Chapters

– About the authors
– Acknowledgements
– Introduction: Murder and mayhem in paradise

• PART 1: WHO KILLED CREATIVITY?
  • 1: Investigating the crime scene
    Creative thinking CSI: Is there really a problem?
    Is creative thinking that important?
    Is creative death imminent? the vital statistics
    Are you creative?
  • 2: Who killed creativity, and with what weapon?
    Profile of a murderer: Jack the Ripper and the ‘7 Deadly Creativity Killers’
    Stage 1: OPPRESSION — the use of control and fear to limit open thinking
    Stage 2: RESTRICTION — the use of pressure and insulation to restrict ideas
    Stage 3: DEGENERATION — inhibition of growth driven by apathy
    Stage 4: DESTRUCTION — destructive narrow-mindedness and pessimism
  • 3: Where has creativity died?
    Probing the possible murder sites
    Locating the crime hotspots — from the CEO’s office to the coffee shop
    Any time, any place
  • 4: Why save creativity?
    Emergency response
    Innovation is a necessity, not a luxury
    Innovate, don’t amputate
• PART 2: …AND HOW CAN WE GET IT BACK?
  • 5: The forensic lab
    Off-piste innovation and training the brain
    Exercising the brain: stretch, but don’t snap
    To what extent can creative thinking be taught?
    The brain workout
    Slowing down for the synaptic fire-up
    Triggering the brain’s ‘on/off’ switch
    New paths to superior thinking
  • 6: How can creativity be saved?
    Profile of a paramedic: Abseiling the  abyss and the ‘7 Creative Thinking Strategies’ that work
    Stage 1: LIBERATION — the freedom and courage to step out and think freely
    Stage 2: INITIATION — the independence and openness to let go and grow
    Stage 3: MOTIVATION — the passion to drive transformation
    Stage 4: TRANSFORMATION — the flexibility and positivity to make real changes
  • 7: Where can creativity be revived?
    Casing out the potential rescue locations
    Building innovation hothouses — revisiting the CEO’s office and the coffee shop
    Bringing the bedroom to the boardroom
  • 8: And they lived happily ever after…or did they?
    Putting creativity on trial — the final twist in the plot
    Can the killers be redeemed…and are the rescuers squeaky clean?
    The yin and yang of creativity
    Playing with fire and disruptive innovations
    Innovate or die —the commercial and social consequences of regeneration
    Change is inevitable, so scale the slopes constructively
    Why the Mexico rubbish dump dwellers might just save the planet
  • 9: The rescue plan in action
    Solving the mystery
    Disarming the killers
    Coming the full circle: the complete life cycle of creative thinking
    Implementing the ‘7 Creative Thinking Strategies’

– Endnotes
– Bibliography
– More ways to get creative
– Index