The Business Playground [Paperback]

"The pages are packed with interesting research studies and techniques to unleash the potential within. Dave and Mark both believe you can't teach people to be creative, instead you must show them, and that is exactly what they do throughout the publication. For GBP14.99 you can certainly get your creative flair back on track with this highly engaging read". Start Your Business Magazine, June 2010

“Every child is an artist. The problem is how to remain an artist once we grow up”. Pablo Picasso

 

In today's flat world, business as usual no longer cuts it. Anyone can compete on quality, price and timing. So what's the secret weapon that will boost your business over and above the competition?

 

Creativity!

 

But far too often creativity is sidelined and the energy and excitement that go along side it are subdued.

 

The Business Playground will change all that!

 

Prodigious musician, producer and entrepreneur Dave Stewart, and advertising and branding guru Mark Simmons show you how to rediscover your creativity. Through a quirky selection of idea-inducing games and stimulating stories you'll be able to bring your workplace back to life.

 

Be inspired by creative conversations with legendary Mick Jagger, Tony Award winning director Matthew Warchus, and Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen.  And learn from innovative companies like Google, NASA and Nokia.

 

Unleash your amazing creative potential and get ready to play!

 

 

What they say about Dave Stewart:

 

 

“If you are an entrepreneur and you spend time with Dave, you will know exactly what your next business idea should be, if you are a philosopher and you get talking to Dave, your mind will suddenly have clarity like never before. If you are a student and you listen to Dave, immediately you will believe in yourself and know exactly what you need to do next. Dave is a creative genius.”

 

Simon Fuller, Founder and CEO of 19 Entertainment and creator of American Idol

 

“Captain Dave is a dreamer and a fearless innovator, a visionary of high order, very delicately tractable on the surface but beneath that, he’s a slamming, thumping, battering ram, very mystical but rational.”

 

Bob Dylan

 

“Dave is who we all want to be – living his dream and actually changing the world every day with his gentle inspirational genius.”

Janice Vandenbrink, Senior Vice President of Global Systems at Visa International

 

“Dave is a truly extraordinary blend of creative genius and business person with flair.”

 Rita Clifton, Chairman of Interbrand

 

“Real creativity has me in awe, and Dave Stewart is one of the most thrilling creative minds I have ever met.”

Anita Roddick, Founder of The Body Shop

 

“When I met Dave he talked for 12 hours about the impact of digitalizationon the production and distribution of media. As a banker, I didn’t know what the hell he was talking about - nor did anyone else. Over the next five years, we all found out”

Michael Philipp, Chairman and Executive Board Member of Credit Suisse Europe,

Middle East And Africa

 

“For over 30 years I have been working with creative people the world over; but none compare with Dave. His creative cup overflows with originality, profusion and, most importantly, generosity. He is undoubtedly a genius.”

– Andy Law, Worldwide Chairman, The Law Firm

 

“Jack of All Trades Master of All of Them” – Sunday Times

 

“He’s a One Man Advertising Think Tank” – The Daily Telegraph

 

 

What they say about Mark Simmons and Punk Marketing

 

"Blunt, fair, fearless and outrageous – just like the marketing style they espouse."

Publishers Weekly

 

"'Punk' reads like the insider wisdom your tattooed brother gave during your first nose-piercing session: 'Don’t show Mom, but the girls at school will dig it.'”

Advertising Age

 

“Taken together, their anecdotes show that truly original, engaging, and

— most important — surprising ads will always prevail, whether they’re

labeled punk or not.”

Business Week

 

When I first got the proposal for this book from the authors' agent, my first thought was: how exciting! My second thought was: it's fun to get a proposal from a rock star, but this isn't going to be something I can publish - I'm a business publisher. I'm delighted to say that when I read it, I was proved wrong: this is indeed a business book. A business book with a difference, certainly, but a business book nonetheless. It deals with creativity, the missing ingredient in many companies and the recipe for success in some of the world's top-performing businesses.

Creative ideas can be elusive, hard to grab hold of, but everyone has a creative streak inside them. And even if this streak is latent right now, you can work at releasing it to become more creative at work. One of the ways you can work on it is by playing games, so 'The Business Playground' has them too! Creativity is playful, inspiring, innovative, exciting, buzzy, uplifting, shocking, surprising, ground-breaking, risky, profitable ... It can be many things, but it's never dull. Why wouldn't you want this for your business?

It's hard to describe this book in a nutshell, because it's a different (creative!) kind of business book. So you'll just have to buy a copy and read it for yourself! Oh, and it's got a Foreword by one of the world's most creative business people, Richard Branson.

 

'Dave’s knowledge and experience from all aspects of the music business is applied to the entire world of business - sheer brilliance.'

John Meglan, President and Co-Ceo, Concerts West/AEG Live

 

In today's flat world, business as usual no longer cuts it. Anyone can compete on quality, price and timing. So what's the secret weapon that will boost your business over and above the competition?

Creativity!

Far too often creativity is sidelined and the energy and excitement that go alongside it are subdued.

The Business Playground will change all that.

Prodigious musician, producer and entrepreneur Dave Stewart, and advertising and branding guru Mark Simmons show you how to rediscover your creativity. Through a quirky selection of idea-inducing games and stimulating stories, you'll be able to bring your workplace back to life.

Be inspired by creative conversations with the legendary Mick Jagger, Tony Award winning director Matthew Warchus and Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen.  And learn from innovative companies like Google, NASA and Nokia.

Unleash your amazing creative potential and get ready to play!

DAVE STEWART is founder and chairman of Weapons of Mass Entertainment, an idea factory described by the LA Times as ‘a media company for the new world’. A multimedia entrepreneur, his career spans more than 25 years and over 100 million album sales. As well as being one half of Eurythmics with Annie Lennox, Stewart has worked with some of the best including Bono, Mick Jagger, Gwen Stefani, Sinead O’Connor, Tom Petty and Bob Dylan, winning best songwriter and best producer 4 times as well as numerous Grammy and Life Time Achievement Awards. Described by Dylan as ‘a fearless innovator’, Stewart was recently named one of the 100 Most Creative People in Business by Fast Company Magazine. Stewart is an acclaimed public speaker and regularly advises businesses on creativity and innovation. He is a key advisor to mobile phone giant Nokia, where he has the unique title of ‘change agent’, and has created a number of game-changing ventures in the entertainment industry. Stewart is an accomplished photographer and filmmaker, and also makes a mean vodka martini.

MARK SIMMONS is a branding expert, innovator and co-author of Punk Marketing: Get Off Your Ass and Join the Revolution (HarperCollins, 2007). Over the past 20 years he has been a senior global marketer at Coca-Cola, run advertising agencies in the UK and US, been an advisor to the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and Al Gore’s Alliance for Climate Protection, and is the co-founder of useless.org, a social enterprise dedicated to helping people use less and give more. Mark frequently speaks at conferences about creativity, marketing and branding. He passionately believes in the power of ideas to make a positive difference in business and society, and works with organisations around the world to put this into practice.