QRCA Views Magazine, Spring 2016

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58 QRCA VIEWS SPRING 2016
Creative thinking is necessary for
any business, and it is essential
in the insights industry. But how
to incorporate “creativity” in
business has been a challenge.
Creativity for Everybody is the best
resource I have found to do just that. It
synthesizes advanced creativity and
innovation concepts as simple, beauti-
fully illustrated ideas to unlock creativity
in anyone and lead to more innovative
business practices. I have given this
book to many of my clients and recom-
mended it to others.
I first met the authors, Kathryn
Haydon and Jane Harvey, when we were
classmates during my recently com-
pleted Master of Science in Creativity,
Creative Problem Solving, and Change
Leadership at the International Center
for Studies in Creativity—the first and
oldest creativity degree-granting institu-
tion in the world, which has close ties to
the Creative Education Foundation that
sponsors the Creative Problem Solving
Institute (CPSI) conference that many of
us have attended. During my studies, the
authors and I were classmates in this
creativity journey. This 24-month pro-
gram required us to turn creativity on its
head, looking at it inside-out, backward
and forward. As we studied creativity
theory, models, and tools, we experien-
tially learned how the power of under-
standing creativity can aid individuals,
teams, organizations, and even families.
The authors have taken the insights from
this program and, in Creativity for
Everybody, convey this knowledge to
others, simply and easily but with the same
depth and substance that we experienced.
Creativity for Everybody combines the
talents of Kathryn, a writer-poet-educator,
and Jane, a designer-artist-simplifier, into
a fun and engaging reading experience. It
is a quick read on high-level creativity
concepts that also outlines what insights
require from us: original thinking, seeing
connections, and emotional intelligence,
which are all elements of creative thinking.
As qualitative professionals, we need to
connect the dots and find what may not
be obvious. Taking an extensive journey
into the study of creativity has allowed me
to provide clients more options to dig
deeper. I have witnessed the important
role creative thinking plays in advancing
service offerings for insights.
Qualitative research and creative
thinking complement each other. It
begins with nurturing your creative
potential—and recognizing the barriers
that get in the way. People get stuck in
routine thinking. Without a roadmap to
provide direction, you may not know
you are already creative (everyone is).
When you are leading innovation and
creativity workshops, I highly suggest
reading Creativity for Everybody before-
hand. It sets the foundation for the rigor
that can happen in these sessions when
we, as the facilitators, are in touch with
our creative thinking so that we may
support it in others.
Practicing creativity makes us more
adept at using it. Developing a creative
mindset can open up the possibilities
both for qualitative researchers who
want creativity to impact their insights
practice as well as for strategy and inno-
vation experts. Creativity for Everybody
outlines creativity as a framework, start-
ing with creative behaviors we can rec-
ognize in others and ourselves. It defines
and explains forces that positively and
negatively influence creativity in organi-
zations, teams, or even a single meeting.
The book includes mini case studies that
illustrate how principles of creativity
have been successfully employed to
transform a small business department
or initiate a deeper culture of innovation
in a consumer products company.
Creativity for Everybody debunks the
myth that creativity is for a select few. It
empowers everyone to activate their cre-
ativity and that of others. Creative ideas
don’t just appear as a matter of good
luck. The book explains how we need to
practice creativity for those times you
need a new idea overnight or when your
boss tells you to “think outside the box.”
This book has a remarkable ability to
resonate with a broad range of people. Its
varied design elements and creative com-
ponents (simple prose, poetry, sidelines,
and delightful endnotes) invite you into an
engaging reading experience. Creativity
for Everybody starts as a friendly warm-up
to considering yourself creative, even if
you haven’t identified as creative before.
By page 55, you might believe creative
insight is available to all of us. For those
who already identify as creative, the book
refreshingly describes what you have intui-
tively known but may not have articulated.
The end section is a “bonus” that docu-
ments and further explains the research
behind the concepts.
Organizations strive for people and
processes to be efficient, but habits and
routines won’t deliver innovation on
demand. “Telling” anyone to “be creative”
won’t guarantee the result. Creativity for
Everybody is a friendly, fast introduction
to the new thinking you need for your
workshops and insights work.
Internalizing the concepts in this gem
of a book has the potential to transform
someone into a more creative individual,
empowering you to make creativity part
of your DNA, too.
n BOOK REVIEWS n
Creativity for Everybody
Kathryn P. Haydon and Jane Harvey, Sparkitivity LLC, 2015.
Reviewed by Marta Villanueva
n NuThinking, Inc.
n San Antonio, TX
n