Powerful tools to spark innovation

Just published in 2025! This book is based on empirical research I did for my Ph.D. dissertation as well as two decades of experience as a consultant and team and creativity trainer. You’ll get the comprehensive road map for leaders to drive their teams toward unparalleled creativity and innovation. The book includes actionable insights to unlock your team’s potential. Plus, you’ll have the tools to empower your team to consistently generate ground-breaking ideas. I stuffed everything in there I know about creativity in teams so that you can lead your team to innovative results.

This book explores the leadership of creativity and how to build organizations that can innovate over time. Leading creativity is not necessarily like any other type of leadership. The book explains several principles and each is followed by a real story demonstrating it in action. The leaders highlighted work at Pixar, Google, Volkswagen, the Pentagon, among others. The research behind the book is excellent and the stories make it come to life. Since teams are the #1 source of creativity in organizations, knowing how to lead them is critical to an organization’s success.

Tom Kelley is a partner at IDEO, a design firm his brother started in 1977. Even if you have never heard of IDEO, you have been impacted by the products they have designed. They designed the first Apple mouse, space shuttle parts, heart valve components, numerous toys, and even that squishy handle on your toothbrush. They are experts at innovating. In this book, Tom Kelley shares an inside look at how IDEO works their magic. Their strong emphasis on collaboration reminds us that creativity never happens in a vacuum and the romantic vision of lone genius inventor is really just a myth. Seriously, Thomas Edison had 1,000 employees! I have huge respect for IDEO and their work. You can also glimpse more into their culture through this ABC Nightline video where an IDEO team redesigns the classic shopping cart.

In this book, Ed Catmull, president of Pixar Animation and Disney Animation gives a behind-the-scenes look at how Pixar makes animated films. It’s not in a way that you’d think. The movies don’t have a script, but rather start with a seed of an idea and evolve to a feature length film. The entire production is a collaborative creative process. The end result – 30+ Academy Awards, box office records, and movies that have tugged at our hearts and minds for 20 years. The book ultimately is about creating a culture that supports and pushes creativity. Catmull stresses how culture is more important for creativity than any other element. This is a great book if you want to see an example of a company doing things differently and thriving in the process. Recommended for C-suite leaders, HR professionals and team leaders.

When this book came out in 2007 there was not a lot that had been written yet about creativity and collaboration. This book had a significant impact on my consulting work and research on creativity in teams. Later, while getting my PhD I asked Keith to mentor me for one of my projects on creativity training. This book explores the research on creativity in teams while also sharing practical stories from big companies, jazz clubs, and improv theatre. The book is well-written and easy to read. If you are interested in learning more about the research on creative teams, but also curious about practical application check out Group Genius. You can also learn more from Keith on his interview on the Deliberate Creative Podcast, episode 37.

This book explores the four cognitive styles of creative thinking, also known as FourSight. Through a fictional story of one team trying to be more creative, you’ll learn about the Clarifier, Ideator, Developer, and Implementer styles. There is also an overview of the Creative Problem Solving process and how it might be used to web more creative. I use FourSight with many of clients and found this book to be a nice tool for those who want to learn more or who learn well through examples.

There are a lot of myths out there about creativity and how it works. Dr. James Kaufman has compiled the most up-to-date research to help explain how creativity works and dispel some myths. What I love about this book is that it’s research-based from someone with decades of understanding about creativity. Kaufman also has an easy to read writing style with a great sense of humor. More than once I laughed out loud while reading this.

This is an old book, written in 1948. It’s the source of the term “brainstorming.” Written by Alex Osborn, one of the founders of the marketing firm B.B.D.O., he wrote about “using the brain to storm a creative problem…” the process his company used to generate new ideas for their client. If you are only going to buy one book about creativity chose one of the other five, but if you are interested in the history of creative process and want to go back to the source then this is a great read.

From Experience to Creativity is the first book to address the significant relationship between the fields of experiential education and creativity that has been overlooked for far too long. Cape provides an academic presentation of creativity through fun and inspiring examples in easily accessible language that helps readers move past the layperson’s understanding of creativity. More than just an artistic pursuit or only available to a select few, creativity is a universal human trait that can be intentionally developed and taught.