Creative Management

As the pace of change quickens, creative perception and inspired judgement become increasingly essential to good management. Through key writings of those prominent in the field, this timely book explores the impact of creative thought upon management action. It successfully combines theoretical analysis with practical suggestions for developing and applying creative processes in real-life situations.

The book examines the nature of creativity from a range of different viewpoints including scientific, cognitive and psychodynamic as well as management perspectives. The authors address the non-rational aspects of management thinking, the power of metaphor, and the place of creativity in decision making.

An analysis of key creative processes sets problem solving, mapping and networking alongside intuition, imaging and judgement. The relationship between personal management style and creative behaviour is investigated. Looking towards the future, the book considers the implications of such global trends as prolferating information technology and growing ecological awareness for new modes of thinking and managing creativity.

Creative Management will be essential reading for all managers, management students and teachers concerned with the paramount role of creativity in the management process. It is a Course Reader for the Open University MBA.

• Section I: Creative Perspectives
1. Making Sense of Creativity
   Jane Henry
2. The Roots of Inspiration
   Neil McAleer
3. Lateral and Vertical Thinking
   Edward de Bono
4. Science, Order and Creativity
   David Bohm and F. David Peat
5. Play, Reality and Creativity
   John N. T. Martin
• Section II: Creative Management
6. How Senior Managers Think
   Daniel J. Isenberg
7. Planning on the Left Side and Managing on the Right
   Henry Mintzberg
8. Decision Making and Deal Making: How Creativity Helps
   Robert Lawrence Kuhn and Louis Kuhn
9. Paradigms, Metaphors, and Puzzle Solving in Organization Theory
   Gareth Morgan
• Section III: Creative Processes
10. Problem Solving and Creativity
    Geir Kaufmann
11. Mapping: Creating, Maintaining, and Relinquishing Conceptual Frameworks
    Michael B. McCaskey
12. Corporate Networking: How To Tap Unconventional Wisdom
    Robert K. Mueller
13. The Logic of Intuition: How Top Executives Make Important Decisons
    Weston H. Agor
14. Judgment
    Geoffrey Vickers
15. Imaging and Creativity: An Integrating Perspective
    Vaune Ainsworth-Land
• Section IV: Creative Development
16. Adaptors and Innovators – Why New Initiatives Get Blocked
    Michael J. Kirton
17. Strategic Management Development: Experiential Learning and Managerial Competencies
    David Kolb, Stuart Lublin, Juliann Spoth and Richard Baker
18. Top Management Teams and Organizational Renewal
    David K. Hurst, James C. Rush and Roderick E. White
19. Developing in Phases
    Ronnie Lessem
• Section V: Creative Future
20. The Age of Unreason
    Charles Handy
21. Emerging Waves and Challenges: The Need for New Competencies and Mindsets
    Gareth Morgan
22. Transnational Economy – Transnational Ecology
    Peter Drucker
23. IT in the 1990s: Managing Organizational Interdependence
    John F. Rockhart and James E. Short

School literature, but still a good introduction to a number of thinkers on creativity. Be warned, you really need to like the subject to appreciate the book; not for casual reading.