CREATIVE ZING could be useful for business leaders or individuals who tend to be more rigid.. There are really no new ideas presented here, and each entry is so short it feels more like a group of listicles than a book. That said, the recommended actions could be useful for someone who is short on ideas and needs a nudge to become creative. I was drawn to this book by the excellent cover.

“So to stay creative, we have to practice creative habits. And that’s the purpose of this book. It’s all about creative performance. Here you’ll find suggestions and examples to fill your life with Creative Zing!” - From Creative Zing! by Sam Harrison

Creative Zing! by Sam Harrison is a book full of creative practices, it’s inspiring and intelligent. Based on extensive research, it expands five simple and easy-to-remember concepts:
*Explore
*Experiment
*Exhale
*Examine
*Express

Explore dives into how to go past the obvious to the original ideas, finding the remarkable ones. The book has exercises to open you mind, reassurances on exploring the radical and resources for when you feel stumped.

“With “unsafe ideas,” I’m not referring to careless ideas, but rather to inspiring, forward-thinking ideas that stretch out of comfort zones. And with “safe habitats,” I’m not suggesting sterile, stale environments but rather workplaces where people feel safe experimenting, voicing opinions and occasionally making mistakes.” - From Creative Zing! by Sam Harrison

Experiment looks at how to evaluate these ideas without squashing them. He talks about the importance of experimenting to find out what truly can and can’t work. Again, there are a lot of exercises and inspirational stories to encourage the reader.

Exhale is my favourite chapter. Working in marketing, creativity is a part of my daily life and I forget to pause, breathe and let the ideas percolate. His exercises are helpful and insightful.

“Pausing is also an important intermission between generating ideas and examining those ideas. Exhaling gives space for the subconscious to spring into action.” - From Creative Zing! by Sam Harrison

I also appreciated the boundaries chapter where Sam unpacks why they are essential and helpful in creativity rather than constraining.

“Musician and composer Quincy Jones had the benefit of a similar dictum early in his career. His composition teacher, Nadia Boulanger, said to him, “The more boundaries you set, the more freedom you have.” - From Creative Zing! by Sam Harrison

Express illustrates how best to present your ideas to investors and the marketplace and it’s full of great tips!

Whilst I read this straight through, this book is also designed to be a reference book, one of those you can pick up and put down as and when you need it. I thoroughly enjoyed it and found it beneficial for our creative process. I highly recommend it, it’s a five out of five on the enJOYment scale.

This book is a great resource for not only being creative, but is also a great for building self-esteem. I love how the author focused on the message of you being in control of your creative destiny and how you are the only one that can determine your success or failure.

I have been looking for something like this for a while, as a creative, I seem to have lost my way. So this came at the right time for me. I needed to re-explore my creativity and have confidence in my abilities. This makes you re-think how you view your immediate area even, to make you look up and see the endless possibilities. There are also sections where you write down your own thoughts, feeling and idea’s. So it’s not just a book, it makes you think along the way, which I feel is important. It’s a shame there weren’t lots of creative images to support the book.

Thank you NetGalley for my complimentary copy in return for my honest review.

The book gives you exactly what the title says. A little ZING! If you're looking for something to help boost your creativity then this book is the way to go.
1. All of examples
2. Suggested Ideas
3. Call to Action.
4. Simple to follow

I couldn't help but smile at the comparison between a nutritionist and the popularity of soft, gooiy and fast foods amongst consumers and the popularity amongst some bosses and clients of soft, gooiy and fast ideas, (eg: no/low risk, self-serving and where no time is allowed to adopt a process that will deliver the best ideas, the ones that are the most likely to deliver, that have the best chance of being effective).

In our business, we do our best to work with clients who do appreciate the effort that goes into creating something remarkable. I was encouraged to read that behaviours such as laughter, spirited conversations, messiness and doodling are an indication that we are getting it right.. It’s both affirming and encouraging.

I love that the author describes a creative process in detail while keeping the thoughts bite-sized (1 page for each). It makes complete sense and depending on where you are needing some inspiration or direction, you can dive into that specific section. The sections are; Explore, Experiment, Exhale, Examine, Express. (He does also emphasise that the process is just one way, not the only way to work)

Having a key role in marketing for 40 years much of the content had me nodding, it was familiar. But there were new thoughts and I have found a few new things for me to try out. I definitely intend to dig deeper into Creative Zing as I journey through my next creative project.

With thanks to #NetGalley, Independent Publishers Group and the author for my free advanced reader copy to review in exchange for an honest opinion.

A genuinely encouraging little book. I was seeking new techniques as I am thoroughly involved in the creative process. What I got was a sparky set of attitude readjustments that brimmed with ' ideas are everywhere' good cheer.

Will this book teach you ideograms or The Phoenix technique, random words or image streaming. Probably not. But will it remind you of the joy of curiousity vin everyday life? Will it make you look at the world with fresh eyes? Yes, and for that reason I will refer back to it so that when I am deep in The Beachhead Technique, I'll be reminded to do it with zing!

Right now I’m in the middle of launching a project. This book came at the perfect time! If you feel like you need inspiration or a zing, get this book.

I got a digital review copy of this book via Netgalley.

What i like about the book:
- Simple yet profound.
- The format (1 page per topic) is both easily digestible and allows one to come back to a specific topic when stuck.
- All the content on how to present the idea is good and often ignored in books about creativity

What could have been better:
- I would have liked a lot more creativity in presenting the material
- I would have liked a lot more creative ideas (in all sections of the book).

Overall, if you are someone who is tasked to come up with creative ideas and bring them to life (who isn't), this is a good companion, when in need.

The book is nice and inspiring, helps to boost creativity and confidence. There are multiple examples of application of suggested ideas and tools, actions to be taken. I think the most important learning is connected to acting and believing in oneself. The only person who can stop creativity is you, nobody and nothing else can.