Amazon.com: The Accidental Creative: How to Be Brilliant at a Moment's Notice (9781591844013): Todd Henry: Books

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

Hardcover: 240 pages
Publisher: Portfolio Hardcover; First Edition edition (July 7, 2011)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1591844010
ISBN-13: 978-1591844013
Product Dimensions: 6.6 x 0.9 x 9.1 inches
Shipping Weight: 11.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars See all reviews (58 customer reviews)
Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #19,280 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #40 in Books > Health, Fitness & Dieting > Psychology & Counseling > Creativity & Genius
- #76 in Books > Business & Investing > Management & Leadership > Decision-Making & Problem Solving
- #100 in Books > Self-Help > Creativity

Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?

More About the Author

› Visit Amazon's Todd Henry Page

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

4.6 out of 5 stars

(58)

4.6 out of 5 stars

2 star

See all 58 customer reviews

“ I recently completed the book "The Accidental Creative" by Todd Henry. ” emilyreeves | 15 reviewers made a similar statement

“ If its your first book on the subject than it is worth reading. ” Ori Albin | 10 reviewers made a similar statement

“ I have done my best to begin building into my life (my calendar, more specifically) the practices Todd commends, and it really has been revolutionary for me. ” Latent Possibilities | 12 reviewers made a similar statement

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

49 of 51 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Plan for Great Creating July 7, 2011

By HolaMindy

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.

Comment |

Was this review helpful to you?

Yes

48 of 52 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars An okay attempt to enhance your creativity October 6, 2011

By Nancy Loderick VINE™ VOICE

Format:Hardcover

Creativity comes and goes; you can't force it. Todd Henry attempts to show how to enhance your creativity. While there were some interesting points in this book, I was not particularly inspired.

The good points for me:

**Ideas how to maintain a creative rhythm. It's perfectly normal to not be in creative mode all of the time. Recognize the down times and make the most of them.

**The concept of focus. Todd suggests that you group like tasks together so you can maintain rhythm and focus. Try not to constantly check your email while trying to do something else. You end up half concentrating on each task.

**Tips on how to manage your energy. Okay, this is common sense, but it's helpful to have it repeated. I'm most definitely a morning person, so that's when I should be doing my tough tasks that require lots of thinking.

**Suggestion to aside time to just think. This is very hard to do in our overly-scheduled, 24/7 connected world, but it will pay off. Start with just one hour a week.

**Learn how to identify and cut your time sinks. Recognize that surfing the Internet is not productive. Sure it may relax you, but it is a big time sink.

What missed the mark for me:

**The book seemed to ramble. Todd goes from defining creativity and its components, to talking about team work, to giving some concrete steps on how to set up your Big 3, those most important loops in your life.

**I'm still not sure how all the chapters fit together. They seem piecemeal.

This book is best enjoyed if you skim and see if a few of Todd's suggestions resonate with you.

5 Comments |

Was this review helpful to you?

Yes

24 of 26 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars The Perfect Cure For Creative Misdirection...and Preparation July 7, 2011

By meStudio

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.

Comment |

Was this review helpful to you?

Yes

19 of 21 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Four Hour Body for the mind July 7, 2011

By BEN LOVE

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.

Comment |

Was this review helpful to you?

Yes

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars The Accidental Creative November 4, 2011

By Michael Taylor TOP 500 REVIEWERVINE™ VOICE

Format:Hardcover

I consider myself a reasonably creative person (I asked my wife the other day and she thought I was, so that settles it!). Some of the creative things I do or have done include: paint and decorate our house, paint small Civil War and Revolutionary War soldiers and create miniature battlefields, teach a Children's Sunday School and fill in for an Adult class, landscaping around our house, enjoy thinking and how to improve areas of my life, etc.

Naturally, I was drawn to Henry's book and wanted to get ideas on how to improve my creativity. The book is divided into 2 main parts:

1. Dynamics of Creativity - working with others, being careful of people and things that hijack creativity.
2. Establishing a Creative Rhythm in Your Life - focus, energy, stimuli, hours, relationships, etc.

Among the many topics covered include:

1. Working with other people can enhance your creativity - of course, I should clarify that working with the RIGHT kind of people can help! Other types of people can be energy and creative draining vampires!
2. Focus - try to stay on one topic for a reasonably prolonged period of time to allow for deep thinking. Some mindless employers expect you to constantly multitask, resulting in short and long-term adverse effects.
3. Stimuli - focus on events, surroundings, etc. that can enhance your productivity. Hint - different people respond to different stimuli.
4. Hours - use the time (morning, afternoon, night) when you are strongest and most likely to think creatively.
5. Energy - get enough rest, eat healthy, and do other things that are good for you and can help enhance your creativity.

I enjoyed reading the book.... Read more ›

Comment |

Was this review helpful to you?

Yes

› See all 58 customer reviews (newest first)

Write a customer review

Most Recent Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars Great Book. It helps you to organize yourself.

This book can help you to make conscious what is unconscious for you at the moment. It is easy to read and understand. It is a great tool and a must have.

Published 2 months ago by David Moreno

5.0 out of 5 stars Good book

Don't know what this book is about because I did not buy it for me but for my cousin. She was asked to buy the books for work and she works in an advertising company. Read more

Published 2 months ago by kapm77

3.0 out of 5 stars Kindle version more expensive than Hardcover!

Kindle version more expensive than Hardcover! WTH? During the lawsuit against publishers, amazon lowered the kindle edition prices, now the game has started again. Read more

Published 3 months ago by M. Gurgun

5.0 out of 5 stars The freedom of boundaries

It all started one day, when Michael (from Central Europe) emailed me:

Dear Jason, I would also share with You one book, that I've recently read. Read more

Published 4 months ago by Jason W. Womack

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent book from a passionate writer

Fantastic book with lots of food for thought. One of those books where you're torn about what to do - continue reading and picking Todd Henry's brain for more awesomeness or stop... Read more

Published 5 months ago by Taryn

3.0 out of 5 stars Was good, but....

Was good but too many things to do that make it logistically very difficult to implement. But , to be fair, I have only been trying for one week. Read more

Published 5 months ago by open wide

5.0 out of 5 stars really am getting a ton out of even the first few chapters

some books you have to sift through to get to the meat of the book, but NOT this one. It is great and full of excellent tips. read it cover to cover, don't skip. Read more

Published 5 months ago by c. diane gibbs

5.0 out of 5 stars Plain, straight-forward and super helpful

I'm a self-employed full-time singer/songwriter & producer who has been creatively blocked for far too long. Read more

Published 6 months ago by jercase

1.0 out of 5 stars Overpriced - more expensive than hardcover!

The Kindle edition is more expensive than the hardcover from Amazon. I can get a new dead-tree paper version printed, packaged and shipped for less than the Kindle version. Read more

Published 6 months ago by W. Turnbull

4.0 out of 5 stars Useful and smart

What i like the most is the fact that we can recognize ourselves and there are great solutions for creatives to help be more efficient. Read more

Published 7 months ago by Charles-David Cardinal

Front Cover | Table of Contents | First Pages | Index | Surprise Me!

What Other Items Do Customers Buy After Viewing This Item?

Manage Your Day-to-Day: Build Your Routine, Find Your Focus, and Sharpen Your Creative Mind (The 99U Book Series) by Jocelyn K. Glei Paperback
4.4 out of 5 stars (67)

$7.05

Steal Like an Artist: 10 Things Nobody Told You About Being Creative by Austin Kleon Paperback
4.6 out of 5 stars (273)

$9.86

Making Ideas Happen: Overcoming the Obstacles Between Vision and Reality by Scott Belsky Paperback
4.2 out of 5 stars (109)

$12.80

Damn Good Advice (For People with Talent!): How To Unleash Your Creative Potential by America's Master Communicator, George Lois by George Lois Paperback
4.0 out of 5 stars (42)

$7.96

› Explore similar items

.jsOffDisplayBlock { display: block; } .jsOffDisplayInline { display: inline; } .jsOffVisibility { visibility: visible; } .jsOnDisplayBlock { display: none; } .jsOnDisplayNoneBlock { display: block; } .jsOnDisplayNoneInline { display: inline; } .jsOnDisplayInline { display: none; } .jsOnVisibility { visibility: hidden; } .jqOnDisplayBlock { display: none; } .jqOnDisplayInline { display: none; } .jqOnVisibility { visibility: hidden; } .jqOnDisplayNoneBlock { display: block; } .jqOnDisplayNoneInline { display: inline; }

Forums

Search Customer Discussions

Topic	From this Discussion
Looking forward to this book!	Agree, Steve. Todd is truly one of the most creative and gifted communicators I have been blessed to meet. He is ridiculously intelligent and engaging, while still being unbelievably humble. A simple conversation with him is a joy. I can't wait to read this book. Todd Sebastian, Best-selling... Read more Jan 23, 2011 by Todd Sebastian \| See all 3 posts
What is the target audience? and what format is more effective?	Be the first to reply