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Disciplined Dreaming: A Proven System to Drive Breakthrough Creativity Hardcover – February 22, 2011
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We live in an era when business cycles are measured in months, not years. The only way to sustain long term innovation and growth is through creativity-at all levels of an organization. Disciplined Dreaming shows you how to create profitable new ideas, empower all your employees to be creative, and sustain your competitive advantage over the long term. Linkner distills his years of experience in business and jazz — as well as hundreds of interviews with CEOs, entrepreneurs, and artists — into a 5-step process that will make creativity easy for you and your organization. The methodology is simple, backed by proven results.
- Empowers individuals, teams, and organizations to meet creative challenges posed by the marketplace
- Turns the mystery of creativity into a simple-to-use process
- Shows how creativity can be used for everything from innovative, game-shifting breakthroughs to incremental advances and daily improvements to business processes
- Offers dozens of practical exercises, thought-starters, workouts to grow "creative muscles," and case studies
Disciplined Dreaming shows even the stuffiest corporate bureaucracies how to cultivate creativity in order to become more competitive in today's shifting marketplace.
#8 New York Times Bestseller (Hardcover Business)
#2 Wall Street Journal Bestseller (Hardcover Business)
#9 Wall Street Journal Bestseller (Hardcover Nonfiction)
#9 Washington Post Bestseller (Nonfiction Hardcover)
#1 USA Today Bestseller (Money)
#10 Publishers Weekly Bestseller (Nonfiction)
Q&A with Author Josh Linkner
Author Josh Linkner Why is creativity in the workplace so important?
The world has dramatically changed in the last few years, and many of the competitive advantages of the past have become commoditized. With increased complexity, dizzying speed, and ruthless competition now commonplace in business, creativity and innovation have become the only true sustainable competitive advantage. Creativity is the one thing you can’t outsource. It’s the difference between game-changing companies and also-rans. Individuals may get hired based on their resumes, but they get promoted and succeed based on their creativity. Creativity has become the currency of success in the new era of business, and life.
What is Disciplined Dreaming?
Disciplined Dreaming is a five-part system to build, nurture, and manage creativity. It is based on my experience as a four-time entrepreneur, jazz musician, and venture capitalist, plus personal interviews I conducted with over 200 thought leaders--CEOs, entrepreneurs, artists, billionaires, nonprofit leaders. I developed Disciplined Dreaming by distilling the collective wisdom of this amazing group into a simple, easy-to-follow process that you can put to use immediately to drive your own creativity.
An accomplished musician yourself, you compare creative riffs at work to jazz improvisation. How do the two relate?
In jazz, 99 percent of the notes are improvised. Spontaneous creativity. However, that 1 percent that’s on the written page is incredibly important. It provides musicians with a framework to direct and enhance their creativity. Disciplined Dreaming is the business-world equivalent to that 1 percent. It provides a structure that enables creativity. In addition, jazz musicians use specific patterns and techniques as building blocks of innovation. I’ve been able to translate many of those concepts into the language of business, and I show readers how to inject them into their daily lives. These “riffs” can be applied to creative challenges of all sizes, and they help support the creative process.
How can you start working creativity muscles with a team that has grown stagnant?
The biggest inhibitor of creativity isn’t human potential, it is fear. While we enter the world with limitless creativity, our schools, organizations, and bureaucracies beat it out of us. We are so worried about saying the wrong thing, looking foolish, or having to take responsibility for a new idea that we govern our own imagination. Too often, corporate cultures stifle their most valuable natural resource—fresh ideas. This can be quickly fixed through using techniques in the book that deal with preparing your culture, physical environment, and mind-set to drive maximum creative output. Disciplined Dreaming includes new brainstorming techniques such as “RoleStorming,” “The Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup,” and “Stick-it-to-the-man,” which will get your creative muscles in shape in no time.
- Print length256 pages
- LanguageEnglish
- PublisherJossey-Bass
- Publication dateFebruary 22, 2011
- Dimensions6.1 x 0.9 x 9 inches
- ISBN-100470922222
- ISBN-13978-0470922224
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Editorial Reviews
Review
#4 New York Times Best Seller (Advice, How-To and Miscellaneous)
#8 New York Times Best Seller (Hardcover Business)
#2 Wall Street Journal Best Seller (Hardcover Business)
#9 Wall Street Journal Best Seller (Hardcover Nonfiction)
#9 Washington Post Best Seller (Hardcover Nonfiction)
#1 USA Today Best Seller (Money)
#10 Entertainment Weekly Best Seller (Hardcover Nonfiction)
#10 Publishers Weekly Bestseller (Hardcover Nonfiction)
"In today's fiercely competitive global marketplace the most important resource any business has is the creative thinking of its people. In Disciplined Dreaming, Josh Linkner lays out a road map that will guide individuals, teams, and companies to higher levels of creativity. It is a journey that will lead to better ideas and breakthrough thinking―and those who take it will also have a lot of fun along the way."
―Bill Ford, executive chairman, Ford Motor Company
"The creativity gap is real and it's getting worse. Josh Linkner challenges you to become a disruptive force for change, and I hope you will."
―Seth Godin, author, Linchpin and Purple Cow
"Josh Linkner is a tremendous business leader who has established a successful and sustainable company, as well as a culture that nurtures employees to help them maximize their potential."
―Hon. Jennifer M. Granholm, governor, State of Michigan
"At Zappos, one of our core values is to be adventurous, creative, and open-minded. Disciplined Dreaming can help spark your creative potential."
―Tony Hsieh, CEO, Zappos.com and author, Delivering Happiness
"The world has changed dramatically, and we have now entered a new era of creativity. Disciplined Dreaming is a roadmap to new ideas, and helps business leaders at all levels unleash their creativity in order to reach their full potential. This important and thoughtful book is a must-read to compete in the next era of business, and life."
―Charlene Li, founder, Altimiter Group and author, Groundswell and Open Leadership
"There's a lot business people can learn from jazz musicians. The days of managing by musical score are gone―today, victory goes to the improviser. If you are not tinkering with your business every day, sooner or later the markets will begin to tinker with you―and it won't be pleasant. Disciplined Dreaming helps you avoid these pitfalls and provides a systematic approach to becoming that winning improviser."
―Keith McFarland, #1 best-selling author, The Breakthrough Company and Bounce
"It is often said there are dreamers and there are doers. Never before has someone connected the dots and clarified the path between ‘dreaming’ and ‘doing’ like Josh Linkner has in Disciplined Dreaming. This is a must-read for the innovators and creators who want to cross over to the execution side and make their dreams come to life.”
―Dan Gilbert, chairman and founder, Quicken Loans, and majority owner, Cleveland Cavaliers
"Creativity fuels the growth engine that drives results. Disciplined Dreaming gives us a practical and inspirational roadmap to move us from incremental improvements to radical breakthroughs. Josh Linkner has successfully built some of the most creative companies in the world and shows us the way."
―Jeff DeGraff, professor, Ross School of Business, University of Michigan and author, Leading Innovation and Creativity at Work
"Now all those days I spent dreaming can be put to good use. Disciplined Dreaming helps you harness your creativity. Well worth your time."
―Keith Crain, chairman and CEO, Crain Communications
"In Disciplined Dreaming, Josh Linkner offers a guide for encouraging and protecting creativity as one of the few sustainable advantages in a relentlessly competitive environment. I would recommend it highly for the leaders and advisors to any high growth organization."
―Victor E. Parker, managing director, Spectrum Equity Investors
From the Inside Flap
As economies and world markets continue to change, businesses are constantly being pulled into cost cutting, automation, and risk management. Although these are important elements of business success, we can't lose sight of the driving force of prosperity, the reason that any company exists in the first place, the source of both business and human fulfillment: creativity.--From the Introduction
In Disciplined Dreaming, business innovator and jazz musician Josh Linkner shows exactly how you can create profitable new ideas, empower employees to flex their creative muscles, and tap into the power of creativity to sustain a competitive advantage over the long haul. Drawing on interviews with hundreds of successful CEOs, entrepreneurs, and artists, Linkner distills exactly how creativity can be encouraged, as well as its impact on the bottom line.
Disciplined Dreaming outlines a proven, easy-to-apply 5-step process--Ask, Prepare, Discover, Ignite, and Launch--that will help you and your team develop your creativity chops. Through illustrative stories, real-world examples, and fun yet practical exercises, Linkner shows leaders and team builders how to become immediately more effective in discovering new routes to profitable solutions.
Designed to be flexible, Disciplined Dreaming clearly demonstrates how creativity can be used for everything from innovative, game-shifting breakthroughs to incremental advances and daily improvements to business processes. With Disciplined Dreaming, even the most resistant corporate bureaucracies can cultivate creativity and become more competitive in today's shifting marketplace.
From the Back Cover
In Disciplined Dreaming, business innovator and jazz musician Josh Linkner shows exactly how you can create profitable new ideas, empower employees to flex their creative muscles, and tap into the power of creativity to sustain a competitive advantage over the long haul. Drawing on interviews with hundreds of successful CEOs, entrepreneurs, and artists, Linkner distills exactly how creativity can be encouraged, as well as its impact on the bottom line.
Disciplined Dreaming outlines a proven, easy-to-apply 5-step process―Ask, Prepare, Discover, Ignite, and Launch―that will help you and your team develop your creativity chops. Through illustrative stories, real-world examples, and fun yet practical exercises, Linkner shows leaders and team builders how to become immediately more effective in discovering new routes to profitable solutions.
Designed to be flexible, Disciplined Dreaming clearly demonstrates how creativity can be used for everything from innovative, game-shifting breakthroughs to incremental advances and daily improvements to business processes. With Disciplined Dreaming, even the most resistant corporate bureaucracies can cultivate creativity and become more competitive in today’s shifting marketplace.
- New York Times Best Seller
- Wall Street Journal Best Seller
- USA Today Best Seller
- Washington Post Best Seller
- Entertainment Weekly Best Seller
- Washington Post Best Seller
- USA Today Best Seller
- Wall Street Journal Best Seller
About the Author
JOSH LINKNER is founder and chairman of ePrize, a dominant player in the promotions industry serving 74 of the top 100 brands. He is a four-time entrepreneur, venture capitalist, accomplished jazz musician, and highly sought-after keynote speaker. He has won several business, technology, and design awards, including the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award, Crain’s 40 under 40, Automation Alley’s CEO of the Year, and the Detroit Executive of the Year.
For more information, please visit www.joshlinkner.com
Product details
- Publisher : Jossey-Bass; 1st edition (February 22, 2011)
- Language : English
- Hardcover : 256 pages
- ISBN-10 : 0470922222
- ISBN-13 : 978-0470922224
- Item Weight : 15.7 ounces
- Dimensions : 6.1 x 0.9 x 9 inches
- Best Sellers Rank: #317,146 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #282 in Advertising (Books)
- #399 in Business Decision Making
- #678 in Decision-Making & Problem Solving
- Customer Reviews:
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About the author

Josh Linkner is a Creative Troublemaker. He passionately believes that all human beings have incredible creative capacity, and he’s on a mission to unlock inventive thinking and creative problem solving to help leaders, individuals, and communities soar.
Josh has been the founder and CEO of five tech companies, which sold for a combined value of over $200 million and is the author of four books including the New York Times Bestsellers, Disciplined Dreaming and The Road to Reinvention. He has invested in and/or mentored over 100 startups and is the Founding Partner of Detroit Venture Partners.
Today, Josh serves as Chairman and co-founder of Platypus Labs, an innovation research, training, and consulting firm. He has twice been named the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year and is the recipient of the United States Presidential Champion of Change Award.
Josh is also a passionate Detroiter, the father of four, is a professional-level jazz guitarist, and has a slightly odd obsession for greasy pizza.
For more information, visit JoshLinkner.com.
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Customers find the book creative, with one mentioning how it pulls readers through with real-world examples. The pacing receives positive feedback, with customers describing it as concise and easy to read.
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Customers appreciate the book's creativity content, with one customer noting how it pulls readers through with real-world examples, while another mentions how it masterfully informs the reader throughout.
"...Josh has given us very practical tools, like role storming, that we have used on numerous occasions to fire up creative approaches to business..." Read more
"...provides applicable insights and structures for individual and organizational success in the 21st century...." Read more
"...Linkner does an excellent job of adapting and modifying the academic approach through the use of applied business examples consisting of interviews..." Read more
"...Inspirational and yet, practical in that you want to take notes along the way on how you will put the systems into action in your own environment." Read more
Customers appreciate the book's pacing, finding it concise and easy to read.
"...The author gets in your head and pulls you out with real world examples that challenge the status quo...." Read more
"Josh does a great job writing a book about a subject that gets little attention...." Read more
"...Clear, concise easy to read and chalk full of practical and tactical gold! Don't miss this title!" Read more
"Concise Primer Integrating Creativity In Action..." Read more
Top reviews from the United States
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- Reviewed in the United States on May 10, 2014Josh Linkner is an incredibly creative thinker. He has an amazing ability to help company's unleash their creative talent. After reading Disciplined Dreaming I contacted Josh and engaged him to speak at two company events. Our group walked away energized with new skills that were immediately put into practice. Josh has given us very practical tools, like role storming, that we have used on numerous occasions to fire up creative approaches to business issues that we are facing. I'd rank Disciplined Dreaming as one of the top 5 business resources that I have encountered in my 30 year business career. I've pre ordered 50 copies of Josh's newest book for our team.
- Reviewed in the United States on February 15, 2011There is the distinct possibility "Disciplined Dreaming" may be the 21st Century equivalent to 20th Century "The Power of Positive Thinking" as a universal approach to success.
Disciplined Dreaming in crisp terms provides applicable insights and structures for individual and organizational success in the 21st century. Although often seeming to gloss over underpinning details, Linkner's approach and personal insights provide the framework for a working mind set which so many other books fail to provide. This alone makes it a gem.
- Reviewed in the United States on March 28, 2011This is a powerful argument to develop "practical" creative chops. I've studied the creative problem solving (CPS) process at the International Center for Studies in Creativity and have incorporated the gains into my role as a project manager -- to great success. Linkner does an excellent job of adapting and modifying the academic approach through the use of applied business examples consisting of interviews with innovative leaders and brief case studies of "creative companies". To add further weight to his argument, his company ePrize, is a perfect example of the creative process in action.
The author provides a convincing case to add the creative process to your skill set and sketches a decent outline to implement the ideas in your daily work, but he's a little thin on the process -- what are the steps? To find that out I highly recommend "Leading on the Creative Edge", by Roger Firestien and "Creative Leadership: Skills that drive change" Puccio, Murdock, & Mance. Although written by academics both texts are very useful and approachable. I recommend starting with Firestien's book as it clearly lays out the creative problem solving process, then move on to Puccio's book. While it's equally useful, it frames CPS in terms of leadership with slight changes to the process.
- Reviewed in the United States on September 18, 2011Thought provoking read for anyone that wants to have an impact on changing their culture to a higher level of innovative thinking and doing. The author gets in your head and pulls you out with real world examples that challenge the status quo. Inspirational and yet, practical in that you want to take notes along the way on how you will put the systems into action in your own environment.
- Reviewed in the United States on November 10, 2012I found this book very exciting and hopeful. I've been practicing some of the suggestions, and I'm feeling my creative juices starting to flow. I now have dozens of great ideas on paper and am prioritizing. I never thought there could be a systemized approach to creativity, but I'm really enjoying this process. It's basically just being a little disciplined and strategic about getting the creative mind engaged.
- Reviewed in the United States on February 15, 2011Josh Linkner has always been known as a inspirational visionary. Now he reveals the real secrets from building five successful business - creativity. Through real world examples, interviews and research Josh shows you how to resolve any issue. He not only encourages you to "think big" he actually teaches how to do it. Perfect book for any company or person looking to grow by massive amounts.
- Reviewed in the United States on March 23, 2012Dont know whether my expectation had been too high for this bestseller with such a high percentage of five stars here, I had been a little bit disappointed. I can easily think of much better alternatives in various aspects: For an applicable framework to apply creativity/innovation, "Innovation X"; For general concepts, "Little Bets"; For the perspectives of an enterpreneur, "Rework". For leveraging of external resources, "Global Brain". If you had read less than two books on creativity/innovation and now want a simple framework to follow*, I still think you will be satisfied by this. Otherwise, please give it a pass.
p.s. *I doubt very much whether the one prescribed by the author is generally applicable, though I am jealous of his power/resources to create a virtual competitor of his own even with a very sophisticated logo.
- Reviewed in the United States on December 13, 2015Josh does a great job writing a book about a subject that gets little attention. He masterfully informs the reader throughout and helped me focus on how to dream more, dream bigger, and be exceptionally creative in my work by doing things different. Thanks!
Top reviews from other countries
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TomoyukiReviewed in Japan on July 28, 2011
5.0 out of 5 stars 誰の中にも Creativity はある!
この前行った新宿の紀伊国屋で平積みになっていたのと、アメリカのAmazonで評価が高かったので、購入して読んでみました。
どのようにしたら、新しい、独創的な、ユニークな発想を促すことができるのか、どのようにしたらクリエイティヴになれるのか、その方法を、いろいろな角度から、丁寧に具体的に説明しているビジネス書です。
・identify your Creativity Challenge
・awaken your curiosity
・raise your level of awareness
・prepare your mind, culture, and environment
・discover creativity where it hides
・generate creative sparks
・ignite fresh ideas through powerful brainstorming techniques
・select the best ideas
・establish key measurements
・release your best creative idea into the world
といった、それぞれのステップ(段階)における具体的な取り組み方が、本書では示されています。個人的には、
第8章 Generating Creative Sparks
第9章 Igniting the Sparks of Creativity - The Eight Most Powerful Techniques
の2つの章がとても興味深かったです。
第8章では、
...your initial creative sparks are fragile and need support and nurturing to grow into your own creative fire. The most common way to prematurely kill your sparks is to switch into left-brain, analytical mode.
あたりを読んで、『なるほどなぁ…「これはいい!」と思ったことをすぐに諦めたりしないで、大事に暖めるようにしていかないとなぁ…』としみじみと感じました。
また、第9章では、
In some cases, the entire group echoes the ideas of the most vocal or high-ranking people.
あたりを読んで、『うちの会社だけじゃないんだ…このような問題を避ける良さそうな方法がいろいろと紹介されているので、どこかで実践してみよう!』と、少し元気が出ました。
具体的な方法・手段が豊富に紹介されている、実践的な良い本だと思います。また、比較的読み易かったと思います。お勧めです!