Above And Beyond With Creativity And Innovation

Creativity and innovation are central to success in the 21st century. This dynamic title provides a comprehensive look at creative processes in a variety of settings. Readers are introduced to various brainstorming techniques and will learn different approaches to help refine and evaluate their ideas. Real-world examples, motivating challenges, and case studies broaden readers' understanding of this key skill set.

How to get past the most common myths about creativity to design truly innovative strategies We tend to think of creativity in terms reminiscent of the ancient muses: divinely-inspired, unpredictable, and bestowed upon a lucky few. But when our jobs challenge us to be creative on demand, we must develop novel, useful ideas that will keep our organizations competitive. The Myths of Creativity demystifies the processes that drive innovation. Based on the latest research into how creative individuals and firms succeed, David Burkus highlights the mistaken ideas that hold us back and shows us how anyone can embrace a practical approach, grounded in reality, to finding the best new ideas, projects, processes, and programs. Answers questions such as: What causes us to be creative in one moment and void in the next? What makes someone more or less creative than his or her peers? Where do our flashes of creative insight come from, and how can we generate more of them? Debunks 10 common myths, including: the Eureka Myth; the Lone Creator Myth; the Incentive Myth; and The Brainstorming Myth Written by David Burkus, founder of popular leadership blog LDRLB For anyone who struggles with creativity, or who makes excuses for delaying the work of innovation, The Myths of Creativity will help you overcome your obstacles to finding new ideas.

In Above and Beyond, Dennis L. Richardson, an experienced naval officer, shares the true story of how as newly appointed manager of Assault Craft Unit FOURs Fleet Maintenance Activity, he was responsible for the bottom-up reorganization, culminating more than three hundred sailors at the only East Coastbased maintenance organization facilitating thirty-five Landing Craft Air Cushion (LCAC)from 2014 to 2017. In this arduous environment, the organization was crippled by a broken maintenance philosophy, broken repair processes, and the worst maintenance readiness in years. Richardson fundamentally changed the way they did things through aggressive initiatives, visionary leadership, and key process changes centered on a comprehensive reform of the maintenance philosophy. He then helped navigate the organization by elevating readiness from 37 percent up to as high as 72 percent through innovation and smart maintenance practicesthe most successful readiness in a decade. While guiding the organization through epic changes, Richardson empowered the workforce and created a culture of continuous process improvement, excelling at routine day-to-day maintenance completion to complex depot-level repairs on time with zero production delays. In 2016, they executed 769,000 production hours and saved over $23.2 million in contractor cost avoidance for depot maintenance requirements. The leadership and management efforts of Richardsons team were validated by winning the US Navys nomination for the prestigious Secretary of Defense Maintenance Award; two consecutive years (2015 & 2016). The accomplishments achieved were earmarked as the best maintenance practices of any platform in the navy to sustain the highest level of materiel and combat craft readiness to meet operational commander tasking, which led them above and beyond.

Computer science has drawn from and contributed to many disciplines and practices since it emerged as a field in the middle of the 20th century. Those interactions, in turn, have contributed to the evolution of information technology â€" new forms of computing and communications, and new applications â€" that continue to develop from the creative interactions between computer science and other fields. Beyond Productivity argues that, at the beginning of the 21st century, information technology (IT) is forming a powerful alliance with creative practices in the arts and design to establish the exciting new, domain of information technology and creative practicesâ€"ITCP. There are major benefits to be gained from encouraging, supporting, and strategically investing in this domain.

Examines the nature of creativity, exposes the inefficiencies of universities and corporations, and attacks the intolerance of liberalism.

Leadership and Change for the Health Professional will provide health professionals with the latest thinking on leadership theory and research. It highlights the issues that can block successful healthcare leadership initiatives, and explores ways of constructively engaging with the opportunities provided by change. Each chapter draws out practical lessons for effective and efficient leadership of care that is compassionate and safe. Leaders and students at all levels will be able to use this book to expand their leadership repertoire in a text that engages with many themes, including: • The basics of leadership and the idea of leadership as a "calling" • Motivating employees • Implicit leadership theory • Developing trust • Building learning organisations • Gender and equality • Planning and organising change in healthcare • Leading change The links between the theory and practice of healthcare leadership are skilfully explored with examples of research implemented in practice, and the textbook further equips your study with helpful summaries and suggestions for further reading. This is essential reading for all healthcare professionals in clinical practice as well as students studying or engaged in research on health care management and leadership. With a foreword by Thomas Garavan, Edinburgh Napier Business School, UK. "Amongst the vast number of leadership texts published every year this book stands out. It has been edited with considerable care by two highly respected scholars in the field to make it accessible to all those interested in, and practising, leadership, whether healthcare professionals or students. It is well organised and moves seamlessly to address many important questions about the nature of leadership, including important questions of ethics, gender, trust, motivation, innovation, teams, and distributed leadership. The final section focuses on leading change in healthcare, a critical element of leadership practice in today’s world. Too many leadership books ignore context. This book, however, is firmly rooted in the healthcare context, and aspires to help professionals in this sector to reflect deeply on the complexities of leading through uncertain times. Whilst each chapter stands alone, the book’s merit is in offering multiple perspectives. Curtis and Cullen have encouraged the book’s contributors to address the big debates and themes in healthcare leadership today, whilst keeping in sharp focus the practice of leadership." Sharon Turnbull, Visiting Professor, Lancaster University Management School, UK "In Leadership and Change for the Health Professional, Elizabeth Curtis and John Cullen have crafted an exceptionally timely collection of practically-based research insights. As global healthcare systems face disruptive and often uncomfortable forces for change, this book tackles complex topics that health leaders must understand. While oriented toward generative practice and creative leadership skills, Curtis and Cullen do not shy away from engaging with controversial aspects of leadership development, such as bias, gendered practice, or even clinical failure, making it a valuable resource for educators and practitioners alike. Accessible and lively, Leadership and Change for the Health Professional is a successful blend of current issues with a visionary future." Kathy Lund Dean, Board of Trustees Distinguished Professor of Leadership & Ethics, Gustavus Adolphus College, USA "Curtis and Cullen bring together a comprehensive overview of leadership, from its historical development up to its role within the current healthcare context, presented by a variety of scholars. The particular challenges and demands faced by leaders and those who aspire to lead are discussed within and it addresses the many facets of leadership approaches. Anyone interested in the development of leadership and change will find this particularly stimulating and a valuable text for academic and students alike." Alison H James, School of Healthcare Sciences, Cardiff University, UK "This book covers many aspects of leadership, which are timely in nature and directly relevant to health professionals. The contributors are highly respected and offer different perspectives on this complex issue. We need to encourage practitioners to see themselves as leaders – this evidence-based text will serve to guide them in this quest. De-emphasising the individual leadership qualities and including those of teams makes this book stand out from others. The NHS features prominently but despite this, readers from other countries should be able to easily transfer the content to their own health services. The useful websites at the end of each chapter provide further direction for readers. This is a text that is written with a very positive stance, even though the difficulties of being a leader are not ignored. It ends with a discussion on the vision for leadership – at individual, team and organisational levels. Lots to read, absorb and you can do this a chapter at a time which is great." Professor Bridie Kent, Head of School of Nursing and Midwifery, Plymouth University, UK "This book addresses an important topic, where there is huge scope to add value. This is partly due to the scale of the NHS. The language makes the text accessible to professionals as well as academics. It is also good to see that the issue of learning organisations is addressed, as well as impact of leadership on patients." Professor John G Burgoyne, Lancaster University Management School, UK "Leadership and Change for the Health Professional is a timely and authoritative academic and professional exposition of the challenges for clinicians and healthcare managers in carrying out their management roles in our modern medical and healthcare systems. Its focus on change is both apt and relevant in the context of the dynamic development of our healthcare structures." Niamh Brennan, Michael MacCormac Professor of Management, University College Dublin

Creativity can be viewed as the first stage of the overall innovation process, an important dimension of the entrepreneurship and new venture creation processes, and as such, it is considered to be a cornerstone of organizational competitiveness in this global, knowledge-based economy. Research on creativity has increasingly become multilevel, with most work conducted at the individual or team level of analysis. At the same time, there is a large body of research being conducted at the organizational level of analysis on innovation, and there has been a significant amount of entrepreneurship research at the individual level, with an increasing focus on organizational entrepreneurship. However, these three research streams have developed independently, and there has been very little knowledge transfer between the three areas. Because entrepreneurship is often said to be a process that is required to convert innovation into business ventures that will deliver benefits to stakeholders, it is typically driven by an individual or small group of individuals. Creativity research, innovation research, and entrepreneurship research have the potential to inform each other, enriching our knowledge of each area, particularly with regard to the cognitive processes and behaviors that are most effective. This Handbook includes contributions from the leading scholars in these three research areas, who integrate contemporary research findings on organizational creativity, innovation, and entrepreneurship and provide fruitful new research directions."