Creative Intelligence: Harnessing the
Power to Create, Connect, and Inspire
Bruce
Nussbaum. 2013. New York, NY: Harper Business. [ISBN 978-0-06-208842-0. 352
pages, including index. US$28.99.]
In
a constantly changing world of science, business and technology, there is much
speculation over what drives innovation, intelligence, and entrepreneurship. Is
there a way to assess someone’s ability to create a successful business, as
Steve Jobs and Mark Zuckerberg did? Nussbaum argues throughout his book Creative Intelligence: Harnessing the Power
to Create, Connect, and Inspire, that although the abilities of Jobs and
Zuckerberg are hard to measure objectively, there are concrete skills associated
with their success. These skills are not gems of a genius; we can practice them
in our daily life. Nussbaum argues that they are the heart of entrepreneurialism
and that creativity is the backbone of a new emerging theory of Indie
Capitalism—an economy based on the idea that creativity drives capitalism. Overall,
he argues that although we think geniuses are born with innate abilities, many
of their eureka moments were the result of years of hard
work.
Nussbaum,
himself an expert in design and innovation, had a career quest to tie together
a common trait of successful companies like Facebook and Apple. Was it the number
of patents awarded or the amount of money spent on research that resulted in such
powerful and transformative companies? He determined “creativity” to be their
common component.
He
identified five competencies of creativity:
·
Knowledge
Mining: Steve Jobs’ integration of calligraphy into the Apple computer is based
on his having audited a class on calligraphy for fun during college.
·
Framing:
Crowdfunding on the Internet changed fiscal sponsorship from a practice of the
wealthy to a community endeavor open to anyone with Internet access. Many small
donations now compete with the National Endowment for the Arts in the amount of
money raised.
·
Playing: SimCity (video game) teaches people city
planning by turning it into a game.
·
Making:
Web sites for marketing products online have allowed “homegrown” to become
mainstream and accessible to everybody.
·
Pivoting:
The creation of Instagram illustrates the most basic pivoting. Burbn was a
location check-in app that was not successful. The photo app within the
program, however, received a lot of traffic. The founders ditched their
original business and eventually sold Instagram to Facebook for billions.
All are fluid skills that we can
practice, hone, and perfect. Many of Nussbaum’s arguments advocate a liberal
arts education where specialization dos not occur. He argues that it is the
person’s passion for a topic that unleashes creativity. Although idealistic,
Nussbaum’s arguments are unrealistic. A liberal arts education, while
considered a well-rounded survey of subjects, cannot be tied to an increase in
salary or any kind of promotability within the business world.
Overall, Nussbaum believes we are
moving toward a more creative economy. Indie Capitalism is the new wave. In
August 2012, Apple became the most valuable company in history based on its
capability to create and rewrite the ecology of computers. Nussbaum argues that
the skills of creativity will birth more Apples in society and drive our
economy to new heights of excellence.
