The Creativity Leap Unleash Curiosity, Improvisation, and Intuition at Work

"Natalie Nixon's new book provides a fresh primer on how to cultivate creativity in the workplace."
--Nir Eyal, bestselling author of Hooked and Indistractable

Too many people associate creativity solely with the arts, even though to be an incredible scientist, engineer, or entrepreneur requires immense creativity. And it's the key to developing breakthrough products and services. Natalie Nixon, a creativity strategist with a background in cultural anthropology, fashion, and service design, says that in the fourth industrial revolution a creativity leap is needed to bridge the gap that exists between the churn of work and the highly sought-after prize called innovation.

Nixon says that since humans are hardwired to be creative, it is a competency anyone can develop. She shows that it balances wonder (awe, audacity, and curiosity) with rigor (discipline, skill-building, and attention to detail), and that inquiry, improvisation, and intuition are the key practices that increase those capacities. Drawing on interviews with fifty-six people from diverse backgrounds--farming, law, plumbing, architecture, perfumery, medicine, education, technology, and more--she offers illuminating examples of how creativity manifests in every kind of work.

Combining creativity tools and techniques with real-world stories of innovative people and businesses, this book is a provocation, an inspiration, and an invitation to unleash the innate creativity that lies within each of us. It offers a more dynamic and integrative way to adapt and innovate, one that allows us the freedom to access our full human selves.

Natalie Nixon is a creativity strategist and president of Figure 8 Thinking. She advises and emboldens leaders to transform their businesses through creativity and foresight. She is a regular contributor to Inc. and the editor of Strategic Design Thinking. She is a global speaker whose roster includes TEDxPhiladelphia, Cusp conference, the Business Innovation Factory, SEB Group, 360 Possibles, CreativeMornings, the Copenhagen Institute of Interactive Design, the European Innovation Academy, and the Mayo Clinic's Transform conference. Nixon holds a PhD in design management, an MS in global textile marketing, and a BA (cum laude) in anthropology and Africana studies.