Out of Our Minds: Learning to be Creative (Paperback)

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Editorial Reviews

Review

"I shall add Ken Robinson's absorbing account of creativity to my personal list of gems. I was sorry to reach the end of the text, as it had maintained its momentum throughout. The reading may finish, but the thinking goes on, just as you would expect from a book on this intriguing subject." (Times Educational Supplement, 11th May 2001)

"This is a thoughtful book .... A truly mind-opening analysis of why we don't get the best of people in a time of punishing change." (The Director, June 2001)

"This well-written book focuses on the widening gulf between academic institution teachings and the feelings, emotions and imagination that drive us as humans." (Arts Professional, 4th June 2001)

"I recommend that you read the book, take part in the debate and become part of the new paradigm" (People Management, 12th July 2001)

"this book will stimulate and challenge" (Professional Manager, September 2001)

"...a rattling, informal read, sparkling with ideas, jokes, anecdotes and ideas.." (Music Teacher, December 2001)

Product Description

"This really is a remarkable book. It does for human resources what Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring did for the environment. It makes you wonder why we insist on sustaining an education system that is narrow, partial, entirely inappropriate for the 21st century and deeply destructive of human potential when human beings have so much latent creative ability to offer. A brilliant analysis." Wally Olins, Founder, Wolff-Olins "Competitive advantage does not come from the Internet. It comes from leveraging creativity . All corporate leaders should read this book." Professor Richard Scase, author, Britain in 2010 "I thoroughly recommend this excellent book. Developing our latent creative ability is vital for personal and professional success. Ken Robinson gives us the signposts we need to achieve this." Sir John Harvey Jones "If you would like to start to unlock the inherent creativity that exists in every human being (including you), then start (you have to) by reading this book!" Simon Woodroffe, Founder, Yo Sushi, and former Entrepreneur of the Year "Ken Robinson’s is an original and creative mind. I can think of no better spokesperson on creativity. His views are as much directed to learning institutions as they are to industry. Out of Our Minds is a genuine challenge to complacency." Ruth Spellman, Chief Executive of Investors in People, UK "Sometimes a writer has an uncanny knack of sharply focusing something which up until then you had not seen in all its simplicity and brilliance. This book does that but at the next moment it makes connections never before imagined…Even the most obstinately prosaic and safe thinkers will be tempted out of their box by Ken Robinson’s ideas, theories and speculations. What’s more, he writes as he speaks, in a way that, magnetically and compulsively, is simply irresistible" Professor Tim Brighouse, Director of Education, Birmingham

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Product Details

• Paperback: 288 pages
• Publisher: Capstone; 1 edition (March 15, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1841121258
• ISBN-13: 978-1841121253
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 6.1 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (18 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #11,702 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

88 of 90 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Keep it short, Sir Ken, November 28, 2006

By	T. Harris "http://talkaboutquality.wordpress.com" - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

After reading the book, I had a hard time remembering why I had thought it would be great, so I looked again at Sir Ken Robinson's recent and popular lecture at [search "Sir Ken Robinson on TED Talks"]. Now I remember -- he's an entertaining speaker, with some pretty good points about the genius of children and how we school it out of them. But the book, well, it's subtitled "Learning to Be Creative" but that really only comes in the last chapter, and his recommendations seem very conservative. He spends much too much time before that--building up his case--and that case is watered down by being second-hand. If you want to know about what schooling is doing and why, read Ivan Illich's Deschooling Society. If you're really interested in the physiological basis of non-academic intelligence, read Goleman's Emotional Intelligence (which Sir Ken quotes, but better the original). In short, the book, though it's just 200 pages, is simply too long.

I did find one memorable point: that many people miss the chance for creativity because they're not trying in the field that's natural to them. The idea that, in order to be creative, find your medium, whether it be in the "traditional" arts such as painting or dance, or in any other occupation. Whatever is closest to your heart.

32 of 32 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Intellectually Challenging & Humorous, June 19, 2001

By	Brian Barnes (Croydon) - See all my reviews

There are certain books that manage to be authoritative, entertaining and thought-provoking and are also well-written and richly exemplified. Few authors are able to fashion this attractive mixture. Alvin Toffler and Charles Handy can craft it, and in education, David Hargreaves has the knack. I shall add Ken Robinson's absorbing account of creativity to my personal list of gems.

Creativity is one of those topics that excites some and enrages others. In the wrong hands it can be twee, syrupy, smug, territorial, giving the impression that you have to belong to a special club, with its own argot and conventions. For Ken Robinson it is none of these, but rather a universal talent that people have, often without realising it. Society in general, and education in particular, can squash the imagination and rock children's self-confidence.

What I like about this book is the breadth of its scope ... and the fascinating little stories that illustrate the points being made, tales from history, social and economic background factors, test items, incidents from school life. The book is peppered with these vividly recounted vignettes about thinking and learning, or lack of it ... Many of the illustrations and anecdotes are personal to the author, about people he has met inside and outside the university world, organisations he knows, stories he has been told.

Robinson's line of argument is carefully constructed through the seven chapters ... Because imagination and invention do not progress in straight lines, or along predictable routes, whole organisations must create and sustain a culture that promotes creativity, rather than stifles it. On the surface, relatively little of this book is directly about education, for many of the chapters describe society generally, human functioning, the arts, and the imagination. But you could also argue that all of it is about education. ... I was sorry to reach the end of the text, as it had maintained its momentum throughout. The reading may finish, but the thinking goes on, just as you would expect from a book on this intriguing subject.

16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Brilliant, October 30, 2001

By	Brian Barnes (Croydon) - See all my reviews

Sometimes a writer has an uncanny kknack of sharply focusing something which up until then you had not seen in all its simplicity and brilliance. This book does that but at the next moment it makes connections never before imagained. Even the most obstinately prosaic and safe thinkers will be tempted out of their box by Ken Robinson's ideas, theories and speculations. What's more, he writes as he speaks, in a way that, magnetically and compulsively, is simply irresistible.