ideaology-transforming business

Stretch Your Inventive Capacities

With These Recommended Books

Looking for some inventive calisthentics -- things that will stretch your thinking? We recommend you read these books which have been handpicked by Ideaology because they cause readers to think in new ways and explore possibilities that are out of the normal realm of thinking. Read on and enjoy.

The Art of Possibility offers a set of breakthrough practices for creativity in all human enterprises. This book provides a life-altering apprach to fulfilling dreams large and small. The authors invite us all to become passionate communicators, leaders and performers whose lives radiate possibility into the world.

Philosopher Teilhard de Chardin said that, "The whole of life lies in the verb seeing." If that is so, Betty Edward's Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain is a Bible for anyone wanting to enhance their imagination and creativity. This book is the most widely used and highly praised drawing instruction book in the world, with more than 1,250,000 copies in print. Read the book, do the exercises and when you look around, your eyes will see things that were never apparent.

Writen by the leaders of the Hallmark Loyalty Marketing Group, Emotion Marketing provides business leaders with their first in-depth analysis of Hallmark's uncanny ability to forge lasting emotional bonds with a huge and devoted customer base that spans generations. More importantly, it describes original Emotion Marketing principles and techniques you can put to work in your company.

The tendency to synchronize may be the most mysterious and pervasive drive in all of nature. It has intrigued some other greatest minds of the 20 th century. But only in the past decade have scientists from disparate disciplines come to the stunning realizatin that the study of synchony could revolutionize our understanding of everything from the origin of life to certain types of human behavior. From life's little curiosities to the grandest unsolved mysteries of science, SYNC explores such questions as why traffic jams can occur even when there's no accident or other apparent cause, what triggers riots, fads and mass hysteria and how consciousness arises from the interplay of millions of mindless brain cells. Imagine the implications for those with imaginative minds …

Author Michael J. Wolf explains how the media and entertainment have moved beyond culture to become the driving wheel of the global economy. He asserts that tomorrow's successful business person will have to act like a mogul in a global company defined by hits, blockbusters and bombs. As co-founder of the world's largest media consulting practice, Wolf promises that the watchwords for all consumer businesses in the twenty-first century are truly, ""There's no business without show business!"

The curtain is about to rise on the Experience Economy, a new economic era in which every business is a stage, and companies must design memorable events for which they charge admission. Authors Pine and Gilmore explore how successful companies - using goods as props and services as the stage - create experiences that engage customers in an inherently personal way. The value that the experience holds for an individual determines the worth of the offering and the work of the business. Care for a Starbucks coffee or a visit to the Bose stereo store, anyone?

Looking for a fresh perspective on every day things we take for granted as a means of giving your inventivefforts a turbo boost? Author Henry Petroski explores how everyday artifacts - from forks and pins to paper clips and zippers - came to be as they are. He offers a convincing new theory on technological innovation as a response to the perceived failures of existing products - suggesting that irritation, not necessity, is the mother of invention.

Author Scott Thorpe will guide you step-by-step through the process of freeing yourself from your "rule ruts" to dreaming up some of the unusual, but possibly most important solutions of your life. This totally accessible, ingenious book demonstrates tricks and techniques that solve bewildering problems. It's liberating, imaginative and terrific.

If you heard about this book, you probably thought it was about a medical doctor's fight for survival from cancer while stationed at the South Pole. Think again. It is really an amazing true chronicle of Taprooting™ at its best!!! Forty people from all walks of life who winter over at the South Pole learn to depend on one another and meager, unexpected resources to handle both crises and everyday disruptions of life. Our promise? This book will take your imagination to new heights.

Robert Hargrove, a leading authority on collaboratin in the workplace, takes a bold stand for a new phase of human development that propels the human spirit into action and creates limitless possibilities. Rather than sacrificing individuality, creative collaboration mingles each individual spirit and perspective with that of others to reach shared goals, solve complex problems and generate creative breakthroughs. Hargroves bold view requires a profound shift in the way people think and interact. He also offers a simple recipe that introduces creative collaboration into any group environment.

If you're committed to stretching your capacity to see what is present, but not obvious, you must get this book. It is a collection of photographs of fruits and vegetables seen by different eyes. You see a yellow pepper, and Elffers sees a pig. He's looking for the naturally appearing faces, animals and creatures within edible objects. Don't think for a second, that this has nothing to do with your field. Take a deeper look.

And you thought atomic bombs were just for war! Project Orion is the story of a small group of scientists who gathered in 1957 with support from the U.S. government to launch a serious attempt to build a four-thousand-ton spaceship propelled by nuclear bombs. The initial plan called for missions to Mars by 1965 and Saturn by 1970 in ships carrying payloads of one thousand tons. Political obstacles, not technical ones, brought the project to a standstill after seven years. This is one of most tantalizing "what if?" stories of the last century. The story leaves you wonder about other things that had amazing potential but somehow got stopped. Could it be time to unearth them for another look?

The renowned author of "In Search of Excellence," Tom Peters returns with this manifesto for businesses and individuals seeking success in these disruptive times. Peters zeros in on the need for companies to seek cross-functional solutions, ignite passion in employees and operate with soul. Sound familiar? It should.

When Heinrich Harrer left his native Austria in for a Himalyan mountain climbing excursion in 1939, little did he know that he would spend time in an internment camp and trekking through the wilderness of Tibet before arriving in the holy city of Lhasa. There, he and his compatriot found a lot more than a welcome. During the five years he resided in Lhasa, Heinrich was drawn upon to build viaducts, movie theaters and all kinds of things he knew little about. How did he do it? By Taprooting™ from his own personal experience.

In this penetrating, keenly observed book, Virginia Postrel shows that the "look and feel" of people places and things are more important than we think. Aesthetic pleasure taps deep human instincts and is essential for creativity and growth. Drawing from fields as diverse as fashion, real estate, politics, design and economics, she chronicle's our culture's aethethic imperative and argues persuasively that it is a vital component of a healthy, forward-looking society. Whether you agree with her or not, the imaginative thinkers among us will be asking themselves how they can use these ideas in design, engineering, marketing, management, retailing, healthcare and even in manufacturing.

How do trends proliferate? Author Malcolm Gladwell hypothesizes that they may spread like viruses. He identifies key players in the process and chronicles the emergence of trends is some pretty disparate fields. The astute reader will be left wondering how he or she can use this model to design, launch and “infect” communities with new trends.

How did a simple design error cause on the great disasters of the 1980s - the collapse of the walkways at the Kansas City Hyatt Regency Hotel? What made the graceful and innovative Tacoma Narrows Bridge twist apart in a mild wind in 1940? More than a series of fascinating case studies, To Engineer is Human is a work that looks at our deepest notions of progress and perfection, tracing the fine connection between the quantifiable realm of science and the chaotic realities of everyday life.