Imagination First E-Book

Eric Liu

• Herausgeber: John Wiley & Sons
• Kategorie: Bildung
• Sprache: Englisch

Seitenzahl: 190

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2009

Beschreibung

When imagination becomes habit, it can transform your work and your life The best corporations know that innovative thinking is the only competitive advantage that cannot be outsourced. The best schools are those that create cultures of imagination. Now in paperback, Imagination First introduces a wide-variety of individuals who make a habit of imaginative thinking and creative action, offering a set of universal practices that anyone can use to transform their life at work, home, and play. These 28.5 practices will enable anyone to become more imaginative and to teach others to do so as well?from corporate executive to educator to platoon sergeant. Bonus content includes * Winning "practices" submitted by the public * Guidelines for educators who want to cultivate creativity in their classrooms * Expanded resource section The book is filled with illustrative stories of creative leaders, teachers, artists, and scientists that clearly illustrate the original practices and new material that shows how to bring imagination to life.

Leseprobe

Table of Contents

Title Page

Copyright

Praise for Imagination First

Acknowledgments

Lincoln Center Institute

From Ideology to Action

The Authors

Part One: The Premise

Introduction

A New Path

What We Aim to Do Here

What, Why, and How

What Imagination Isn't

Why It Matters

Why We Fear It

How to Push Through

Part Two: The Practices

Practice 1: Make Mist

Practice 2: Leave the Campfire

Practice 3: Flip What's Foolish

Practice 4: Make Way for Awe

Practice 5: Reinvent the Wheel

Practice 6: Think Inside the Box

Practice 7: Hoard Bits

Practice 8: Mix Your Metaphors

Practice 9: Renew Your Narrative

Practice 10: Untie Your Tongue

Practice 11: Swap Bodies

Practice 12: Make a Gap

Practice 12.5: Finish the Story

Practice 13: Chunk It

Practice 14: Don't Blink

Practice 15: Cloud Appreciation

Practice 16: Spotlight Off, Lantern On

Practice 17: Play Telephone

Practice 18: Help Out a Boobonian

Practice 19: Teach Nonzero Math

Practice 20: Microexperiment

Practice 21: Rewrite History

Practice 22: Design for the Hallway

Practice 23: Routinize Randomness

Practice 24: Ride the z-axis

Practice 25: Challenge Your Challenges

Practice 26: Break the Hand

Practice 27: Yes and…

Practice 28: Fail Well

Practice X: Make Up Your Own

Part Three: The Purposes

Conclusion

How to What If

The Networked Imagination

For Good

For Further Exploration

Index

Copyright © 2009 by Lincoln Center Institute, a department of Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, Inc. All rights reserved.

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Liu, Eric.

Imagination first : unlocking the power of possibility / Eric Liu and Scott Noppe-Brandon.

p. cm.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN 978-0-470-38248-6 (cloth)

ISBN 978-1-118-01368-7 (paper)

1. Imagination. 2. Creative thinking. 3. Originality. I. Noppe-Brandon, Scott. II. Title.

BF408.L74 2009

153.3--dc22

2009023241

Praise for Imagination First: Unlocking the Power of Possibility

“Imagination First offers a blueprint for tapping into the power of imagination, which is the core of innovation. To maintain our competitive edge, we need to balance instruction, encouraging our children to be creative and to develop their imaginations. Every student should be in a classroom where investigating, questioning, and discovering are inherently part of the curriculum. In today's economy, these skills are essential for success and continued world leadership in the 21st century.”

—John I. Wilson, executive director, National Education Association

“Imagination First is a wonderfully written book that makes a powerful case for how much we owe to imagination. And it is full of detailed, useful suggestions for how to release that powerful force in each of us. It couldn't be more timely!”

—Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, director, The Quality of Life Research Center

“Drawing from literature, the latest science, and a wide array of real-world examples, Imagination First shines a much-needed lantern into the blackbox of the creative process. For anyone interested in succeeding in today's imagination economy, this timely book offers an expansive and accessible toolbox.”

—Daniel H. Pink, author of A Whole New Mind and Drive

“Imagination First is an excellent primer for everyone: business leaders, scientists, inventors, you name it. The “real-world” practices I found here are invaluable, supported by case studies in education, the arts, business, and sports. The authors demonstrate that there is a reservoir of imagination in each and every one of us waiting to be tapped in order to succeed—and excel—in this competitive world. An incredible book.”

—Ben Silverman, founder and CEO, Electus

“Imagination—we all want more of it. The question is, can we teach it, and if so, how? Eric Liu and Scott Noppe-Brandon answer yes, and they chart the way in this engaging and delightful book. Our kids will be the better for it!”

—Joel I. Klein, former chancellor, New York City Department of Education

“This is a wonderful book about opening our minds, by two writers who understand well what is likely to close them. Each chapter demonstrates how to break the bonds of unseen assumptions, by ‘rinsing out expectations,’ redesigning spaces to support generative conversations, creating new narratives, and much more. Each chapter is just long enough to deliver a mind-popping idea and just short enough to keep us from getting lost in our usual thoughts.”

—Rosamund Zander, author of Art of Possibility, family therapist, executive coach

“Imagination First unlocks the secrets of the most important aspect of human consciousness and will be a valuable aid to anyone wishing to unfold their potential for creativity.”

—Deepak Chopra, author of The Soul of Leadership

Acknowledgments

Imagination First emerged from many overlapping collaborations. We'd like to thank some of the people we've worked with while creating this book.

First, we want to thank all the remarkable people we interviewed and visited in the course of our research. Spending time with them made this a transformative process for us. Similarly, we'd like to thank the equally remarkable participants of the many Imagination Conversations sponsored by Lincoln Center Institute and by the Guiding Lights Network. The ideas and insights they shared in these nationwide public events shaped our approach in important ways.

Lesley Iura, our wonderful editor at Wiley/Jossey-Bass, has been an imaginative and open-minded guide and partner. She has great instincts and a discerning eye, and we're so fortunate that she gets it. The design, production, and marketing teams at Wiley/Jossey-Bass are dedicated professionals, and we thank them as well for all their efforts.

In the Lincoln Center orbit, we'd first like to thank Reynold Levy, the president of Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts. He has been a great champion of LCI—and of the larger endeavor to bring the potential of imagination to the forefront of public understanding. Deep thanks also are due to Ann Unterberg, chair of Lincoln Center Institute, and to Bonnie B. Himmelman and Susan Rudin, its vice chairs. We'd like to honor Loet Velmans, who underwrote the creation of the LCI Imagination Award, for his support and vision.

Maxine Greene, LCI's philosopher-in-residence, has been a source of inspiration for many years. Her legacy as thinker, teacher, and role model is deep and we're grateful to her. Thanks to Madeleine Holzer, Cathryn Williams, and Alison Lehner-Quam for their inspired leadership at LCI; specifically, Madeleine for her work in naming the Capacities for Imaginative Learning, Cathryn for expanding LCI's reach across the nation and abroad, and Alison for her vital collaboration in this book and indispensable management of the process.

We salute LCI's staff, teaching artists, and partnering educators, all of whom shape LCI's practice and worldview. Among the great LCI staff who've helped make this book possible are Ashleigh Blomfield, Julia Clark-Spohn, Linda Miles, Sasha Papernik, Jennifer Poggiali, and Christopher St. Clair. For the paperback edition we thank Linda Miles for her research on expanding “For Further Exploration.”

From the Guiding Lights Network, we want to call out and thank all the luminaries and partner organizations who've been part of the Guiding Lights Weekend every year and part of our other activities such as the Creativity Matters summit and the School of Life. The Network folds in many wonderful people blessed with many forms of imagination, and that is especially true of the core team who make the Weekend possible: Claudette Evans, Jená Cane, and Alex Martin.

Scott wishes to thank his wonderful children, Jesse and Geordy Noppe-Brandon and Zach Brandon, for teaching him that being playful and serious are not antithetical; and his beloved wife, Gail, for her unmatched ability to make words dance and ideas flow. Eric would like to thank his mother, Julia Liu, and his daughter, Olivia Liu, for showing him so many ways to keep his mind and heart open; and Jená Cane, for being, in every sense, his partner in possibility.

Last but not least, because this has been (and continues to be!) a truly rewarding collaboration, we'd like to thank each other. Having the right cocreator on a project like this spells the difference between work and play. Creating Imagination First has definitely felt like play. Onward!

Lincoln Center Institute

Learning to Ask: What if …?

Lincoln Center Institute for the Arts in Education (LCI), established in 1975 and located in New York City, is the educational cornerstone of Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, Inc. Over its thirty-five years of existence, the Institute has grown as a provider of arts in education, and has long been a leading organization in developing skills of imagination through guided encounters with the visual and performing arts. LCI is driven by its conviction that the imagination is an essential cognitive skill that can and should be taught, but also—and crucially—that imaginative thinking and learning are vital in today's global society, not only in the classrooms, but in the workforce as well. More than ever, in a world that struggles to adapt to its vastly different points of view while facing a difficult economic time, the Institute feels that it is its responsibility to propagate the idea of imagination, creativity, and innovation as indispensable tools of survival for all: artists, scientists, entrepreneurs, mathematicians, politicians, or business leaders.