Sticky Wisdom [Paperback]

Sticky Wisdom should be required reading for anyone who's ever wondered how to have more fun at work and profit by it. The basic message is that creativity is like gold dust but it needs to be practised and worked at in organisations. It needs to become part of the organisational furniture. Dave Allan and his coauthors run ?What If!, a creative consultancy (and the title of the first edition) aimed at helping businesses move outside the proverbial tramlines and here, minus the fee, they show how, with activities, games, insights and general lunacy.

The basic premise is that there are six main ways of being more creative--from thinking about things afresh through greenhousing (letting good ideas grow) to bravery (making them happen). Each chapter presents a range of case studies that help ground the activities in a sense of reality--for example one client managed a breakthrough in their advertising for toothpaste when they started seeing their product as liquid teeth. Where many management books are drier than a diver's underpants this has a freshness and zing about it. It keeps you reading and it keeps you smiling too. Sticky Wisdom sends a rocket into the comfortable world of conventional thinking. --Steve Morris

Sticky Wisdom should be required reading for anyone who's ever wondered how to have more fun at work and profit by it. The basic message is that creativity is like gold dust but it needs to be practised and worked at in organisations. It needs to become part of the organisational furniture. Dave Allan and his coauthors run ?What If!, a creative consultancy (and the title of the first edition) aimed at helping businesses move outside the proverbial tramlines, and here, minus the fee, they show how, with activities, games, insights and general lunacy.

The basic premise is that there are six main ways of being more creative--from thinking about things afresh through greenhousing (letting good ideas grow) to bravery (making them happen). Each chapter presents a range of case studies that help ground the activities in a sense of reality--for example one client managed a breakthrough in their advertising for toothpaste when they started seeing their product as liquid teeth.

Where many management books are drier than a diver's underpants this has a freshness and zing about it. It keeps you reading and it keeps you smiling too. Sticky Wisdom sends a rocket into the comfortable world of conventional thinking.--Steve Morris

"...I found the book easy to read and understand, full of common sense and curiously compelling..." (City to Cities, August/September 2002)

"...it′s one of those rare books that could make a radical difference to the way you work and see the world, whilst being a genuine source of pleasure to read..." (Research Magazine, September 2002)

"...I found the book easy to read and understand, full of common sense and curiously compelling..." (City to Cities, August/September 2002)

"..It′s one of those rare books that could make a radical difference to the way you work and see the world, whilst being a genuine source of pleasure to read..." (Research Magazine, September 2002)

We all know how important creativity is at work. New ideas, fresh solutions, and innovative approaches are always talked about, but rarely ever practiced.
?Whatif!, Second Edition gives you the power, insight, and courage to capture the essence of creativity at work. This one–of–a–kind book breaks creativity into six practical behaviors and shows you how all of us––not just the wacky genuis––is packed with creative potential.

This fully updated and expanded edition explores areas that the first edition did not, filled with new insights, stories, and cases it will help you find or recapture your creativity with proven exercises that will help unlock the creative potential in anyone.

What if you could spot what′s killing creativity in your organization right now?

What if you could stop yourself squashing ideas and start growing them instead?

What if you could help everyone at work to be creative?

What if you stopped talking about how important creativity is and started to take practical steps to make it happen.

But most of all....

What if there was a step–by–step guide that showed you exactly how to do it?

Instinctively we all know that creativity at work is important, but for many of us it feels either difficult or intimidating.

Sticky Wisdom delivers powerful insights that take creativity out of the hands of ′creative people′ and puts it back where it belongs, with all of us. It breaks creativity out into six practical behaviours and shows how every one of us – not just the wacky geniuses – is packed with creative potential. We can start a creative revolution by adopting six behaviours:
Freshness
Greenhousing
Realness
Momentum
Signalling
Courage

These are the behaviours you can identify in highly creative and high–performing teams. These are the behaviours that you can start applying today to revolutionize your life.

Suddenly creativity isn′t such a mystery. Sticky Wisdom makes it easy to talk about, easy to practise and easy to remember. Above all, it makes it easy to get on and do!

What if you reallly knew how to organize creativity at work – not just talk about the need for it?

What if the answer was to change the way you behave – not the way you think?

What if you started a creative revolution at work now?

Sticky Wisdom is a revised and updated edition of the book ?What If!: How to Start a Creative Revolution at Work which was published to worldwide acclaim.

Here′s what people said about the book:

"I′ve seen ?What If! in action and it works. This book on creativity in business is the business" Alan Yentob – Director of Drama, Entertainment and Children, BBC

"I loved this book. The behaviours and values that ?What If! so clearly express are ones which we should all aspire to...read it." Jerry Greenfield – Co–founder Ben and Jerry′s Ice Cream

"A really practical book of tried and tested techniques to turn the switch of creative thinking on instead of off." Sir John Harvey Jones

"A must read! Finally a book that captures the REAL essence of what creativity at work looks like. ?What If! has opened the door to a revolutionary way of thinking and doing! If you′ve been searching for answers on how to create the cutting edge ideas that set you apart from the competition...this book is the answer!" Rita Bailey – Director, Southwest Airlines University for People
"I started to read ?What If! on holiday together wih Bill Bryson′s Notes from a Small Island. ?What If! won hands down for entertainment and value and every page seemed to strike a chord. It should be required reading for anyone who wants to understand why their organization is not creative, why that′s important and what can be done to grow creativity." Sir Michael Bichard – Permanent UK Undersecretary of State for Education and Employment 1995–2001

"We can all recognise and appreciate creativity when we admire the finished article, but oh how difficult it is with a blank sheet of paper! This book sets out strategies that really work to get from A to B." John Coombs – Managing Director, Unilever Ventures.

The authors of Sticky Wisdom all work at the London–based consultancy ?What If!, that helps organizations to recapture their inventive spirit. Since 1992 ?What If! has helped to shape the cultures of some of the world′s biggest, fastest growing and most profitable organizations.

?What If! has worked with clients to invent new airports, beers, stores, toys, holidays, shampoo and mortgages. Find out more about ?What If!, at www.whatif.co.uk