Name of the book: “From CLONE to CLOWN – The art of having (and selling) Creative Ideas.”
Date published: September 2014
Author: Vitor Briga
Publisher: Vida Economica – Porto
First of all I want to say how excited I felt when I found this book on line as I spend most of my life researching creative ways of thinking and how to apply them to the everyday life.
This book called “From Clone to Clown” shares some behaviours and habits that, when practised regularly, will help you have more original ideas and turn those ideas into something even more valuable to others. It helps people to realize the creative potential they possess.
The book speaks of the “Clone Mode” as our “Closed Mode”, the side that is conformed. That, when faced with a challenge, tends to choose more traditional solutions and conventional patterns to avoid fear of ridicule and failure. The book speaks of the “Clown Mode” as our “Open Mode”, the side that plays. It takes chances, the one with curiosity, optimism, excitement in action. The side that has courage to follow its own thoughts and intuitions even when these are very different from most people, and then be able to share them engaging emotions in others.
This book made me remember and realize again how playing is fundamental for the creative process.
Being a child again is to give yourself permission to question and play with what surrounds you. Being grateful for the daily work and not just when you reach results.
Another think that resonates with me in this book, it’s the acceptance of failure and staying positive. The problem is not in the failure but in the repetition of the same mistake more than once. Maximising mistakes, turn them into feedbacks, learn from them and not be personally attached to them.
I highly recommend this book for personal growth and for team leaders.
Maria Auletta 