Guest Post--creativity and CEOs

I read a fascinating little book called Creatively Ever After a little while ago (click here for my review of Creatively Ever After). I don't read a lot of non-fiction, but if you look at the cover you'll see why it intrigued me. I was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed this book, and by how relevant well-remembered nursery rhymes becamse as I got involved in reading. Today I'm delighted to welcome the author, Alicia Arnold, to my blog to tell you all about Jack and Jill, CEOs and more. Thank you for joining us Alicia...


For all the CEO talk about creativity being the number one leadershipcompetency for the future there's a decline of creativity in America. But, there'sa well kept secret. What is that secret you ask? The secret is creativity canbe taught.

Not only can you learn to be more creative, but techniques like creativeproblem solving have been tested and retested over the past 50 years and provento be effective. With the goal of helping to solve the "creativitycrisis," I set out to write a how-to book on creative problemsolving. In my book, Creatively EverAfter , I set forth a business fable that weaves the fictitiousstory of Jack and Jill (yes, the two who keep falling down the hill) and thenonfiction steps of the creative problem solving process to demonstratetechniques for tackling seemingly unsolvable problems.

In thinking about the format for the book, I wanted to help readers absorbthe tools and techniques in a way that would be memorable and entertaining.This led me to write a business fable.

Through the story of Jack and Jill, readers learn hands-on tips and toolsfor solving their own challenges. The fable takes readers through visits withOld King Cole, Hey Diddle, Diddle, Humpty Dumpty and others. Along the way,readers learn how Jack and Jill managed to stop falling down the hill bytapping into the creative problem solving process:

·        Identify the goal, wish, or challenge; ·        Gather Data; ·        Clarify the Problem; ·        Generate Ideas; ·        Develop Solutions and ·        Plan for Action
I hope you enjoy the book. Creatively Ever After is my contributionto broadening awareness about creativity and a way to show businessprofessionals how to tap into their natural creativity.