projects in your organization
- Section 5 - Building a Creative Culture - How to build a culture where creativity thrives
- Section 6 - Personal Creativity - How to develop personal creativity skills

The tools and techniques described are accompanied with stories and examples that drive home the message.

The Take-Aways
I have read many books on innovation and creativity and even I managed to discover some techniques that I had not seen before. Paul is most definitely an expert on innovation and has managed to write an inspirational book on how to become an innovative leader.

If you are a busy manager and want a practical book packed with techniques you can use at work on Monday morning, then buy, read and kick start your innovation engine!

Kes Sampanthar
Inventor of ThinkCube

I love books full of things that work! If you wanted one book to encapsulate creativity and innovation pick this one. My bookshelf is full of most of the books Sloane references, but he compresses it down to "just what you need". My best takeaway was the 26 ways to generate new ideas. I especially like the "Who killed our business exercise." Clearly written, easy to read, succinct and oh so useful. If you are CEO in a fast moving industry, with youthful, brilliant people around you, this is a book you must read and use.

After meeting Paul Sloane at the "Best of TechEd og Convergence" Microsoft conference in Iceland where he was a key note speaker and was immediately impressed with the way he captured the audience and had a nice presence. And after attending his training I was even more impressed, feeling compelled to get his book and he even autographed it. So he had proved to me that he was a great speaker, then that he was kind and down to earth...and now, after reading his book I can say that I can, no, must recommend him as a trainer and a writer. The book was easy to read, vitamin for the brain and now I'm using some of the concepts in my company and in my board meetings.

"When I picked the book up, I was at first riveted by Paul Sloanes' commentary of the social and business impact of innovation. His tips go on to help you understand new ways to do this that could be used in your company. I immediately wanted to stop, put the book down and take action on the points made in the text, such as Paul's "10 Ways to Increase Innovation." I picked the book up again for a second dose of enthusiasm and noted that there are powerful historical references to how people have applied concepts of innovataion before. The Innovative Leader is now an important reference that I like using in building consulting strategies with our clients. One of my favorites in Paul's book is, "give everyone two jobs..." I highly recommend this book to anyone looking for ways to add value to their business,and improve their own career potential."

Aspiring creative leader, let Paul Sloane's "The Innovative Leader" be a guide for your actions, for your business for yourself. It's a great book!

It's fun. It's serious. It's one hundred and seven things to do for yourself, for your company, with your people. Each section is between half a page and three pages. It's organized under six headings: Leading Innovation, Problem Analysis, Generating Ideas, Implementing innovation processes, Building a creative culture, Personal creativity.

It's practical. It's simple. It's a list of things to do and be. Don't tell, ask. Keep fit. Train for innovation. Try weird combinations. Tell stories. Be passionate. Encourage dissent.

It's challenging. It's disruptive. It's high energy.

Aspiring creative leader, will you really do this stuff? Or some of it? You should. It's simple. Not easy. Try. You have nothing to lose but your rusty chains to obsolescence. You have a world to win.

Excellent, Excellent Book! I highly recommend it. Many down to earth, easy to understand thoughts, ideas and new ways to bring innovation to my team.

Busy leaders and senior level executives will love Paul Sloane's new book, The Innovative Leader. It distills numerous innovation lessons and strategies into a concise, actionable executive summary format that speaks to their needs.

Sloane combines an impressive depth of knowledge about what works and doesn't work in the world of innovation, along with a strong background in lateral thinking - a chief source of ideas that fuel breakthrough innovation. He also weaves in real-world examples from innovative companies like IBM, Google and Virgin.

Unlike some innovation books, in which the author spends several hundred pages outlining his or her pet innovation framework, Sloane provides the reader with an eminently practical collection of innovation tips, examples and strategies. You'll find ideas that you'll want to implement right away in your business.