| | |  | Mike Bonifer | Home » » Smart World: Breakthrough Creativity And the New Science of Ideas | | | | | | | Description: | | Since ancient times, people have believed that breakthrough ideas come from the brains of geniuses with awesome rational powers. In recent years, however, the paradigm has begun to shift toward the notion that the source of creativity lies "out there," in the network of connections between people and ideas. In this provocative book, Richard Ogle crystallizes the nature of this shift, and boldly outlines "a new science of ideas." The key resides in what he calls "idea-spaces," a set of nodes in a network of people (and their ideas) that cohere and take on a distinctive set of characteristics leading to the generation of breakthrough ideas. These spaces are governed by nine laws - illuminated in individual chapters with fascinating stories of dramatic breakthroughs in science, business, and art. "Smart World" will change forever the way we think about creativity and innovation. | | | Features: | |
• ISBN13: 9781591394174
• Condition: NEW
• Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
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| | | Product Details: | | | Author:
| Richard Ogle | | Hardcover:
| 303 pages | | Publisher:
| Harvard Business School Press | | Publication Date:
| June 05, 2007 | | Language:
| English | | ISBN:
| 1591394171 | | Package Length:
| 9.3 inches | | Package Width:
| 6.3 inches | | Package Height:
| 1.4 inches | | Package Weight:
| 1.05 pounds | | Average Customer Rating:
|  based on 14 reviews |
| | | | Customer Reviews: | |
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 The Secrets of Creative Breakthroughs Unveiled...sort ofOct 06, 2009
This book was a bit of a challenge. First, I am not totally convinced that Ogle has discovered anything new but makes it appear to be so by inventing creative terminology. He borrows his ideas from the emerging field of network science and it is somewhat difficult to follow his explanations. What makes it particularly difficult is his introduction of his laws with their new-fangled terminology. Anyway, it seems to me that he could have made it easier for his readers had he come up with less convoluted jargon. A lot of authors today oversimplify language to make their books accessible to the largest market; this one errs in the opposite direction.
A lot of what he does say makes sense but is expressed differenty than in the past. For example, the notion that there is an "expanded" mind in the sense that the environment does the thinking for you. An example is the alphabet, which is set up so that you can easily choose any one of 26 letters and come up with a word. You don't have to start from scratch. Also the notion of idea-spaces; that is, fields or areas or conceptual schema that have imbedded in them certain ways of seeing or thinking about the world. There is, for example, the idea space of classical science, where science is practiced in a partucular way, or the idea space of modernist architecture, where architects abide by certain rules and applications. When different idea-spaces come together; e.g. when Frank Gerhy linked architecture with modern art, something new emerges. This happens, according to Ogle, when "weak ties" are connected. This is not new. Many creativity gurus speak about connecting completely different things together to come up with something new. I believe in the past others referred to ideas as coming from the "ether" or just being out there wainting to be discovered. So there has been some sense of these concepts; Ogle is putting more flesh on them.
The really fascinating portions of the book are when Ogle goes into the specific history of a breakthrough - the discovery of the structure of DNA or the invention of the printing press, for example - especially the personal, cultural and social histories involved .
I am also not sure that I agree with some of his criteria for what is a breakthrough. For example, he includes the classification of perimenopause, or premenopausal syndrome, as a breakthrough. How is this so? How is this different then from the discovery of "repressed memories" a decade or so ago, when all of a sudden lots of people seemed to have them and therapists galore popped up to coax them out?
Finally, any book that talks about the discovery of ideas and does not mention Edward de Bono has missed a big contributor to the field. A lot of what Ogle says has been summarized in much simpler fashion by de Bono. Ogle's creative arc is de Bono's lateral thinking, for example. De Bono also popularized the use of techniques to move away from linear thinking and into the type of thinking that Ogle advocates.
In sum, there is a lot of good and interesting stuff here but it presented in a difficult to follow way. Supplement this book with De Bono's books on lateral thinking.
Good examples but somewhat esotericAug 25, 2009
On the positive side the examples of major innovative concepts are very interesting and worth reading. Some of these examples are:
- Discovery of DNA
- Microcomputer revolution
- Barbie doll and
- Gutenberg's printing press.
On the negative side, the attempt to bring these different concepts into a overall creativity framework, although an heroic effort, results in a very difficult book to read and understand. And, when you are done with it, you wonder if you really can apply these ideas that he brings forth. Consequently, the last chapter and the last pages especially, left me somewhat disappointed.
However, I would recommend reading the book for the innovation examples, and see if you can obtain a perspective on how to use this.
Good book...a little longApr 24, 2009
The book is much longer than it needs to be. BUT it's got some good stuff. It does a nice job of sharing it's perspective on how good ideas are formed and the importance of the connectivity and networks for having those ideas actually breakthrough. It really makes you think.
 Applying the science of networks to creativity Jan 18, 2008
This is a strange, wonderful and not always easy book. Richard Ogle tackles a slippery question about the mind: Where do truly creative leaps originate? Studies of creativity and innovation are multiplying, but Ogle's book does something rare. It demonstrates how networking creates something new by navigating shared spaces. Its style and content will make it challenging to many readers. Though Ogle has a knack for original, striking phrases, a simpler style would have served the innate complexity of the subject matter. That aside, we recommend this book to everyone who is interested in innovation, creativity and the propagation of ideas through culture. The parallels Ogle draws among plastic dolls, Romantic paintings, the discovery of DNA and the development of the personal computer are striking and entertaining, and his concepts about how creativity uses "idea-spaces" and networks are wildly intriguing.
1 of 2 found the following review helpful:
A bit dryDec 01, 2007
Very "out of the box", not much of a page-turner, but it does spark some interest. The narratives are somewhat intruiging.
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