Creative thinking: a reading list

People often ask me to recommend books about creative thinking.  Here's a short list of the books that I've found most useful over the years.

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First, some books I simply have to recommend, because I know the author so well.  Click on the covers to find out more.

 

 

Casting the reading net further afield, I would probably start - unsurprisingly, perhaps - with Edward de Bono.  He was enormously prolific, and the best book to start with might be Lateral Thinking for Management.  It introduces his core concepts: lateral thinking and vertical thinking, first- and second-stage thinking, and a whole lot more. 

Tudor Rickards is a source of great wisdom: Creativity and the Management of Change  has inspired me in all sorts of ways.  I also make use of Simon Majaro's book, The Creative Gap, and Vincent Nolan's The Innovator's Handbook.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

If you want more academic material, try these titles.  The Routledge Companion is edited in part by Rickards; and the material published by the Open University is unfailingly excellent.

 

 

 

 

 

 

If you're looking for something a bit lighter but full of practical ideas, I recommend Roger von Oech's bestseller, A Whack on the Side of the Head.  (Von Oech has also produced a Whack Pack:  a set of cards that are great for stimulating creativity and creative conversations.)

And finally, for a distinctly different approach to the creative process, you could take a look at Robert Fritz' book, Creating.