Ideaflow - by Jeremy Utley & Perry Klebahn (Hardcover)

About the Book

"Stanford d.school directors Jeremy Utley and Perry Klebahn show leaders how to dramatically boost business results by amplifying the creative output of their organizations, drawing from their popular Stanford courses. The number of new ideas a team can generate in a given amount of time correlates directly to its capacity to solve problems and devise breakthrough solutions. This is ideaflow, and companies like Apple, Amazon, and Toyota dominate because they have far more of it. Ideaflow is the most crucial business metric because every business problem is fundamentally an idea problem. When ideas are scarce, so are profits. Your team's capacity to quickly and efficiently generate enough potential solutions, as well as design, test, and launch winning products and services, is decisive. Drawing from decades spent helping Silicon Valley entrepreneurs and Fortune 500 executives, as well as leadership roles at innovative companies, Klebahn and Utley offer a battle-tested framework to exponentially boost ideaflow in yourself and your team. You'll learn how to: Strengthen creative output with a brief daily practice Rapidly generate a flood of new ideas under enormous pressure Run cheap, fast, and efficient real-world tests of your ideas to choose the 10x winners Encourage and incentivize ideaflow across teams and organizations Are you ready to supercharge your organization's results?"--

Book Synopsis

"Teams succeed to the degree that there is a free flow of ideas. Read this book to learn how to bring out the best in others--and in yourself." -- Scott Galloway, bestselling author of The Four and Post Corona

Ideaflow: the number of ideas you or your team can generate in a set amount of time

We all want great ideas, but few actually understand how they're born. Innovation doesn't come from a sprint or a hackathon--it's a result of maximizing ideaflow.

Jeremy Utley and Perry Klebahn of Stanford's renowned Hasso Plattner Institute of Design (aka the "d.school") offer a proven strategy for coming up with great ideas by yourself or with your team, and quickly determining which are worthy. Drawing upon their combined decades of experience leading Stanford's premier Launchpad accelerator and advising some of the world's most innovative organizations, like Microsoft, Michelin, Keller Williams Realty, and Hyatt, they'll teach you how to:

- Overcome dangerous thinking traps
- Find inspiration in unexpected places
- Trick your own brain to be more creative
- Design and deploy affordable experiments
- Fill your innovation pipeline
- Unleash your own creative potential, as well as the potential of others

Perhaps you have experienced low ideaflow. Have you been in that quiet conference room, with a half-filled whiteboard, and an unmet business target?. With the proven system in this book, entrepreneurs, managers, and leaders will learn how to tap into surprising and valuable ideas on demand and fill the creative pipeline with breakthrough ideas.

Review Quotes

"Teams succeed to the degree that there is a free flow of ideas. Read this book to learn how to bring out the best in others--and in yourself." -- Scott Galloway, bestselling author of The Four and Post Corona

"Utley and Klebahn put it precisely: every problem is an ideas problem. So, regardless of the challenge you're facing, this book is the answer!" -- Greg McKeown, bestselling author of Essentialism and Effortless

"Our fearful quest for the proven right answer distracts us from the real work: building a flow of ideas that have a chance to solve the problems right in front of us. Ideaflow gives you a proven method to get out of your own way and start doing the work." -- Seth Godin, author of The Practice

"I've never met anyone who consciously desired to be closed-minded or shut down to new ideas. And yet most of us are unconsciously inhibiting our own creativity. Utley and Klebahn offer practical tips on how to unlock innovation in yourself and others." -- Kim Scott, author of Radical Candor and Just Work

"This inspiring, fun, and relentlessly practical road map is required reading for anyone bent on building a creative team or organization." -- Robert Sutton, Stanford professor and author

"Finally, a book on creating a design-forward culture at your company that comes with practical and measurable advice. Read this book and you'll change the way you work, and maybe the way you live." -- Bill Burnett, coauthor of Designing Your Life and Designing Your New Work Life

"This book is a game changer that every leader should read." --Carl Liebert, CEO of Keller Williams

"The concept behind ideaflow is simple yet powerful. Ideas can come from anywhere and the more you can harness that mindset, the better. Every would-be leader and innovator should read this." -- Elizabeth Spaulding, CEO of Stitch Fix

"These authors are masterful at demystifying how any organization can turn creativity into a steady practice."-- Chris Flink, CEO and Executive Director of the Exploratorium and Former IDEO Partner

"Utley and Klebahn were by far the most transformative professors we had at Stanford. Ideaflow finally makes their lessons available to aspiring innovators everywhere. If you've ever wondered whether you have what it takes to put something new out into the world, read this book " -- Maite & Itziar Diez-Canedo, Co-founders and Co-CEOs of Via

"Utley and Klebahn share proven tools and insider tricks from their renowned consulting expertise and best-in-class programs, so that these game-changing ideas flow to the rest of us." -- Leidy Klotz, Author of Subtract: The Untapped Science of Less, Professor of Engineering and Architecture at the University of Virginia

"A founder's secret weapon. Ideaflow is full of tools for everyone seeking to innovate constantly, build thoughtfully, and grow quickly." -- Diarra Bousso, Founder & CEO at DIARRABLU

"How do you invent what's next? Simply try to learn how to have more and better ideas. Ideaflow offers eye-opening techniques combined with practical insights into how anyone can establish creativity as a daily practice in their lives."-- Dr. Frederik G. Pferdt, Google's Chief Innovation Evangelist, Adjunct Professor at Stanford's d.school

"Can't imagine where ManiMe would be without Jeremy and Perry. The coolest thing I learned is that we need to have a "founder's mindset" long before the product is ready for the market. They liberated my thinking, significantly accelerating our launch without unnecessary worry!" -- Jooyeon Song, Co-Founder and CEO of ManiMe

"The core teaching of Ideaflow of getting out into the real world, quickly is the antithesis to my training as an MBA but I've since become obsessed with the art of experimenting, iterating, asking, and listening in order to build a massively impactful company that is unique in the marketplace. Founders shouldn't miss this book." -- Aishetu Dozie, Founder and CEO of Bossy Cosmetics

"Two masters of the craft provide a roadmap about how you can develop your creativity practice and help those you work with do the same." -- Linda A. Hill, Chair of the Leadership Initiative, Harvard Business School and co-author of Collective Genius

"Over the last decade, Jeremy and Perry have become my go-to innovation gurus! This book is essential reading for anyone running an organization that desires to enhance and expand innovation. Beware the tidal wave of ideas that will follow once you start reading!" -- Mark Hoplamazian, CEO of Hyatt

"Utley and Klebahn have done something rather unusual: they have crafted an evidence-based book that is both insightful and entertaining. This is a must-read for anyone seeking to understand creativity." -- Kelly Leonard, Executive Director of Learning and Applied Improvisation at The Second City and author of Yes, And

About the Author

Jeremy Utley is the director of executive education at Stanford's d.school and an adjunct professor at Stanford's School of Engineering. He is the host of the d.school's widely popular program "Stanford's Masters of Creativity." Perry Klebahn is a cofounding member of Stanford's d.school faculty. He is an adjunct professor and director of executive education at Stanford's d.school. He has served as COO for Patagonia and as CEO of Timbuk2.