Want to learn the ideas in Creative Confidence better than ever? Read the world’s #1 book summary of Creative Confidence by Tom Kelley, David Kelley here.

Read a brief 1-Page Summary or watch video summaries curated by our expert team. Note: this book guide is not affiliated with or endorsed by the publisher or author, and we always encourage you to purchase and read the full book.

Video Summaries of Creative Confidence

We’ve scoured the Internet for the very best videos on Creative Confidence, from high-quality videos summaries to interviews or commentary by Tom Kelley, David Kelley.

1-Page Summary of Creative Confidence

Overview

This book discusses the history of Pixar and Disney Animation Studios, as well as Ed Catmull’s personal journey towards becoming a successful manager. He explains his management philosophy and offers advice on how to become a better manager.

Have you ever been told, “Don’t draw pictures or sing songs in class. Instead, do some real work.”? Teachers tell us that math and history are important subjects to study, but by telling us not to be creative, they’re preventing our innovative thinking abilities from developing.

Creativity is a key factor in designing your life to match your values and aspirations.

Creativity is a powerful force that you can use to your advantage. It’s always there, but it needs to be nurtured and exercised regularly. Creative Confidence helps you rediscover your creativity by teaching you how to draw on the authors’ experiences working at IDEO as well as lessons they learned from Stanford University’s d school.

Everyone can benefit from exercising their imagination. For example, a member of the Beatles almost lost his chance at fame and fortune because he started manufacturing business instead of pursuing music. Also, it’s better to fail than succeed on the first try. Lastly, an elderly woman was kept safe from the freezing rain by having a “do something” mind-set.

Big Idea #1: Creativity is all about innovation, not just about masterpieces.

Creativity is using your imagination to create something new. It can be found in the fine arts, but it also applies to other fields such as business and computer programming. In these fields, creativity is expressed when someone creates a novel product or service.

When we broaden our definition of creativity, we discover that everyone is creative. When young children are finger-painting and dancing around the room, they’re being creative. They also solve problems in interesting ways when building tree houses with their own hands.

Unfortunately, as we get older, many of us stop being creative. However, you never actually lose the ability altogether. In fact, creativity can be trained and used to find innovative solutions to problems. Even if you haven’t flexed this muscle for a while it only takes a bit of training and hard work before you can make it strong again. Just look at Doug Mietz – he’s very much the analytical type but with some training he was able to become more creative in order to find an imaginative solution that made children feel safe when they were being scanned in these intimidating machines. He did this by changing their appearance from clinical machines into something adventurous like pirates or UFOs so that kids saw them as exciting adventures rather than dreadful experiences.”

Big Idea #2: Creativity has long been considered a desirable quality, but it’s only recently that businesses have started to realize its importance.

“Creativity is only for the artsy types.” This misconception has been around for a long time. In fact, people have said things like this and even believed it themselves. However, that’s not true at all because lawyers and CEOs are paid to be creative as well.

Many people think that there is no room for creativity in traditional work environments. For example, those who work in areas like medicine or law often face others who tell them that they don’t need to be creative and should just do their jobs well. Many years ago, artistic types such as designers, musicians or painters were relegated to the kids’ table while business professionals held important meetings in hallways and boardrooms.

Children are even taught to be rational and not creative. They’re told to follow the rules and color within the lines.