Great short book for brainstorming
935086
Concise, to the point. Great short book for brainstorming.
138349
Like how the author listed the different methods in seperate categories.  This was a quick, easy and informative read.  I was able to use this to jot down some of my own business ideas in an organize them.
3277064
Scott's irreverent but concise creativity guide wastes no time in puncturing multiple balloons floating around the echo chamber of the "creative thinking" industry. For example, I like the fact that he points out the term "creative thinking" is redundant, because when you reduce the creative process to its essence it's essentially a decision making process aka thinking.

The book is broken into three parts which roughly correlate to Idea creation, Idea development, and Idea deployment.

Part 1 Idea Creation
Scott clarifies the fact that nothing really is truly original and all ideas stand on the shoulders of giants, so to speak.
He offers a number of methods for finding ideas, and I agree with his approach of having a small toolbox of solid methods vs an ever expanding universe of pundit solutions. Use his or find your own, but keep it manageable and you'll be more productive.

The motivation for solving a problem is an interesting area in itself (ideas driven vs needs driven approaches) and Scott elaborates on some aspects of this. I felt it could have gone a little deeper using psychological theories such as Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs to more outcome focused innovation processes like Ulwick's Jobs To Be Done, but that's a big topic in itself.

I really like the concept of the "Dance Of The Possible". It's an accurate emotive (visual, physical, emotional, auditory++) metaphor for the thinking process of exploring a solution space to a problem. Scott punctures a few more balloons here by highlighting that "Discovery is never efficient", so you need to get some skin in the game and enjoy the process as much as the outcome.

At the end of Part 1 he goes into the need to learn how to improvise. I fully agree with this, but I would also add (based on my own experience as a technologist and a musician) that improvisation best starts from knowing some kind of framework or reference point first. The old adage about knowing the rule book before you throw it away can pay dividends, especially if your improvisation needs to speak to people familiar with an existing paradigm. That's just makes it easier to market, which leads into elements of Part 2 and 3.

Part 2 Idea Development
My big takeaway from this section was Scott's eloquent distillation of the idea development process into a gap analysis framework of Effort, Skills, and Quality. Some great anecdotes are used here to zap a few more balloons and bring into focus some aspects of creativity expectation management that are sorely needed. I really liked the point about not being precious with your ideas, and building your ability to absorb feedback and constructive criticism to better hone your idea development process.

Part 3 Idea Deployment
Scott covers some important points which tie back to the motivation for undertaking a creative task. Whether that task is at the tip of Maslow's pyramid (eg: a creative urge to self actualize through making an emo shoe gaze tune) or more functional like a user needs based Jobs To Be Done approach (eg: developing an incremental or radical technology innovation for your company) at some point you will need to meet the spotlight of user feedback - or if you're really unlucky complete silence! Knowing how to handle this is key to building the confidence to continually develop creative projects, as is the ability to recognize burnout when you're wellspring has run dry and knowing how to refill it.

Lifelong learning is the default mindset we all need to cultivate for a healthy existence, and creativity is a key part of it whether through play, experimentation, or more focused application.

It's a refreshing read on an important topic with lots of immediately actionable advice.
273914
400 Latest and Greatest Small Business Ideas is packed with creative ideas on new business ventures.  In addition Terry Kyle has added useful tips on common small business pitfalls, free resources, ways to save money and a great take on a model for small businesses.  There is a lot packed into one book here.  The only criticism I have is that the breadth and depth of information can make it little difficult to navigate at times but it is worth the effort.  I left the book feeling that Terry Kyle really is passionate about helping his readers be successful in business.
1613804
Brainstorming cards remind me to use alternate modes of thought and creativity. These  go well with the book which I also have.  Few projects take the time to truly brainstorm...most of what happens is what I call spit-balling an idea, which the tip of the iceberg.  But, it takes cognitive energy to breakthrough with a truly innovative approach, so cards like these and others provide the methods to get there with guided cognitive effort.
367275
I really like this short book on how to write a blog post.  It has lots of good ideas on what to write as well as how to write it.  I was making notes as I went along and will be acting on them.  One or two golden nuggets there too that I just hadn't considered before.  The ebook is worth more than 99c so grab it.

I must say I have read one other book of Steve's so when I saw this one I knew it would be full of good info for me.  What I also liked about it was its length.  I knew I had the time to not only read it but finish it.  I give it 5 stars but probably must say that it didn't need the preview of another of his books at the end but with that said that's just a personal preference.
651263
The book is short and sweet. In it the author relate an incident in his career and used it to guide us through the thinking process. Very applicable.
3025825
I loved how the ideas were short and easy to pick up quickly - I also found having it written like the person with dementia was speaking was a nice touch - it made the ideas more personal.  Going to keep these in my back pocket!  Thanks Marcie!
4473791
Great way to generate ideas. She asked questions I would never have thought of. I'm still working through the book. Not skipping questions is forcing my mind to really work. Some questions are easier than others, of course. My mind is thinking better already. Thank you.
187367
Nice, short and concise book which is great for self help to get rid of old thinking patterns. I learn something new about myself each time I read it.
1627335
101 bite size ideas to get your creative juices flowing. Each hack is just a few paragraphs and that's perfect as I don't have to spend hours of reading to get value out of it.
2184016
Enjoyed this short book, really like the discussion, and has given me some new thoughts on the dynamic of creating and work.  Great snippets to help inspire action, especially action vs thinking.
2888684
This book was perfect for my needs. I have been trying to come up with a more efficient writing system. Shelley gives several options for organizing your book ideas from outlines to specialized software. There are lots of links to her website where she goes into more in depth detail about the tools she uses. Her website is where she markets herself and her courses. This is why the book is free. It is basically an advertisement. That being said, there are valuable things to be learned from the book as well as her website that don't cost you anything but the time it took to read it. This book is very short, which is perfect for writers since we should be spending more time writing, than reading about it. For a free book, I was pleasantly surprised by the quality of its content.
4132249
Whenever I'm feeling creatively stumped, this is one of the books I like to pull out for inspiration. It's great for a novice, but it also does a good job of sparking ideas for other projects. I think it's well designed and organized. Overall, a great little book to add to your collection.
4754791
I was given a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

There are 1000 creative writing prompts in this book. That is not a lie. And they're good prompts, the kind that make you think. Most of them, as many as 99% of them, are strong, singular ideas that are good for classrooms, blog discussion, and maybe a novella or two. Full-length novels require general prompts that aren't too specific and generate multi-faceted ideas in your head. Throughout the book, I came across maybe ten ideas that made me stop and think. Tenthats not bad, you might say. Yes, but as a writer, Im looking for more. If I was to use this book to prompt me to think of the next full-length novel, it would fall short. As a creative writing prompt, it hits all the right marks.
3819233
This is a quick read and if you can step outside your current situation and put yourself in the book and view it as concept this book will get you thinking and stir creativity. I have recommended this book to my friends as "food for thought" read.
4059314
I work with leaders as an executive coach and I am always on the hunt for thought-provoking material which they can digest easily. This book really delivers on this front. Its made up of 52 short chapters which present a key idea. I love how each chapter also has a connection from the world of magic. The chapters deal with some of the key challenges of leaders, how to deal with toxic people, how to engage in conversation, how not to take things personally. I have found that they really generate wonderful conversation with the leaders I work with.