Creative Velocity is a guide that redefines creativity as a habit anyone can cultivate, blending research, practical tools, and real-world insights to help readers unlock innovation in an ever-changing world. Why was this an important book for you to write?

Over my 25-year career working in companies like Apple, Amazon, Best Buy, and T-Mobile, I have seen many people in different roles at different levels struggle to see themselves as “creative” and downplay their capacity to be innovative or tackle complex challenges that don’t have easy solutions. Up until my thirties, I was one of those people who thought creativity was an innate talent, not a skill to be learned.

The addition of Generative AI amplifies this problem because it is too easy for people to outsource their creative problem-solving to tools instead of strengthening their own ability to navigate ambiguity, generate novel ideas, and shape solutions in ways that machines cannot.

Human creativity is more important than ever. Unlike AI, which excels at pattern recognition and can generate large volumes of ideas that may be novel but not useful, humans bring something far more powerful to the table: original thought, taste and style, values and ethics, emotional depth, contextual awareness, and the ability to discern meaning. Creativity is not just about producing something new—it’s about making meaningful connections, uncovering hidden opportunities, and crafting solutions that resonate on a deep human level.

How did you select the leaders and creatives you interviewed for the book?

In my thirties, I transitioned from being an Assistant Director in film and television commercials to a career in corporate America. And thanks to my distinctive career journey, I was incredibly fortunate to meet and be inspired by the highly accomplished and creative individuals I interviewed for this book. Their advice and insights encouraged me to see myself as creative and challenged me to expand my understanding of creativity.

It’s essential to recognize that not everyone I interviewed holds an executive position at a large company or shares a similar backstory. While they provide unique insights into their individual creative processes, they express a remarkably similar perspective on the significance of human creativity in the era of generative AI, embracing failure, and the value of curiosity.

Can you share an example of how generative AI has influenced your own creative process?

While writing the book, I sometimes placed a passage into an AI tool called Perplexity and prompted it for any related concepts I hadn’t considered. It was easy to evaluate the source material I may have overlooked and determine whether there was any research that may have contradicted my assertions. Using these tools as I might use a research assistant was very helpful.

I also used AI tools to assess certain aspects of my book. For example, I developed several exercises for the book and submitted them to various generative AI tools for validation. Occasionally, a tool might randomly overlook facts included in a logic puzzle I created or identify a legitimate flaw in my puzzle design. In each instance, I recognized the need to discern what constituted helpful feedback and what was inaccurate.

You’ll also see several AI-generated images in the book. I appreciated being able to prompt various tools to produce visual output that amplified my points because I am not a good artist. My lack of artistic talent blocked me early in life from seeing myself as a creative person, and having AI tools produce some of the illustrations was actually delightful.

What advice would you give to someone struggling to overcome functional fixedness in their work or life?

Functional fixedness is a cognitive bias that limits the ability to repurpose objects, processes, or systems beyond their intended use. It arises from ingrained beliefs and rigid mindsets about how things work based on prior knowledge and experience. While these beliefs act as mental shortcuts, they can narrow one’s vision and imagination over time.

Overcoming functional fixedness involves being open to new ideas, perspectives, and experiences, as well as developing flexible thinking. Phrases like “This is how we’ve always done things” can indicate status quo bias, a fixed mindset, and resistance to other approaches. You need to be ready to question these assumptions to discover innovative solutions.

In the book, I refer to the “MacGyver Mindset,” which embodies resourcefulness and ingenuity in problem-solving by utilizing everyday items to tackle challenges. It involves looking beyond the intended uses of objects and repurposing their components to create innovative solutions, thinking creatively, knowledgeably, analytically, resourcefully, improvisationally, and calmly under pressure. Playfulness encourages flexibility in thinking, which is necessary to achieve creative velocity. People who show a playful attitude tend to think in an unstructured and flexible way, and are more likely to associate seemingly unrelated concepts in new ways.

Finally, it’s helpful to disrupt automatic behaviors to trigger new pathways in your brain and make you more conscious of their existence. Changing our habits helps move things from our unconscious to our conscious mind and strengthens our ability to think of alternative ways of operating.

Author Links: Amazon | GoodReads