The Idea Book: 1 (Idébok) - Tapa dura

"I usually don't write book reviews. They remind me too much of a school assignment that has to conform to rules. I'm going to make an exception as there is a book I ordered several months ago that continues to hold my interest. The book combines an artist's sketchbook or journal with 150 pages on ideas and creativity. If DaVinci had a business manager, we'd probably have seen this concept earlier. I've always liked books on creativity and ideas. When I saw a blog post by Seth Godin about "The Idea Book," I was intrigued and sent an email as there wasn't an order form on the website. I didn't think too much about it until the book arrived with an invoice in Swedish. The company has since installed an easy online order form. The book is a product of Interesting.org and is written by Fredrik Haren. Fredrik is the founder of the company which is an idea brokerage firm. He's also a well known speaker on creativity. The book is nicely balanced between 150 pages about ideas and 150 blank pages for your notes or drawings. The stories or lessons are set apart in olive green so you can easily find them. Each follows the format of title, subtitle, background and activity. The activity might be one or more questions or a challenge such as see if you can manage to listen to 50 ideas without saying anything negative about them. Each story is about a page, but no more than two. Some of the stories I've seen before, but most were new. They all illustrated a point and helped rekindle ideas or make me think. Some stories even made me laugh in public such as Einstein's delivering the same exam twice. You can get a flavor for the book by downloading the free 30 page sample PDF file from the site. At first, I was hesitant about the size and binding. The book is hardbound and 8 x 6 and about an inch think. Previously, when I've recorded my ideas, I've used a spiral bound lined notebook. I preferred the spiral bound as it is easier for me to write and rip out pages. However, the solid co

A book on creativity should not be like other books. The Idea Book is 150 pages of ideas, 150 empty pages for your own idea. It’s an idea book. The “book part” consists of 63 different chapters on how you can develop new ideas. Every chapter ends with a practical activity, or exercise, where the reader can practice the lesson of that chapter. The book is full of stories, anecdotes, and quotes about how to generate ideas. The “notebook part” is a place for you to work on and store your best ideas. Follow the tradition of a long line of creatives who have used a small, black notebook to catch their ideas. The combination of creativity boosts from the chapters, and a beautiful notebook for your ideas makes The Idea Book the perfect companion for anyone who wants to nurture their creativity.