The Creative Curve
How to Develop the Right Idea, at the Right Time
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4.0 • 1 Rating
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- $19.99
Publisher Description
A great idea isn't a sudden light-bulb moment. It's taking something familiar and making it feel new.
We’ve been told a lie about the nature of creativity.
We're told stories about creative geniuses – the young Mozart who effortlessly overshadows the hardworking Salieri; Paul McCartney coming up with the tune for Yesterday in a dream one morning; JK Rowling finding inspiration for Harry Potter sitting on a train to London. What we aren’t told is the actual story behind such hits. In fact there is a science and method for mainstream success, whether writing a popular novel, starting a company or creating an effective marketing campaign, and in this book Allen Gannett – data wizard and successful entrepreneur – reveals the four laws of creativity that are proven to work.
New ideas are surprising at first, and slowly become familiar as we get used to them. Allan Gannett reveals there’s a sweet spot between what feels familiar and safe to us, and what is innovative and new: the point of optimal tension between safety and surprise, similarity and difference. The people we think of as creative geniuses are people who understand this sweet spot instinctively; they know what people find familiar and reassuring, and they find ways to reinvent it fresh.
Packed with stories and insights ranging from the team behind Dear Evan Hansen to the founder of Reddit, from the Chief Content Officer of Netflix to Michelin starred chefs, The Creative Curve will help you spend less time on ideas destined to fail and more time on ideas that really break out. This book is for everyone, whether you’re a business leader, a creative artist or a budding entrepreneur – and will teach you the secret to conceiving great ideas that can achieve major success.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
In this stimulating business manual, Gannett, founder and CEO of the marketing analytics firm TrackMaven, asserts, "There is in fact a science behind what becomes a hit," namely, neuroscience. He discusses recent psychological research into the appeal that both the novel and the familiar hold for people, writing that successful innovators "find the sweet spot" between "safety and surprise, similarity and difference." Gannett debunks the myth that creativity is imparted to select individuals by sharing the little-known but entertaining backstories to enduring creative breakthroughs by the Beatles, J.K. Rowling, and others. He also examines whether hard work and practice can compensate for a lack of innate talent. The central focus of Gannett's treatise for entrepreneurs with an idea centers on his "four laws of the creative curve," which include consumption (familiarizing oneself with a chosen field), imitation (learning from successful predecessors), creative communities (finding collaborators and/or a support group), and iterations ("the use of data-driven processes to refine ideas"). Gannett offers the ideal balance of valuable instruction, accessible writing, and refreshing stories, providing tangible evidence that the creative process he advocates actually works for businesspeople.
