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The Accidental Creative: How to Be Brilliant at a Moment's Notice
 
 
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The Accidental Creative: How to Be Brilliant at a Moment's Notice [Hardcover]

Todd Henry (Author)
4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (42 customer reviews)

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Book Description

July 7, 2011
"You go to work each day tasked with (1) inventing brilliant solutions that (2) meet specific objectives by (3) defined deadlines. If you do this successfully you get to keep your job. If you don't, you get to work on your resume. The moment you exchange your creative efforts for money, you enter a world where you will have to be brilliant at a moment's notice. (no pressure, right?)" 

It isn't enough to just do your job anymore. In order to thrive in today's marketplace, all of us, regardless of our role, have to be ready to generate brilliant ideas on demand.  The Accidental Creative teaches effective practices that support your creative process. You'll discover how to: 

- Focus in on your most critical work and reclaim your attention. 
- Develop stimulating relationships that will lead to creative insights. 
- Effectively manage your energy so that you are always ready to engage. 
- Curate stimuli that help you stay mentally focused. 
- Leverage your hours wisely and effectively to eliminate creativity drains. 

The Accidental Creative is your guide to staying fresh and doing your best work each day.

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Editorial Reviews

Review

"My copy of The Accidental Creative has notes and highlights throughout. Invaluable for anyone who thinks for a living."  
Seth Godin, Author of Linchpin


"Mr. Henry's prescription for maximizing productivity is sagacious, innovative, and sublimely practical. I've already incorporated into my own regime three of his notions and they are working like gangbusters. The Accidental Creative is high-octane fuel for creative productivity." 
Steven Pressfield, author of The War of Art


"Todd Henry has spent years breaking down the secrets of highly effective creatives. Read this book and prepare to ramp up your brilliance!" 
Chris Guillebeau, author of The Art of Nonconformity


"The gift of creative insight is not to be squandered! Todd Henry has assembled a guide that will enrich your creative pursuits. Don't dream without it."
- Scott Belsky, CEO of Behance, author of Making Ideas Happen

"There are two definitive versions of you with Todd's book: you before reading it, and you to the 100th power immediately after. Bottom line, The Accidental Creative offers real-world, inspirational insight on how to realize your creative best."
- riCardo Crespo, SVP/Global Creative Chief, 20th Century Fox FCP

"The Accidental Creative" is an inspiring and practical guide for staying fresh and doing brilliant work. If you regularly need great ideas, this book will help you find them."
-Tony Schwartz, Author of "Be Excellent at Anything"

About the Author

Todd Henry is the founder and CEO of Accidental Creative, a consultancy that helps organizations generate brilliant ideas. In 2006 he started The Accidental Creative, one of the top business podcasts. Henry is a sought-after speaker, consultant, and coach. Visit AccidentalCreative.com to learn more.

Product Details

  • Reading level: Ages 18 and up
  • Hardcover: 240 pages
  • Publisher: Portfolio Hardcover (July 7, 2011)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 1591844010
  • ISBN-13: 978-1591844013
  • Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.4 x 0.9 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 11.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
  • Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (42 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #25,462 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Todd Henry is the founder and CEO of Accidental Creative, a company that helps creative people and teams be prolific, brilliant and healthy. He regularly speaks and consults with companies about how to develop practices that lead to everyday brilliance. Visit AccidentalCreative.com to learn more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews
39 of 40 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase
As soon as I finished reading this, I bought four more copies for my writer friends. This book will serve creative professionals and dedicated hobbyists of all stripes, from writers, painters, and graphic designers to design engineers and computer programmers.

This book will help you bring a thoughtful structure to your every day creative work. It's work in the best way; Todd teaches you how to examine your life as a whole to make sure that you have the key elements necessary to support your creating over the long term.

So often I find myself exhausted from a long day at work, with little energy left to give to my own personal art. After reading the book I've made some small, intentional changes to my daily habits and I've been excited to find I have so much more left in the tank for my writing and creating sessions. I even find myself waking up early, filled with new ideas. That's in the short term; I'm excited for the long term change to my production.

This book stands on its own (no knowledge of the podcast necessary), but fans of the podcast will especially love this book! It's definitely money well spent and I even find that it is helping me to synthesize the ideas from other creative revolution books like Daniel Pink's "A Whole New Mind." The book has earned a spot on my desk, not on my bookshelf.
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21 of 22 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase
If only I had been armed with this information in college but Oh how grateful I am to have it now!
A few years ago, I stumbled upon Todd Henry and his podcast. Instantly I was drawn in by his accessible manner, as he painted the picture of what creative burn-out looked like..and it was my self portrait. His emphasis on "filling your tank" with artistic input before you even begin expelling your creative output, changed my entire perspective of the process.

This book, How To Be Brilliant At A Moment's Notice is not only the compilation of the Accidental Creative's brilliant, prolific and healthy golden nuggets but reveals to you what's at the core of your blocked and frustrating creative moments. And then helps you create workable resolutions. I am thrilled to say that it exceeded all expectations that I had. It is the essential user's manual for any creative! If your creative outlook was impacted by Steven Pressfield's "The War of Art" then this book will blow you away.
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17 of 18 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase
After being a listener of the Accidental Creative podcast for years, it was great to see Todd finally release a book.

This is an important book worth sharing for a few reasons...
1. it's hits all the strong points from Accidental Creative podcasts - and there are many,
2. it covers a ton of uncharted territory extremely relevant to the modern knowledge worker,
3. it articulates art and creativity in way that almost anyone can digest, bringing it closer to home for engineering minds (like mine) and knowledge workers, and
4. brings all this together with a focus on mental and physical health too - it's like a Four Hour Body for the mind.

A thoroughly recommended, refreshing read.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
How and why almost anyone can learn to survive and (perhaps) thrive in...
Contrary to what this book's subtitle suggests, even people who are highly renowned for being "brilliant" cannot turn it on "at a moment's notice. Read more
Published 3 months ago by Robert Morris
Refreshing, Inspiring and Smart
I just finished Todd Henry's book The Accidental Creative: How to be Brilliant at a Moment's Notice. Read more
Published 3 months ago by Michael R Raffensperger
Life Changing
I've been praising this book to anyone and everyone within earshot since it released, so it's high time I write an Amazon review. Read more
Published 6 months ago by Latent Possibilities
Yes love it, but beware of the target audience
First of all, I love this book.

And now here is "why" of I love this book ....

I think this book is great if you are a creative in the commercial world (ie... Read more
Published 6 months ago by Casey Lynn
The Accidental Creative
I consider myself a reasonably creative person (I asked my wife the other day and she thought I was, so that settles it!). Read more
Published 6 months ago by Michael Taylor
Life Balance
After listening to the Accidental Creative podcast for years it is great to finally have all the information boiled down into book format. Read more
Published 7 months ago by Jessie Marie
Sustainability
After two years as a regular podcast listener, I was happy to see Todd Henry organize the various ideas, methods, and threads into a longer work. Read more
Published 7 months ago by Brian Bozanich
there are 10,000 books just like this from 80 years ago
This book is a disguised intelligence test--if you buy it you are too foolish and out of date and lazy to EVER be creative in any sense beyond crafting textile bunnies. Read more
Published 7 months ago by Richard Greene
I didn't finish reading it
I got about half way through this book, so take my review with a grain of salt other than it didn't hold my interest. Read more
Published 7 months ago by Debra Augur
Aha! moments and breakthrough advice for creatives and beyond
I began listening to Todd's pod casts a number of years ago, and he has refined the subject matter to a degree that his new book should be required reading at the university level. Read more
Published 7 months ago by Mark R. Field
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What is the target audience? and what format is more effective? 0 Apr 4, 2012
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