Cracking Creativity: The Secrets of Creative Genius

Working as a watershape designer, I'm always a little bit taken aback when people come up to me and say they're so amazed by the work I do and that they know they could never do anything so creative themselves.  It's all part of a common perception that so-called "creative" work is produced only by people who were born with a particular talent.   Frankly, I don't agree with that perception.  As I look back over my career and review the work of others, it's clear to me that creativity in design (or anything else, for that matter) is essentially a muscle we all can develop.  Sure, some people have natural abilities that give them a boost, but the essence of creativity has more to do with the way you go about pursuing it than anything else. Along those lines, I recently finished reading Cracking Creativity:  The Secrets of Creative Genius by Michael Michalko (Ten Speed Press, 2001).  This terrific, 300-page book tackles the nature of