Rating: 
Summary: Enhancing Creativity by Learning About it
Review: Csikszentmihalyi is in the "flow" in writing this book on creativity as he elucidates his subject in an inspirational way. He approaches his topic from a systems paradigm. Individuals create, but they do so within the context of a system. He also describes the "child like" wonder of creative contributors. He reminds readers that symbols in the office of past successes such as diplomas, awards, photos, reinforce the idea that valid contributors have been made before and can be made again. Regardless of one's arena, something about the process of creativity can be learned from the pages of this book.
Rating: 
Summary: Demystifies Creativity, Humans beware...
Review: Dostoevsky said, man needs "Mystery, Miracle, and Authority." This book demystifies the concept of creativity.Humans want to put labels on people who put out the best ideas, but, what these people do differently than other people can mostly be attributed to habit. Based off of the universally accepted Hierarchy of Needs by Maslow the author says in order to get to the highest level (self-actualization) where real creativity takes place it is important to not have your limited attention-span concerned with other things. Here's a brief but effective example:
You're looking for your keys. You're looking for your keys anywhere you can POSSIBLY imagine. Underneath the cushions, in your jean pockets, in drawers, EVERYWHERE, you CAN'T find them and all you can think about is finding them. Bingo. The author argues that this type of psychic thievery is what prevents us from being creative. Since we need to take care of a baser need, we have no time to find ways to solve more enhanced problems. This book, in the author's opinion, should be taken as a sequal to the "cult" hit FLOW. Unforunately FLOW I think became too much of a hit to be taken as seriously as it should have been. Although a chapter is devoted to FLOW and the concepts, it is necessary to know the nature of work before advancing into a scheduled routine. I recommend reading FLOW before tackling this work. I must emphasize just how amazing Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi is. He will truly be regarded as one of the greatest minds of this time and most certainly the greatest psychologist of the time. His profound knowledge in so many areas is just incredible as well as backing up everything he says with examples AND action.
Rating:
Summary: Demystifies Creativity, Humans beware...
Review: Dostoevsky said, man needs "Mystery, Miracle, and Authority." This book demystifies the concept of creativity. Humans want to put labels on people who put out the best ideas, but, what these people do differently than other people can mostly be attributed to habit. Based off of the universally accepted Hierarchy of Needs by Maslow the author says in order to get to the highest level (self-actualization) where real creativity takes place it is important to not have your limited attention-span concerned with other things. Here's a brief but effective example:
You're looking for your keys. You're looking for your keys anywhere you can POSSIBLY imagine. Underneath the cushions, in your jean pockets, in drawers, EVERYWHERE, you CAN'T find them and all you can think about is finding them. Bingo. The author argues that this type of psychic thievery is what prevents us from being creative. Since we need to take care of a baser need, we have no time to find ways to solve more enhanced problems. This book, in the author's opinion, should be taken as a sequal to the "cult" hit FLOW. Unforunately FLOW I think became too much of a hit to be taken as seriously as it should have been. Although a chapter is devoted to FLOW and the concepts, it is necessary to know the nature of work before advancing into a scheduled routine. I recommend reading FLOW before tackling this work. I must emphasize just how amazing Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi is. He will truly be regarded as one of the greatest minds of this time and most certainly the greatest psychologist of the time. His profound knowledge in so many areas is just incredible as well as backing up everything he says with examples AND action.
Rating:
Summary: It's a pretty thorough coverage on that topic
Review: Found this book very useful and ordering another copy for my daughter who is in architecture. As for me, I am a computer science professor. The good thing about the coverage is its realism where the individual creativity is not the whole story. The social context in terms of domain and field is espccially important since it is not always up to the individual to be recognized as "creative." in a certain field. The social context as the ultimate arbiter of who is creative and who is not is an important one especially in our promo peer-review survey-count oriented times..
Rating: 
Summary: Interesting, but ultimately dissappointing
Review: Like all C's work, this book is stimulating and easy to read, in parts inspiring, in parts depressing. C says that no one can be Creative with a capital C, unless he masters all that went before him in his field. Accordingly, children, no matter how original, cannot, by definition be creative. A paradoxical and, I guess, creative observation.. C is especially intriguing when he discusses creativity as the result of interaction between the individual, the field, and the domain. Creativity is not a private enterprise but occurs only when an individual, who has mastered his subject matter is acknowleged by the gatekeepers of his field of endeavor or if, like Freud or the Wright brothers, creates his own field. The social aspect of creativity is nowhere better discussed. Unfortunately, C articulates no clear thesis, and with the exception of long quotes from notably creative people, the last third of his book degenerates into platitude and truism
Rating:
Summary: an easy book to be comfortable reading
Review: On the way out the door one morning a couple of years ago on my way to substitute teach, I grabbed this book from the shelf and stuck it in my bookbag, knowing that there would probably be some quiet time for reading at some point during the day. My husband, whose taste in books I respect absolutely, had picked up a copy of it at some point, no doubt to aid him on his creative path. It's a good book to carry if you expect to be waiting in a line or for a bus, or as I was, sitting between classes and trying to bury myself in something other than complete boredom. I wouldn't recommend it as a highly energetic and motivating read, but it's a nice meld of psychology, reality, and 'trivia,'to focus on something edifying if you're in a relatively uninteresting environment.
Rating:
Summary: an easy book to be comfortable reading
Review: On the way out the door one morning a couple of years ago on my way to substitute teach, I grabbed this book from the shelf and stuck it in my bookbag, knowing that there would probably be some quiet time for reading at some point during the day. My husband, whose taste in books I respect absolutely, had picked up a copy of it at some point, no doubt to aid him on his creative path. It's a good book to carry if you expect to be waiting in a line or for a bus, or as I was, sitting between classes and trying to bury myself in something other than complete boredom. I wouldn't recommend it as a highly energetic and motivating read, but it's a nice meld of psychology, reality, and 'trivia,'to focus on something edifying if you're in a relatively uninteresting environment.
Rating:
Summary: THE FLOW NETWORK
Review: Take steps towards enhancing the quality of your life - explore FlowNet and exchange ideas and experiences associated with Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi's Flow theory @ http://www.flownetwork.com
Rating:
Summary: Creativity by Csikszentmihalyi
Review: The author is engaged in an intellectual search for the optimal
level of experience and the creativity which is an integral
part thereof. He states that too much specialization can lead
to cultural fragmentation or the "Tower of Babel" syndrome.
Insight is defined as the domain of ideas. The
intellect sets the dimensional boundaries for the limited domain.
The domain consists of intelligence, playfulness, discipline, independence, suffering pain for pleasure and the influential
aspect of past knowledge. In the pursuit of creativity,
there must be clearly definable goals, relevant feedback and a balancing between challenge and skill . Creativity thrives in
an atmosphere where there is little or no penalty or fear of
failure. This work is an important contribution to the area
of psychology . In some respects, it adds to theoretical
universals in the philisophical sphere of argument. The book
is a solid value for the price charged.
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