<< 1 >>
Rating: 
Summary: Invest in getting your life balanced--a fun read.
Review: All in all, "Thinking for a Living" was an inspirational and motivational read. Mr. Reiman sights some excellent examples of Big Thinkers throughout the ages. It's a little heavy on ego, as Joey pats himself on the back many times... but overall it's an interesting book
Rating: 
Summary: Ideas: An Idea Whose Time Has Definitely Come
Review: I just read this book, and every fiber of me is screaming, "Yes! Yes! Yes!" I LOVE what Joey Reiman is doing with BrightHouse and Thinking for a Living. I am reinventing my own life and business, finding innovative ways to combine both my passion for writing and spirituality and my love for birthing great ideas, both my entrepreneurial endeavors and my "real life" as a single parent of a 6-year-old. This book feels like the perfect fit for what I want to be about--creating great ideas that outlast me. The idea: it's an idea whose time has come. I, for one, hope it stays for awhile. Hats off to Joey Reiman for being a pioneer for the ideation corporation! Dawn Richerson, President, Creative Revolutions, and author of From the Heart of a Child: Meditations for Everyday Living
Rating:
Summary: Ideas: An Idea Whose Time Has Definitely Come
Review: I just read this book, and every fiber of me is screaming, "Yes! Yes! Yes!" I LOVE what Joey Reiman is doing with BrightHouse and Thinking for a Living. I am reinventing my own life and business, finding innovative ways to combine both my passion for writing and spirituality and my love for birthing great ideas, both my entrepreneurial endeavors and my "real life" as a single parent of a 6-year-old. This book feels like the perfect fit for what I want to be about--creating great ideas that outlast me. The idea: it's an idea whose time has come. I, for one, hope it stays for awhile. Hats off to Joey Reiman for being a pioneer for the ideation corporation! Dawn Richerson, President, Creative Revolutions, and author of From the Heart of a Child: Meditations for Everyday Living
Rating: 
Summary: Forget the book, just engage Brighthouse
Review: Reiman is a terrific visionary, but this is an absolutely mediocre book with little in terms of substance. The material is indeed scattered. The earlier review by John Dunbar is spot on with charges that a) the book is badly organized; b) the book is edited very poorly. The mismash arises from the fact that the book draws on unrelated areas as wide as organizational psychology in a creative firm, patent law(?), vignettes of the author's experiences, references to other people's ideas, and even (literally) food that is good for your brain(?) The problem is that insight is lacking in the book. All the vignettes lack the 'so what' factor. He basically writes: this happens, and then it was a success. But he omits the thinking why it was a success. A typical example follows: "...Young and Tender chicken TV commercial... client wants to drive home brand-name ... idea that came up was - take a dozen 11 mth old babies and make them dance to funky chicken. Nothing is more young and tender than adorable babies". Sure I agree, but there is never an attempt to bridge that extra gap to the insightful stuff... The only decent themes (and noted by other reviewers too) that this book actually carries through are:
1) That ideas are valuable, and one should charge as much as possible. Interestingly, this is a self-justifying comment, and the tone of the whole book is certainly very 'self-congratulatory'.
2) His reference to Csikszentmihalyi's triangle and that "C showed us that creativity is inseparable from domain." At the end of the day, why not just read "Flow" and "Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain". Save the pennies and engage Brighthouse instead.
Rating:
Summary: Idea should have its price.
Review: This book is good for people who are working in the creative business of all sorts. Be it advertising, design, marketing, PR or even media, and all the wanna-bes of course. Or simply put, this book is dedicated to all thinkers. Since the author has advertising background, I think advertising people will find it more relevant. But in fact the points provided from the book can be applied to many different areas. All along, most buyers, especially clients, may think ideas are cheap or should be free. That's why they are so called very demanding and request again and again the provider to submit lots of alternatives and revisions for them to choose and approve before they commit to pay. This is so wrong, right? If you feel it strongly, this book is for you. Let's say the ideas you come up were always good and doable. But the most important thing here still is how to get them sold, not to mention in a good price. Inside the book you can find useful tips, inspirations and advises. It'll be a lot better if the author can provide more insights and clues on how to generate more big ideas and how to protect good ideas from being killed.
Rating:
Summary: "The Privilege...to Be Who You Are"
Review: This is one of the most entertaining books I have read in recent years. Reiman is widely (and justly) renowned for his creative mind. Literally, he thinks for a living. And is paid handsomely for his creative talent. This is an immensely personal book. He reviews his career, a career during which he prospered as the head of his own advertising agency and then sold it to his associates inorder to "solo" (as Harriet Rubin would describe it), freeing himself from organizational limits to concentrate on what he does best. "My occupation is thinker and that's who I am, employed at that. Frankly, I can't wait until I get my new passport application. I'll get a kick out of writing 'Thinker' in the occupation section. After all, if I'm right, thinkers will be going places in the next century." If you think about it, think carefully about it, this is an intriguing idea: Come up with terrific ideas and sell them for enormous sums of money. (That in itself is a terrific idea.) In reality, obviously, there are very few people who have the talent to "think for a living" as Reiman does. However, and this is the single greatest value of the book, literally everyone CAN learn from Reiman how to think more creatively in his or her career situation...and to think more creatively about how to improve that situation. Moreover, Reiman has some excellent insights into how to improve one's mental and spiritual health. His values are unashamedly old-fashioned. He seems totally committed to his marriage and parenthood. He seems to have a deep and abiding faith in God. He clearly agrees with Joseph Campbell who once said that "The privilege of a lifetime is to be who you are." For the sake of discussion, let's assume that you are unwilling and/or unable to make a total commitment to thinking as an occupation. I mean full-time occupation. Nevertheless, Reiman explains how his own experiences can help you to increase and enhance your creative (as opposed to analytical) skills, how to apply them more effectively to the personal as well as professional responsibilities entrusted to your care. Reiman observes, "As intellectual capital becomes of greater value to humankind than concrete capital, the world will experience dramatic changes....The measurement of success will be based on one's ability to create from within one's mind rather than outside. Idea rich will take the place of asset rich." I presume to add that ideas are now (or will soon become) the most valuable of assets. That is what "I-commerce" is really all about and it has only begun to have an impact. Here is a brief, revealing excerpt from the final chapter: "I hope this book, in some small way, plays a role in helping to create the environment in which compassion and prayer, wisdom and kindness, humility and grace become the most powerful, unstoppable big ideas for the next century. If they do, thinking for a living, in the broadest sense of thinking for a rich life, will enrich us all."
Rating:
Summary: A fantastic work on turning your passion into profit!
Review: What a surprise! I stumbled across this one and devoured it. Reiman closed his ad agency and opened the first ideation, where his only product his ideas---which he sells for $450,000 each! This is truly a mind expanding work. I particularly loved the concept of being sure I get paid--and paid well---for what I create. I've helped several people become millionaires, but lost money in the process because I didn't honor my own ideas. Reiman doesn't make that mistake. His excitement for living, his boldness for thinking out of the box, is contagious and refreshing. This is a guy who is truly a creative genius. Had I known about him when I wrote my book on P.T. Barnum, "There's a Customer Born Every Minute," I would have included Joey Reiman in it. That's a high compliment and this book is terrific. It's one of the few I'll re-read.
Rating: 
Summary: Some great ideas in midst of ego-centric anecdotes
Review: Where's the editor when you need one? This book could have been organized better. Like... major transitions buried deep in paragraphs. Were the sub-heads put there for decoration? The egotistical patty-pat-pat's could have been edited out more. And, where's the meat? The concept of the book is great, the author is experienced, but the book falls somewhat flat. This book is like Doug Hall's "Jump Start Your Brain" but minus a lot of its content. Still, there are some great ideas here. You should buy this book for its references and a few of its ideas. It's an easy read -- and that reflects it's lightness on detail. One thing I thought was important is the concept of Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi on the 3 areas of creativity: the expert, the domain, the judges. Most books discuss how to improve the individual -- the expert. But there are 2 other important areas. The domain is the marketplace... with its competitors, etc. This would be the source of ideas and demand for ideas. The judges are the rewarders of new ideas. In some cases this might be the users who will purchase your product. In other cases it might be the companies that purchase your ideas. They provide value and rewards to the idea generator. We must evaluate and improve all three of these areas. Or, select those areas were there's a good match of all three. Thankfully, Csikszentmihalyi's books are referenced and discussed. This book also discusses other references as well. After reading the book I believe the author is a sincere and knowledgeable person. But I believe the purpose of this book was to sell his idea-generating company. Given that off-the-mark main direction, it is no wonder there were so many self-congradulatory anecdotes. The purpose of the book should be to explain his major techniques, and the by-product, or secondary objective, should be to sell his company. Overall recommendation: buy it to fill out your creativity library. Otherwise, there are better books on this subject. John Dunbar
Rating:
Summary: Some great ideas in midst of ego-centric anecdotes
Review: Where's the editor when you need one? This book could have been organized better. Like... major transitions buried deep in paragraphs. Were the sub-heads put there for decoration? The egotistical patty-pat-pat's could have been edited out more. And, where's the meat? The concept of the book is great, the author is experienced, but the book falls somewhat flat. This book is like Doug Hall's "Jump Start Your Brain" but minus a lot of its content. Still, there are some great ideas here. You should buy this book for its references and a few of its ideas. It's an easy read -- and that reflects it's lightness on detail. One thing I thought was important is the concept of Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi on the 3 areas of creativity: the expert, the domain, the judges. Most books discuss how to improve the individual -- the expert. But there are 2 other important areas. The domain is the marketplace... with its competitors, etc. This would be the source of ideas and demand for ideas. The judges are the rewarders of new ideas. In some cases this might be the users who will purchase your product. In other cases it might be the companies that purchase your ideas. They provide value and rewards to the idea generator. We must evaluate and improve all three of these areas. Or, select those areas were there's a good match of all three. Thankfully, Csikszentmihalyi's books are referenced and discussed. This book also discusses other references as well. After reading the book I believe the author is a sincere and knowledgeable person. But I believe the purpose of this book was to sell his idea-generating company. Given that off-the-mark main direction, it is no wonder there were so many self-congradulatory anecdotes. The purpose of the book should be to explain his major techniques, and the by-product, or secondary objective, should be to sell his company. Overall recommendation: buy it to fill out your creativity library. Otherwise, there are better books on this subject. John Dunbar
<< 1 >>
| 
