Vous voulez voir cette page en français ? Cliquez ici.


or
Sign in to turn on 1-Click ordering.
More Buying Choices
Have one to sell? Sell yours here
Creativity: Flow and the Psychology of Discovery and Invention
 
 
Share your own customer images
Search inside this book

Creativity: Flow and the Psychology of Discovery and Invention [Paperback]

Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi (Author)
4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
List Price: CDN$ 19.99
Price: CDN$ 14.43 & eligible for FREE Super Saver Shipping on orders over CDN$ 25. Details
You Save: CDN$ 5.56 (28%)
o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o
In Stock.
Ships from and sold by Amazon.ca. Gift-wrap available.
Only 1 left in stock--order soon (more on the way).
Want it delivered Monday, May 28? Choose One-Day Shipping at checkout.

Formats

 Amazon Price New from Used from
Paperback CDN $14.43   -- --

Frequently Bought Together

Creativity: Flow and the Psychology of Discovery and Invention + Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience + Finding Flow: The Psychology Of Engagement With Everyday Life
Price For All Three: CDN$ 39.69

Some of these items ship sooner than the others. Show details

Buy the selected items together

  • In Stock.
    Ships from and sold by Amazon.ca.
    Eligible for FREE Super Saver Shipping on orders over CDN$ 25. Details

  • Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi Paperback CDN$ 12.26

    Usually ships within 7 to 13 days.
    Ships from and sold by Amazon.ca.
    Eligible for FREE Super Saver Shipping on orders over CDN$ 25. Details

  • Finding Flow: The Psychology Of Engagement With Everyday Life by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi Paperback CDN$ 13.00

    In Stock.
    Ships from and sold by Amazon.ca.
    Eligible for FREE Super Saver Shipping on orders over CDN$ 25. Details

Customers Who Bought This Item Also Bought

Product Details

Product Description

From Publishers Weekly

Based on interviews with 91 internationally recognized creative people-among them Nobel physicist John Bardeen, arts administrator-performer Kitty Carlisle Hart, writer Denise Levertov, jazz musician Oscar Peterson, electronics executive Robert Galvin-this book offers a highly readable anatomy of creativity. As Csikzentmihalyi (Flow) argues, creativity requires not only unusual individuals, but a culture and field of experts that can foster and validate such work. Most creative people, the author suggests, have dialectic personalities: smart yet naive, both extroverted and introverted, etc. Expanding on his previous book, Csikszentmihalyi suggests that complex and challenging work exemplifies fully engaged "flow." Synthesizing study results, he reports that none of the interviewees was popular during adolescence; while they were not necessarily more brilliant than their college peers, they displayed more "concentrated attention." Later, they kept a consistent focus on future work. The author reminds us that while individuals can make their own opportunities, a supportive society offering resources and rewards can foster creativity. His advice may sound like homilies-"Try to be surprised by something every day"-but is often worthy.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Library Journal

Bringing together 30 years of research, Csikszentmihalyi (psychology, Univ. of Chicago) describes this book as "an effort to make more understandable the mysterious process by which men and women come up with new ideas and new things." Utilizing the interviews garnered from 91 respondents (ranging from philosopher Mortimer Adler to biologist Edward O. Wilson to politician Eugene McCarthy), the author of the best-selling Flow (LJ 3/15/90) demonstrates the processes that these acknowledged creative thinkers and doers go through and the characteristics that make them stand out. He deals with what makes them and others like them "creative"?which he defines as "a process by which a symbolic domain in the culture is changed"?and how the conduct of their professional and personal lives illustrates these traits. Csikszentmihalyi also deals with creativity and aging and ways to enhance one's own personal creativity. Although the benefits of this study to scholars are obvious, this thought-provoking mixture of the scholarly and colloquial will enlighten inquisitive general readers, too. A welcome addition to both academic and public libraries.?David M. Turkalo, Suffolk Univ. Law Sch. Lib., Boston
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
See all Product Description
Inside This Book (Learn More)
First Sentence
This book is about creativity, based on histories of contempo rar people who know about it firsthand. Read the first page
Explore More
Concordance
Browse Sample Pages
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover
Search inside this book:

Suggested Tags from Similar Products

 (What's this?)
Be the first one to add a relevant tag (keyword that's strongly related to this product)
 
(1)

Your tags: Add your first tag
 
See most popular tags

What Other Items Do Customers Buy After Viewing This Item?

› Explore similar items
 

Customer Reviews

10 Reviews
5 star:
 (7)
4 star:
 (3)
3 star:    (0)
2 star:    (0)
1 star:    (0)
 
 
 
 
 
Average Customer Review
4.7 out of 5 stars (10 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
Share your thoughts with other customers:
Most helpful customer reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars Demystifies Creativity, Humans beware..., Feb 11 2004
By 
Mark Twain (Florida, MO USA) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Creativity: Flow and the Psychology of Discovery and Invention (Paperback)
Dostoevsky said, man needs "Mystery, Miracle, and Authority." This book demystifies the concept of creativity.

Humans want to put labels on people who put out the best ideas, but, what these people do differently than other people can mostly be attributed to habit.

Based off of the universally accepted Hierarchy of Needs by Maslow the author says in order to get to the highest level (self-actualization) where real creativity takes place it is important to not have your limited attention-span concerned with other things.

Here's a brief but effective example:
You're looking for your keys. You're looking for your keys anywhere you can POSSIBLY imagine. Underneath the cushions, in your jean pockets, in drawers, EVERYWHERE, you CAN'T find them and all you can think about is finding them. Bingo. The author argues that this type of psychic thievery is what prevents us from being creative. Since we need to take care of a baser need, we have no time to find ways to solve more enhanced problems.

This book, in the author's opinion, should be taken as a sequal to the "cult" hit FLOW. Unforunately FLOW I think became too much of a hit to be taken as seriously as it should have been. Although a chapter is devoted to FLOW and the concepts, it is necessary to know the nature of work before advancing into a scheduled routine. I recommend reading FLOW before tackling this work.

I must emphasize just how amazing Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi is. He will truly be regarded as one of the greatest minds of this time and most certainly the greatest psychologist of the time. His profound knowledge in so many areas is just incredible as well as backing up everything he says with examples AND action.

Help other customers find the most helpful reviews 
Was this review helpful to you? Yes No


4.0 out of 5 stars Enhancing Creativity by Learning About it, Jun 7 2003
By 
Dr. W. G. Covington, Jr. (Edinboro, Pennsylvania) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   
This review is from: Creativity: Flow and the Psychology of Discovery and Invention (Paperback)
Csikszentmihalyi is in the "flow" in writing this book on creativity as he elucidates his subject in an inspirational way. He approaches his topic from a systems paradigm. Individuals create, but they do so within the context of a system. He also describes the "child like" wonder of creative contributors. He reminds readers that symbols in the office of past successes such as diplomas, awards, photos, reinforce the idea that valid contributors have been made before and can be made again. Regardless of one's arena, something about the process of creativity can be learned from the pages of this book.
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews 
Was this review helpful to you? Yes No


5.0 out of 5 stars Demystifying Creativity, May 8 2003
By 
This review is from: Creativity: Flow and the Psychology of Discovery and Invention (Paperback)
AN INTERESTING, IMPORTANT SUBJECT
When you think about it, creativity is a key driver for personal fulfillment and world events- yet most people's understanding consists merely of stereotypes, assumptions, and clichés. There is a lot to know about creativity: what it is (and how it differs from talent and brilliance), conditions that encourage its emergence, creative people's complex personality traits, and what a creative experience looks and feels like. I would not rate 'Creativity' as high as Csikszentmihalyi's 'Flow'- which is an even more important concept to understand- yet it is certainly an informative, well-written, and recommended book.

BOOK IN A NUTSHELL
Research in psychology has traditionally learned about healthy individuals by focusing on pathological cases; this study examines the other end of the continuum- looking at extraordinary people to find out what might be missing from our lives. Trends in the personal histories and habits are taken from interviews with 91 leading contributors (Noble Prize winners, world renown artists, etc.) who have created or dominated their fields. Mainstream creative people (e.g. most creative person in an office or community) and uncreative people are not really discussed in the book- although the insights gained from the interviews may be applicable. Part 3 was not as strong as the rest of the book: the in-depth illustrations of the creative process were somewhat redundant, and some sections (Ch. 12 & 13) seemed to drift into assumptions of political philosophies.

Help other customers find the most helpful reviews 
Was this review helpful to you? Yes No

Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review
Want to see more reviews on this item?
› Go to Amazon.com to see all 30 reviews  4.1 out of 5 stars 
 
 		 Most recent customer reviews








Only search this product's reviews


Listmania!

Create a Listmania! list

Look for similar items by category

Look for similar items by subject

















i.e., each book must be in subject 1 AND subject 2 AND ...

Feedback

Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?

Amazon.ca Privacy Statement Amazon.ca Shipping Information Amazon.ca Returns & Exchanges