Ideaship

Ideaship

by Jack Foster, Larry Corby
Released November 2001
Publisher(s): Berrett-Koehler Publishers
ISBN: 9781605093369

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Book description

Innovative, original ideas are a company's most powerful competitive advantage. Nathan Mhyrvold, former chief technology officer at Microsoft, has said that a great employee is worth 1,000 times more than an average one simply because of his or her ideas. In Ideaship, the sequel to his bestselling book, How to Get Ideas, Jack Foster shifts from how individuals spark their new ideas to how to unleash the creative genius of an entire organization.
To create an idea-prone workforce, Foster proposes a totally new concept of leadership: "ideaship." Leaders shouldn't be spending their time obsessing over profits or sales or quality or service. Instead, they should devote most of their energies to making the office a place where creative ideas flow, where the workforce truly believes in its ability to brilliantly solve any problem put before it. Above all, where it's fun to work.
With energy and humor, Foster draws on over thirty-five years as creative director of major advertising agencies-organizations whose only purpose is to constantly generate ideas-to offer dozens of fun, fast, often surprising nuggets of practical advice on how to create an environment where innovation and fresh thinking thrive. He reveals why you should only hire people you like, insist employees take vacations whether they want to or not, why efficiency is sometimes inefficient, and how sometimes you can accomplish more by playing the fool instead of the capital L "Leader."
Ideaship spells out proven ways to encourage creativity, simply and clearly and cogently, without a lot of charts and graphs and formulas and acronyms and statistics and fillers. It flips traditional leadership on its head and shows how simple acts of compassion, trust, and generosity of spirit, as well as some seemingly zany actions, can unleash unexpected, vital bursts of creativity.

Table of contents

  1. COVER PAGE
  2. TITLE PAGE
  3. COPYRIGHT PAGE
  4. PREFACE
  5. PART I WHAT IS IDEASHIP?
  6. PART II HOW DO YOU BECOME AN IDEAIST?
    1. 1. YOU HELP PEOPLE THINK BETTER OF THEMSELVES
    2. 2. YOU HELP CREATE AN ENVIRONMENT THAT’S FUN
  7. PART III SIXTEEN PERSONAL THINGS YOU CAN DO
    1. 1. FOLLOW THE GOLDEN RULE
    2. 2. CARE ABOUT THE PEOPLE YOU WORK WITH
    3. 3. REMEMBER THAT THEY WORK WITH YOU, NOT FOR YOU
    4. 4. MAKE SURE THEY LIKE YOU
    5. 5. TAKE THE BLAME, GIVE THE PRAISE AWAY
    6. 6. HIRE ONLY PEOPLE YOU LIKE
    7. 7. TRUST THEM
    8. 8. PRAISE THEIR EFFORTS
    9. 9. ALLOW THEM THE FREEDOM TO FAIL
    10. 10. HELP THEM ACHIEVE THEIR GOALS
    11. 11. NEVER LIE ABOUT ANYTHING IMPORTANT
    12. 12. SHOW SOME ENTHUSIASM
    13. 13. ASK THEM TO HELP YOU
    14. 14. GET RID OF THE WORD “I”
    15. 15. PLAY THE FOOL
    16. 16. HAVE FUN YOURSELF
  8. PART IV SEVEN ORGANIZATIONAL THINGS YOU CAN DO
    1. 1. CUT DOWN ON APPROVALS
    2. 2. MAKE EVERYBODY AN OWNER
    3. 3. GIVE THEM WHAT THEY NEED
    4. 4. KEEP IT SMALL
    5. 5. TELL THEM EVERYTHING ABOUT THEIR COMPANY
    6. 6. SHUN RULES
    7. 7. PAY FOR THEIR EDUCATION
  9. PART V EIGHTEEN STRATEGIC THINGS YOU CAN DO
    1. 1. DON’T ASK FOR ONE SOLUTION — ASK FOR MANY
    2. 2. MAKE THEIR JOBS SEEM EASY
    3. 3. DON’T REJECT IDEAS — ASK FOR MORE
    4. 4. GIVE THEM MORE THAN ONE PROBLEM AT A TIME
    5. 5. ASK FOR MORE IDEAS, SOONER
    6. 6. IF IT ISN’T WORKING, CHANGE IT
    7. 7. LET THEM SOLO
    8. 8. LET THEM DO IT THEIR WAY
    9. 9. MAKE SURE THE PROBLEM IS THE PROBLEM
    10. 10. LET THEM SHINE
    11. 11. BE WARY OF FEAR
    12. 12. MAKE IT US VS THEM, NOT US VS US
    13. 13. SHARE WHAT EVERYBODY DOES
    14. 14. SHARE EXPERIENCES
    15. 15. SEARCH FOR WAYS TO CREATE FUN
    16. 16. INSIST ON VACATIONS
    17. 17. LET THEM VACATION WHEN THEY WANT TO VACATION
    18. 18. FORGET ABOUT EFFICIENCY, CARE ABOUT THE IDEA
  10. WHAT SHOULD YOU DO NEXT?
    1. NOTES
    2. INDEX
    3. ABOUT THE AUTHOR
    4. ABOUT THE ILLUSTRATOR

Product information

  • Title: Ideaship
  • Author(s): Jack Foster, Larry Corby
  • Release date: November 2001
  • Publisher(s): Berrett-Koehler Publishers
  • ISBN: 9781605093369