Breakthrough Creativity: Achieving Top Performance Using the Eight Creative Talents [Hardcover]

The Meyers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) has become quite popular as a team-building tool. Many books have been written on the use of types at work, in relationships, and even in church. Levesque, who has her Ed.D. in creativity, serviceably merges the study of types with the study of creativity. She describes eight creative talentsAfour of which are most concerned with data-collecting and four of which are most concerned with decision-making. Each MBTI type possesses a dominant creative talent and an auxiliary talent. For each type, the author outlines the dominant features and how creativity can be maximized or inhibited. Finally, Levesque considers ways of effectively using types in business settings. Given the current popularity of type-talk, public libraries should consider purchasing.
Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Developing your creative talents strengthens your ability to be open, flexible and resilient and to see different opportunities and possibilities. -- Investor's Business Daily, Oct. 5, 2001

Engaging description of different personality types and relationships to creativity. A quick and compelling read. Best read in its entirety. -- Business Book Review, October 2001

Interesting twist to the old personality typing...really helps us to see and understand the underlying personality impulses of each group. Helpful stuff. -- Hartford Business Journal, May 28, 2001

Readers find out which type they best fit and learn how to leverage their natural talents in each area. -- Richmond Times-Dispatch, June 18, 2001

She writes in plain English about how to recognize and bring out the different types of creativity people have. -- Kansas City Star, May 29, 2001

While everyone may not have reached the pinnacle of their creativity potential, Lynne Levesque debunks the myth that creativity belongs to only a select few.

Praise abounds for BREAKTHROUGH CREATIVITY:

"BREAKTHROUGH CREATIVITY may be the most comprehensive and useful volume every written on this fascinating subject, and I commend it to anyone with the curiosity to explore the uncharted waters of the creative inner self. As the chief human resources executive of AOL Time Warner, a leading Internet-age company that lists Creativity as one of it seven core values, I am especially excited about the potential of using this breakthrough book to help operationalize this essential value in our enterprise, and I am convinced that other HR and management development professionals and consultants will find it very beneficial."
--Andrew J. Kaslow, Sr. Vice President, People Development, AOL Time Warner

"...provides a rare and novel approach to the issues of creative style and ability by crossing the boundaries between creativity and personality differences. This book is recommended reading for practicing managers and for coaches and consultants involved in developing people and in building creatively productive teams."--David M. Horth, Sr. Program Associate, Center for Creative Leadership, co-author of "Leading Creatively"

"...illuminates an essential skill for the new economy and provides practical advice, methods, and tools for optimizing creativity in the workplace."--Frances C. Engoron, U.S. Leader, Learning & Education, PricewaterhouseCoopers

"Can you imagine a divergent group of people, all looking at the world differently, each skilled to his or her individual peak of creativity, and collectively tasked to create breakthrough opportunities? This represents an awesome winning combination. Read this book to find out how to make it happen."--Ronald H. Kubinski, President, IdeaScope Associates; Manager (retired), 3M New Product Commercialization

"...offers a fresh and exciting look at psychological type and creativity. Filled with insights about how each individual can access creativity, this book is a must read for those serious about taking type to a level of useful application in organizations."--Roger Pearman, President, Leadership Performance Systems, author of "Hardwired Leadership" and "I'm Not Crazy, I'm Just Not You"

I wrote this book for two reasons:

1. Too often when I ask people "How are you creative?" their answer is, "I'm not creative, because I'm not an artist like Michelangelo or Beethoven or a genius like Einstein." Since I believe that everyone is creative and that creativity is essential for thriving in today's world, those answers are disconcerting.

After extensive research, I have discovered that creativity can take many forms. My book describes 8 different ways to be creative and helps readers identify their talents and figure out how to be more effective, productive, and creative.

2. Too many leaders don't know how to tap into the vast reservoir of their employees' creativity. A primary reason for this is that they don't understand what creativity really is all about. There are so many myths about creativity and the creative individual. Myths about people running around with lots of crazy ideas, spending lots of money with no tangible results.

In fact, creativity involves so much more than that. Those judged in history as creative didn't just sit around generating ideas. They did something with their ideas--a new symphony, a new organization, a play, or a new invention. In my book I provide pragmatic recommendations for bringing out the very best creativity in teams and organizations.

My hope is that the book will guide you in breaking through to your creative talents and transform your own life and the future direction of your organizations.

Creativity is more than just a process for solving problems. You can be creative in the way you manage people, turn a novel idea into a marketable product or service, participate in a team, resolve conflict, or motivate others to grow and develop. Many talents are needed to seek out new responses, break down outworn mind-sets, and create new landscapes for business today. It takes more than just "thinking outside the box"--the traditional view of what it means to be creative.

BREAKTHROUGH CREATIVITY shows that we cannot meet these new demands with the old perceptions we hold of our own creative abilities. Lynne Levesque reveals that we all have different dimensions of creativity that have been little recognized and less understood. She brings these hidden dimensions to life using the stories and rich experiences of managers and executives around the world to help you discover your creative talents and use them consistently, purposefully, and effectively to achieve top performance at work.

Arguing that we are all creative, just differently gifted, Levesque challenges conventional thinking that creativity belongs to only a select few born with a special set of talents. From Visionaries and Explorers to Pilots and Poets, BREAKTHROUGH CREATIVITY describes eight distinct creative talents and in individual chapters shows how each talent works, how it contributes to the activities of the creative process, and how it can improve decision making, team building, and strategic planning and thinking.

Lynne Levesque, Ed.D., brings over 20 years of experience in business and training to her consulting and research practice. Prior to starting her practice, she spent 15 years in management, first with Bank of America in San Francisco, and then with Shawmut Bank (now FleetBoston) in Hartford, CT. Her areas of responsibility have included strategic planning, information technology management and adminstration, organization development and training, as well as policy development and implementation.

Now, combining her business experience with academic research in creativity, Lynne works with a variety of for-profit and not-for-profit clients to support their efforts to solve problems, build more competitive organizations, and keep good employees. Her services include facilitation, consulting and training workshops in the areas of team building, project management, and strategy formulation and implementation.

Certified to administer the Center for Creative Leadership's KEYS Assessment of the Climate for Creativity, she is also qualified to provide Myers-Briggs Type Indicator programs.