Breakthrough Creativity and the New Science of Ideas
Richard Ogle
Harvard Business Review Press
For centuries, western thinking about creativity fixed on the notion of the lone, heroic genius triumphing through sheer force of will and intellect. The new science of ideas set forth in Smart World compels us to finally abandon this view. In its place, Richard Ogle proposes we take an essentially ecological view of the mind in which the primary locus of creative energy shifts to the space in which breakthroughs occur.
Instead of being generated by isolated intellects, ideas emerge from interlinked “idea spaces” to which individuals successfully connect. The most creative people, it turns out, are those who let the system think for them. Practical inventions like the printing press, social and business innovations from eBay to homeschooling, and centers of creativity such as Athens and San Francisco’s South of Market district, all illustrate the principles of the emerging science of ideas and demonstrate the range of its implications.
Though still in its infancy, this science is already radically transforming our understanding of what human creativity is and how it originates. Smart World paints an intriguing vision in which we will develop an economics of ideas underlying the idea-economy, witness an exponential increase in the pace of innovation, and better anticipate where the next waves of innovation may come from.
Praise for Smart World
The world is smart, Richard Ogle tells us in this fascinating book. Creativity is all the rage in business circles, but harnessing creativity means more than hiring quirky geniuses. It turns on creating what Ogle rightly calls the “extended mind” through interaction, collaboration, and team work. If you’re a CEO looking for the next big breakthrough, a manager looking to harness the creative talents of your people, or someone who wants to better utilize your own creativity, you need to read this book.
— Richard Florida, author of The Rise of the Creative Class
A provocative look at the creative process…
—BusinessWeek