A book summary Scot Kaufman and Carolyn Gregoire (2015)

1. Wired to create : Unraveling the
mysteries of the creative mind
Book Summary by Ang Xu & Siphokazi Ntetha
EDOL 765 Strategic Leadership & Change
Spring 2017
by Scott Barry Kaufman & Carolyn Gregoire

2. Creativity is a messy business
In some way, we are all wired to create

3. What creative people do differently
“Not all
minds who
wander, are
lost”
1. Imaginative Play 2. Passion 3. Daydreaming
What comes to mind when you see this?

4. Activity 1 - Story Making
- Create an interesting story in one sentence.
When Who Doing what Where

5. Activity 1 – continued..
Trees
I think that I shall never see
A poem lovely as a tree.
A tree whose hungry mouth is pressed
Against the earth's sweet flowing breast;
A tree that looks at God all day,
And lifts her leafy arms to pray;
A tree that may in Summer wear
A nest of robins in her hair;
Upon whose bosom snow has lain;
Who intimately lives with rain.
Poems are made by fools like me,
But only God can make a tree.
- Joyce Kilmer

6. What creative people do differently
The intuitive mind is a
sacred gift and the rational
mind a faithful servant. We
have created a society that
honors the servant and has
forgotten the gift.
—ALBERT EINSTEIN
4. Solitude 5. Intuition 6. Openness to Experience
How often do we invite creativity into our lives?

7. What creative people do differently
“I create -
in order
not to cry”
7. Mindfulness 8. Sensitivity 9. Adversity to
advantage
10. Think differently

8. Activity 2 – The “Impossible Problem”
Connect all nine of these dots with just four straight lines without lifting your finger
or retracing a line.

9. References
Kaufman, B & Gregoire, C. (2015). Wired to Create: Unraveling the Mysteries of
the Creative Mind . Penguin Publishing Group. Kindle Edition.
Kilmer, J. (1913). "Trees" in Monroe, Harriet (editor), Poetry: A Magazine of Verse.
(Chicago: Modern Poetry Association, August 1913), 2:160.