‘Tis the season for finals, right? Well, for us students anyway. I just finished yet another semester in my graduate program (Arts & Cultural Leadership), and have a lot of information and thoughts flying around in my brain. I was especially intrigued by the content of the one of courses I took this semester on innovation and creativity. This post is dedicated to those thought-provoking, mindfully stimulating books I read, either for class this last semester, or previously on my own. Pick these up for some brain food for yourself, or heck, maybe even nab a couple for holiday gifts this year. Either way, rest assured that after reading these books, your mind will feel invigorated.

The Ten Faces of Innovation: IDEO’s Strategies for Beating the Devil’s Advocate & Driving Creativity Throughout Your Organization by Tom Kelley (Doubleday)

This book starts off with the Devil’s Advocate, and how it’s a sure-fire killer of innovation. We all know a Devil’s Advocate, right? Well, how do we get around it? Kelley goes on to describe several personas of innovation, and it becomes easy to find echoes of yourself in some of them. Are you a Storyteller? Maybe you’re a Hurdler, or a Anthropologist. Kelley gives context and examples for each persona, and talks about innovation and leadership within each of these different approaches. It reminds me of StrengthsFinder (a personality test that the University of Minnesota, where I work and attend class, has had a big push for) — where it’s not about one specific strength equates innovation or good leadership or a job well done — rather, it’s about utilizing your own natural strengths within a role to achieve success.

A Whole New Mind: Why Right-brainers Will Rule the Future by Daniel H. Pink (Berkeley Group)

Right-brained thinking versus left-brained thinking — it’s a common point of discussion. This book delves into the history of our country, and how left-brained used to reign supreme with the Industrial Age and world wars. But now, right-brained thinking is starting to take back some ground. Pink outlines six “senses” that right-brained thinkers possess that set them up for a bright future: Design, Story, Symphony, Empathy, Play, and Meaning. Obviously, no human fits perfectly into any category. Pink guides us through these six senses, and how to recognize and incorporate them into our work.

The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People: Powerful Lessons in Personal Change by Stephen R. Covey

In a culture that values highly effective people, this book sheds light on reoccurring habits of people who achieve success. Being proactive, finding balance, communication, ability to listen and understand others, synergy, and self-renewal are all talked about in the framework of Covey’s seven habits. Covey doesn’t get bogged down in the loads of popular theories or other distracting ideas surrounding success; rather, he cuts through that with a direct approach, straight-forward language, and intuitive observations.

Thinkertoys: A Handbook of Creative-Thinking Techniques by Michael Michalko (Ten Speed Press)

This has practical tools and exercises to apply in daily life, whether it be at a work retreat, or in your own daily practices. These exercises are meant to unlock creativity and tap into our inner geniuses. He divides the book into linear thinkertoys and intuitive thinkertoys. Some such exercises are Brutethink (forces connections between seemingly different ideas to come up with a brand new idea), idea quota (Just what is sounds like — setting a quota of ideas to come up with for a particular time frame. In my own use, I’ve used it for poem quota — such as, I need to write 3 poem drafts by x date.), Ideatoons, and so many more. It’s a fun mental exercise, and I’ve already found use for some of these in my writing life, professional life, and more.

The Power of Now: A Guide to Spiritual Enlightenment by Eckhart Tolle

This one might be a bit too spiritual for some of y’all, but for anyone open to that sort of thing, it’s a good one. Tolle leads readers on path to enlightenment by showing them how to live in the present moment. It’s a book on personal growth, and not letting our mischievous minds get in the way of that by being stressed or anxious of all that has passed or is yet to come. It may even seem counter-intuitive to some of the previous books I’ve mentioned, but I’m all for reading all that I can in an area, and letting it digest to find my own version of truth.

What brain-food books would you recommend? Have you read any of the ones I mentioned? If so, which ones stuck out to you, and why?