Shruthi Venkat

“Creative Confidence” is a non-fiction masterpiece, which tries to convey the fact that EVERYONE IS CREATIVE, but many of us don’t have faith in that capability because of in-built fear, lack of practice and social norms. The Kelly brothers provide a valuable insight that CREATIVE CONFIDENCE IS LIKE MUSCLE – It can be strengthened, developed and used more widely, if you adopt certain behaviours, attitudes and tools. The book portrays how the element ‘FEAR’ holds us back from being creative – Fear of being judged, fear of making mistakes. Instead of being stuck in the planning stage itself, we can quickly proceed to building prototypes, getting feedback and iterating without any inhibition. The book signifies how environments (in workplaces, etc.) and team culture can either enable or suppress creativity. I personally liked the fact that the book was not all about just theory, it includes many stories too and also gives out suggestions for what you can do. My another favourite feature was that real-life examples (from IDEO, GE, etc.) were cited which motivates the reader into thinking that “This could happen for me too.” My critique is that the book is highly motivating but harder to implement or to change habits as mentioned in the book. “DON’T ASK FOR PERMISSION, ASK FOR FORGIVENESS” is my favourite line from this book which means take initiative instead of waiting too long. I would like to conclude my book review with a valuable life lesson learnt, which is deeply insightful; HEART TOUCHING ELEMENT: The way Doug Dietz approached to make MRI a less frightening for young children. I’ve almost finished reading the book and look forward to completing it soon.