Insight Out

I have to mention it simply because this is truly a coincidence. Last week I wrote a review of the Disney-Pixar film Inside Out. So when I picked up this book called Insight Out by Tina Seelig (@Tseelig) I assumed it was a book about creativity that abounds in the Pixar team. Tina Seelig writes about creativity. Check out her last book Ingenius if you have not read it yet.

This book is also a how to book. The focus this time is on taking an idea and finally getting it implemented. The book begins with Tina making a distinction between imagination, creativity, innovation and entrepreneurship. We seem to use these terms interchangeably. The first three terms especially tend to be used as synonyms.

Insight Out starts by describing the term Imagination as the ability to visualize what does not exist today. So how does one go about becoming more imaginative? Stay curious suggests Tina. Observe everything with curiosity and not judgement. Look for patterns and then see what opportunities for improvement exist. Spend a silent hour observing something and these moments of immersion. Then use these to create your own “Moon Shot” projects – a term made famous by Google. Creating a driverless car is surely like taking a shot at going to the moon for a search firm.

Creativity is all about applying imagination to solve one of those moon shot kind of problems. To solve these we need to examine our own motivation. Those who are internally motivated stand a better chance at success. Those who rely on external factors for motivation stay dependent on others for approval and validation. Instead keep experimenting and creating your own prototypes and mock ups.

Innovation is all about reframing problems and connecting several unconnected ideas. That explains why business problems are best solved in cross disciplinary teams. All the ideas and prototypes are worthless if you cannot implement them. Entrepreneurs are constantly trying to do way more than what is possible with resources that are way too little. They need to persist and inspire their teams. The best entrepreneurs inspire others through stories that are simple, connect with human emotions and are often counter-intuitive. This is the section that I really loved reading.

Design Thinking or Human Centered Design as described in Creative Confidence by Tom and David Kelly. Read a quick snapshot of that book here <click here>. That’s another must read book if you like to learn to think like those creative designers.

Imagination, creativity and innovation seemed to be part of one process and the entrepreneurship bit seemed like a bolt on to the main idea. The section on entrepreneurship was really engaging thanks to all the stories about entrepreneurs who persisted despite odds and repeated failures. The tips on how to tell stories was valuable for me. And maybe the next book should be just about that.

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