BOOK REVIEW & SURVEY
What Do You Need to Start a Business? How Schools Destroy Creativity.
Fourth graders beat the Harvard MBA students on that question because adults are trained to fail. That training can be reversed.
Synopsis
I always thought I was fairly creative, especially at work, and it was a natural talent. I never thought about creativity actually being taught.
Then I read Linda Carroll’s article “What Do A Cat And A Refrigerator Have In Common?” on Medium, based on Doctor Joseph Kayne’s book, “Imagine It.”
At the end, she challenged readers to buy the book and write a review. I wondered how I fit, so I purchased the most expensive book I ever loaded on my Kindle. Most are 99-cent romance novels. You will see my review later.
Back to the question, most adults would say “nothing.” There is a reason for that. However, a group of 4th graders and I beg to differ.
When most adults think of creativity, they think of art and inventions.
Creativity encompasses every aspect of life.
The school system is designed, intentionally or unintentionally, to destroy creativity. They are very successful.
Review headline
I Was Curious to See How Creative I Am
Book Review
This book reads like a novel instead of a textbook. It certainly was not dull! At times, I couldn’t wait to see what the next point was. Much was new to me, but Doctor Kayne has taught this subject in his college classes for years.
School destroys creativity, and creativity applies to every aspect of life, not just art, music, and inventions. You need to be creative when there is no rule, sample, or process to follow, like with a work problem or when you are halfway through cooking dinner and discover you are missing an ingredient.
Based on one study, over 90% of first graders are highly creative. Unfortunately, the percentage drops to less than 10% by graduation. That can make life frustrating and dreary.
So what to do about it? This book explains how to regain your creative self. In it, see how badly a 4th-grade class beat Harvard MBA students with a business question. I missed it, too.
I discovered that I instinctively used many of the techniques to train new computer programmers, so I know that they work. One trainee said she learned more in 2 months with me than in the prior year and a half.
So, my experience shows that creativity can be reawakened. I highly recommend this book.
Conclusion
I’ve written many reviews but have had little feedback, except for occasional claps. Is this review too long, too short, detailed enough, too wordy, just enough? Would the review generate enough interest for you to read the book?
Feel free to comment. I will post the review with 5 stars, with revisions if need be, in Amazon a couple of days after this article is published.
Thank you for your comments and suggestions.
References
- I thought of 4, most adults none, 4th graders 12 when they were stopped
- Schools destroy creativity
- How to regain your creative self
