The Creative Priority (Penguin Business) [Hardcover]

It may appear that Hirshberg has two books out - one called "Creative Priority - Driving Innovative Business in the Real World"; and another called "Creative Priority - Putting Innovation to Work in Your Business". POTENTIAL buyers should note - these two books are 99% identical - one and the same. The paperback title, with the subtitle change, has added a 2.5 page "Preface to Paperback edtion" and a 4 page "Creative Priority Quiz" which I suppose merits the subtitle change. So don't be decieved by the fact that readers who have purchased one have also purchased the other. Now about the book itself - well, Hirshberg's writing style is witty and conversational. He communicates in an enthusiastic manner the joy of being creative and innovative. His theories about encouraging creativity and innovation, while not original, are presented in a refreshing first-person format that breathes life into each of his eleven strategies and concepts. Business readers and those interested in the creative process will both benefit from Hirshberg's unique perspectives on creativity. Highly recommended.

This is a great book for designers and auto enthusiasts. It's really a quick read with good writing and editing. Hirshberg really talks about the nuances of design and the management of creativity in a saturated product market. There is a nice balance of design decision details and macro level organizational management described through the book. Hirshberg's mini-stories from one project to the people responsible for the ideas really get you thinking about all car designs. He touches on a range of production and concept cars - everything from the Nissan Pathfinder, Pulsar NX, Infiniti J30 and a few which never made to our asphalt ecosystem. There are also humorous multi-cultural experiences with his Japanese counterparts - which are great lessons for those uninitiated to other ethnicities and particular business etiquette. The best of all are the hand sketches of the Infiniti J30, Gobi concept vehicle, boat designs and other early development stages. I wish there were more pictures for us right-brainers. A big part of his later chapters deal with how to create an environment that is naturally stimulating for creativity -and some of his methods are not in the studio.

If you can remember car lines and wonder why a Nissan and Infiniti grill (or any car for that matter) looks the way it does - this book is for you. FYI - you can probably get essentially the same book in hardback at a used place for the paperback.

This is a very good book. In it Jerry Hirshberg shares his experiences as founder and president of Nissan Design International. In so doing he characterizes the leadership, organization, and group dynamics that foster breakthrough innovation. Here is a sampling of the kind of thinking he unpacks...

* Bureaucratic "structure" with its need for predictability, linear logic, conformance to accepted norms, and the dictates of the most recent "long range" vision statement, is a nearly perfect idea killing machine.

* The atmosphere that follows out of the creative priority, while challenging and stimulating, also becomes supportive and humane, since a workplace safe for ideas is a workplace safe for people.

* Creative expression is a bipolar event; it requires both a sender and a receiver.

* There is a vital connection between abrasiveness and original thinking.

* Creativity and destructiveness are at the same time polar opposites and closely related cousins.

* The very idea of a "balanced person" as some kind of ideal is somehow troubling.

* New truths are often in plain sight, but are rendered invisible or menacing by an associated language, or a stubborn set of assumptions.

* Nothing can so effectively move work forward at times as not working.

* Work tends to be a convergent activity, focusing on the task at hand. Play is a divergent activity. It opens out and is not easy to contain.

* Creative people can't be boxed up in an ivory tower. They need direct contact with real world information to develop new ideas.

* In the quest for creative thinking, research should never be left to someone else, as nothing stimulates the imagination as the impact of direct experience.

* Imaginative thinking cannot be constrained by preconception or prior intentions. Creativity does not play by the rules; it plays with the rules.

I would recommend this book for both leaders and members of creative groups as well those with whom they interact.