Creativity: Flow and the Psychology of Discovery and Invention

Csikszentmihalyi is known for defining flow but "Creativity" is a much better book. I made several failed attempts to read "Flow" and it was too meandering, philosophical and impractical to stick with it. This book, on the other hand, is more practical and profound. Highly recommended.

This is an empowering read for someone who is not considered excellent in their field, and may not even seek notoriety, but wants to engage more creatively in their work and life.

The huge problem I have with this book is Csikszentmihalyi's focus on the domain and background of the individual. While he sent his survey out to many people, the respondents come from a fairly narrow background-university educated and from the United States. He ignores that there is a great deal of creativity coming out of other communities around the world and in North America and, instead, concludes that one must come from wealth and privilege if they are to develop natural talent. This conclusion colours all his other conclusions.

Still, his advice at the show more end on developing a more creative lifestyle is sound, if not a bit repetitive of other works and, again, assumes quite a lot of privilege. show less

I'll unabashedly admit to mega-skimming this one. I didn't expect a patchwork biography of people I didn't really recognize. The chapter, around pg 111, where he details the circumstances necessary for flow was interesting(I thought about my friends and family who struggle with ADHD... it's SO hard for them to find that. All too often they find that in addictive-type pursuits. But they're not necessarily addicted, just looking for flow.)

The end, where he talks about creating a life where you can be creative, was also interesting. But I mostly bypassed the middle. I'm sure, if I had been more cognizant of life in my 4th year I would have a better idea of who they were.

The book is accessible and at times very interesting when delving into the traits and behaviours that make creative people creative. When it looks for the backgrounds and root causes for people's creativity it reaches conclusions too fast and heads for the nearest plausible narrative. When the author moves out of his field of study to put creativity in greater context he is also on thin ice. The worst exampple being when he claims that systemic thinkers (sociologists, environmentalists etc) have re-invented systemic thinking lost with eastern religions (!!). The "How to be personally creative" chapter towards the end is also redundant for anyone who has paid attention during the rest of the book.

The portions where the author is just show more investigating and not concluding are very interesting, so if you can overlook portions of the book - I'd recommend this. show less

An interesting approach to the analysis of creativity: looking at the lives of creative people and identifying similarities (and in some cases, differences) between them. Csikszentmihalyi also comes up with some broad recommendations about how to live a more creative life. These include: be curious and open, persevere, be surprised and surprising, allow yourself downtime, be playful, avoid gender-stereotypical behaviours.

I didn't think much of this book. It read more like fan mail rather than the results of scientific research. Although the last few pages had some reasonable advice, I'm not sure what the grounding was for giving the advice. Maybe it's in an earlier book. Once again, as is so often the case these days, the title of the book was only vaguely connected to the content of the book. It wasn't about "flow" -- whatever that is. It was more about lifestyles of geniuses. I kind of had Robin Leach floating through my head as I was reading this book.

One of the best books I have ever read. I rely on this every day because it reminds me to stay in the "flow" state of creativity.