Book Reviews

Book review of The Art of Creative Thinking by John Adair (2009)

 I chose John Adair's The Art of Creative Thinking as my book to be reviewed, since it seemed to have a general approach to creative thinking and exploiting personal knowledge and skills, as well as that of other individuals and parties. The book encouraged one to give room for open-minded thinking that neither condemns nor undervalues inventions by others, but instead supports one to make new connections and purposes for already existing ideas. The main thought was therefore not to compete with others, but to further develop already proven concepts and to take them to the next level. This concept of giving credit to already existing inventions was also seen as a general way of thinking - keeping your eyes and ears open and alert to react to any interesting findings that might await.
 

Since our task in the course was to come up with as many ideas as possible for Turku Energia's future project, "the green city", I thought the book was in great harmony with the correct mindset for this task. In fact, having already completed our task I understand some aspects from our group work, schedule and methods that were not quite optimized for the completion of our task. The key issue with which we most likely struggled, was the fact that we were trying to solve the case in a typical, "let's be efficient" way. In other words, we would sit down at a table and automatically assume that work would just be done and we would proceed from stage to stage like in every other school project. This setting and the expectations from ourselves probably resulted in us not being able to make progress at all, and we lost some valuable resources, namely the "organic" creativity. Something that comes about when the subject of the task is appealing and one's mind is eager to find information from the outside world, partly unconscious. The typical scene of a group having to "solve" a case is not always the most efficient way to work, especially if the task is something that has no connection to the group from the beginning. If this connection and interest is never found, the progress and results can be disappointing.

After all, in this case as in many others, there was no correct answer. And even though we knew this on paper, I do not think we ever truly embraced it and let it open up our way of thinking, and therefore the overall approach to the task. Instead of bursting with ideas, we were all confined to our space of logical thinking as individuals and in the group. This means that we may have thought of and presented ideas that we had approved of ourselves, hence leaving unfinished, illogical, or unrealistic ideas in the dark. Though the logical and approved ideas often better match up to final solutions that are implemented, the raw, unfinished thoughts may work as a stepping stone. In addition, this would have allowed us to use the full potential of the group, which would have been a great asset in a group with three different nationalities.   

Regardless of the aforementioned challenges, we managed to complete our task with great results. The overall approach was quite traditional, and I believe that the methods and way of thinking presented in Adair's book would have complimented our work enormously should we have followed this ideology. However, the camp and group work were a great experience and I will certainly know to appreciate Adair's useful tips in future endeavors.

 Reviewed by Thomas


 
Book review on Innovation and Entrepreneurship by Peter F. Drucker (2007)

Simultaneously with this course Inno 58h I'm working on my Master's thesis which also deals with innovations, SMEs and EU-financing directed towards innovative ideas. I chose this book by Peter F. Drucker, because it is also useful background material for my thesis. Personally, I have always considered myself to be somewhat uninnovative as a person. But reading this book has helped me to realize that maybe this is not the case. I admit to have had a crooked view on innovations - as many people seem to have. Previously, I have equalled innovation capacity with invention capacity, eureka moments or even artistic ability to create something totally different. This idea of mine has included the thought that this is some kind of an innate capacity of a person that either exists or it doesn't exist. However, Drucker has proven me totally wrong. I, too, can learn to innovate through a lot of hard work. The way the author combines the two ideas of Innovation and Entrepreneurship, intrigued me right from the beginning, having also worked 12 years as an entrepreneur. The first edition of the book was written already in 1985 so one can conclude that Drucker has been one of the pioneers on the practical view on innovation and entrepreneurship.

The main idea of the book is that anyone can create innovations following a few simple rules which all have to do about hard work. Good innovations cannot be created by short eureka moments but through hundreds of hours of hard work and systematic thinking. Drucker states that innovation is a specific tool of entrepreneurs which is used in converting change to an opportunity for a business. Entrepreneurs should systematically look for innovation sources, symptoms and changes in the business environment to finally end up with successful innovative ideas. Principles of successful innovation need to be learned and adapted. Drucker presents seven clear sources for innovation and entrepreneurial strategies to be used to when dealing with innovations.

Reading this book has helped me to recognize some changes in our daily environments that could provide new business opportunities with the help of innovative thinking. I have started to look at things and situations a little differently and how I could possibly develop some ideas into new business ideas. I'm actually quite excited about the innovation camp and hope I could use Drucker's advice on our team's case when we receive it. If they cannot be adapted in this case, I will definitely have use for Drucker's ideas in the future. It was well-structured and it gave good practical examples which helped in understanding the presented concepts and ideas. I truely enjoyed reading the book and would recommend it to others as well. You don't even have to be particularly interested in innovations as such. It is quite an easy book to read but still provides you with a lot of knowledge and usable ideas concerning all areas of life. The book is definitely worth reading. 

Reviewed by Kirsi

Book review of Nassim Nicholas Taleb “The Black Swan: The impact of Highly Improbable” (2007)

 

 

My choice of the book was spontaneous, besides I found this book easily from the library.

The author, Nassim Nicholas Taleb is economist, but his major fields of interest are problems of luck, uncertainty, probability and knowledge. Currently he is the Dean’s Professor in the Science of Uncertainty at the University of Massachusets at Amherst.

He starts his book “The Black Swan” with self-biography in form of stories. Basically the entire book consists of stories. He presents his views on past and current events in Lebanon and USA, people that he meets, books that he read. He presents his ideas in the story telling way which makes them exiting to follow. He philosophies about basically everything: life, war, books, money, happiness etc. He makes different theories about how we can predict. He presents different aspects of our reality and classifies them (for example “mediocristan ” and “extemistan”)  

But the main idea is his theory about “black swans” or in other words sudden event or success that one predicted, waited or hoped for. Time ago people on this part of the world thought that black swans don’t exist. But later on they found them in Australia. Finding a “black swan” is a rare event. In order to have at least opportunity for it to happen people have to live in “extremistan” way of life. One of the examples: he describes one lady, an author that wrote a wonderful book. She was trying to get published in all the famous publishing houses but only got rejects. Finally she finds randomly one small almost unknown publisher. He agrees to publish her book and suddenly it gets sold in huge amounts. Then famous publishers from New York that she got refuse from in the beginning started getting in touch with her themselves. 

Nassim Nicholas Taleb is giving much attention to importance of prediction. For example: not much talked about before economic crisis, wars, or some tragedies until they happen. That is very important to be able to predict different kinds of happenings. He says that why for example biggest rewards are earned by generals and offices on the war, but not by those who actually prevented or tried to prevent the war etc.

Generally speaking, Taleb's book presents very different view on life. It is a useful book if you want to try to think differently or just worth reading in a free time. In our innovation course we will also try to find our “black swan”!

Written by Anna

"Blink"

In this moment we are reading "Blink", which we think its a great book that can apport lots of knowledge to us.

As we havent had enough time to finnish the book, here we attach a good summary that we have found. 


Introduction: The Statue That Didn't Look Right
Gladwell's introduction to Blink presents the example of the J. Paul Getty Museum's purchase of a statue that turned out to be a forgery. The Getty was approached by an art dealer in 1983 who claimed to have a sixth century B.C. Greek statue for sale—a kouros. Although officials at the museum were somewhat suspicious initially, they decided to purchase the statue after a 14-month investigation. The investigation included using core samples from the statue to test its age, background checks into the documentation of the statue's former owners, and even tests by sculpture experts in Athens. In 1986, satisfied that the kouros was an original, the Getty put it on display. Unfortunately, once the sculpture went on display, experts began expressing doubts about its authenticity. First an Italian art historian, Federico Zeri, observed that the statue's fingernails "seemed wrong to him." He could not articulate why they looked wrong, but he had a bad feeling about the kouros. After several other art experts experienced similar doubts, the Getty initiated further investigation into the sculpture's origin and discovered that it possibly could be a reproduction. Parts of the sculpture fit into different time periods, and forensic research revealed that a good forgery could pass a core sample test if the statue were soaked in potato mold. The end result is that the statue remains on display, but its placard reads, "About 350 BC, or modern forgery." Throughout the rest of Blink, Gladwell refers back to this introductory example to explain why some of the experts knew upon first glance at the statue that something was wrong.

Chapter 1: The Theory of Thin Slices: How a Little Bit of Knowledge Goes a Long Way
Chapter 1 introduces the idea of "thin slicing"—taking minute details about someone or something and using that thin slice to develop a larger opinion of him, her, or it. The chapter focuses mostly on the research of psychologist John Gottman from the University of Washington. Gottman has established the reputation of being able to determine with a 90% accuracy rate whether a marriage will endure. He does so by observing the couple for 15 minute or less. He has trained assistants in his Love Lab to quickly code facial expressions and tones to determine the underlying messages that spouses send to one another. The couples, of course, send their messages of contempt, anger, disgust, defensiveness, or neutrality subconsciously; so Gottman and his assistants do not study the couples' words nearly as much as they do their reactions and gestures. Gottman's research is significant because it establishes the idea that humans do not need to know a great deal about someone else to determine that person's personality. Gladwell offers other examples of effective thin slicing in this chapter, such as strangers rather than friends being able to more accurately identify someone's personality based on a 15-minute look at his or her dorm room.

Chapter 2: The Locked Door: The Secret Life of Snap Decisions
While John Gottman and other established psychologists can logically explain how their research works and how they know what they do about the human mind, Chapter 2 explains why most of us cannot explain how our subconscious mind works. Gladwell notes that many humans are similar to the art experts in the book's introduction: our intuition tells us that something is not quite right or tells us that we can trust someone, but we cannot articulate why we think the way we do. The author offers the example of Vic Braden, one of the world's top tennis coaches, who discovered that he could predict with impressive accuracy when a tennis player was going to double fault (serve two bad serves in a row). Braden would watch matches and think to himself, "She's going to double fault," as the player began her serve. Interestingly enough, Braden was tortured by the fact that he could not identify how he was so accurately predicting the poor serves. He tried thinking about his thinking but was at a loss as to how to explain his hunches to others.
Similarly, Gladwell explores speed dating in this chapter and notes that most humans consciously describe the qualities that they are looking for in a partner but then end up choosing to date or being attracted to someone who does not possess any of the listed attributes. Again, when asked by the researchers who oversaw the speed dating research, participants could not consciously state why they were intuitively drawn to people who did not fit their lists.

Chapter 3: The Warren Harding Error: Why We Fall for Tall, Dark, and Handsome Men
Although Harding's name appears in the chapter's title, he is not its main focus. Gladwell simply uses him at the beginning to demonstrate that appearance or irrelevant features often cause humans to use thin slicing negatively. In Harding's case, even though he was not particularly intelligent or moral, he was able to get elected because "he looked Presidential." Harding served only two years in office (he died from a stroke), yet he has been noted by many historians as one of the worst presidents in American history. Gladwell uses this "first impression" example as a starting point for discussing gender and race biases. He includes several Initial Association Tests (IATs), which test individuals' association of males and females with careers and home, and then he discusses Harvard's Race IAT, a computerized test that requires participants to match photos of European Americans...
By Mikel and Benat