🤨 What’s It About?

When you consider creativity — what comes to mind? While many reserve the term ‘creative’ to describe artistic roles like painters, photographers, and visual designers, David Kelley (founder of IDEO and the Stanford d.school) and his brother Tom Kelley (best-selling author of The Art of Innovation) argue otherwise. In their joint book, **Creative Confidence,** they argue that creativity is for everyone, and it can take on a variety of mediums.

“At its core, creative confidence is about believing in your ability to create change in the world around you. It is the conviction that you can achieve what you set out to do.” — Tom and David Kelley

Creative Confidence emphasizes the importance of creativity (particularly in regards to critical thinking & problem solving) across a variety of industries and roles. Throughout the book, the authors describe the design thinking process used at IDEO and the d.school, explore case studies from their students & colleagues, and provide simple exercises you can implement to improve your own **creative confidence.

💭 Our Thoughts

This short-and-sweet book is a great read for any level of student as we head into the new school year. Whether you’re looking to overcome your imposter syndrome and feel confident sharing your ideas in class, make the most of your group projects through productive collaboration, or find and pursue a new passion project - this book is for you! It’s a motivating and inspiring guidebook to creativity, no matter your starting point. ****

Here are our main takeaways:

• Creativity is a skill that everyone has and can work to improve — the authors describe creativity as ‘a muscle that can be strengthened and nurtured through effort and experience.’ We highly recommend trying out the exercises presented in the book either by yourself or with a group to get the creative juices flowing!
• Overcome your perfectionism and don’t be afraid to make mistakes — as some of the most highly-regarded ‘creative geniuses’ have demonstrated, success usually isn’t the product of knowing exactly what to do on the first attempt. Innovation is an iterative process, and we should be grateful for our mistakes and failures to guide us one step closer to success.
• Work closely with your teammates and those you’re designing for — creative potential grows exponentially with a team of diverse perspectives. Be sure to bounce your ideas off of others for feedback, including the audience you might be ideating for! ****

Want to give it a read? You can find the book here!