How To Fly A Horse:  The Secret History Of Creation, Invention, And Discovery, by Kevin Ashton

In all of the books I have read so far as part of my own lit review on the subject of creativity, I have to admit that I have liked this one the most.  There are a lot of reasons for that.  For one, the author is himself not only a scholar of creativity but also a creative person himself, who has a patent for the invention of a system of communicating sales information that led to the development of the “Internet of Things,” which he helped to spearhead.  For another, the author examines some of the problematic aspects of creativity that do not always receive sufficient attention when people speak of creative classes or geniuses or talk about the process of creativity as if it involved flashes of insight separate from a lot of very tedious and monotonous work driven by the desire to solve problems.  By pointing to the everyday nature of creativity, the author seeks for the reader to become more aware of the (perhaps unrecognized) ways that they are creative in solving the problems they face in their own existence and the ways that this creativity can be thwarted by organizations and a lack of appreciation by others.

The author begins this roughly 250 page book by discussing the problem of the myth of genius, that only a few elite creators are actually creative.  After that the author discusses the way that creating is ordinary (1) and that thinking is like walking, something that everyone does and practices at, some with more skill (2).  The author cautions the reader to expect adversity in life (3) and to be able to reflect upon how we see, for there are a great many details that are missed that can be important, like the bacteria that caused stomach ulcers (4).  The author talks about ways that traditional accounts of creativity often miss important people who deserve credit the way that, say, Rosalind Franklin deserves much of the credit for the discovery of DNA that she did not receive (5) because it was stolen from her.  The author examines chains of consequence that demonstrate the way that creativity and originality can go far beyond the expectations of creators (6), as well as the way that creating to order can present immense stress on those who create quite well on their own (7).  Finally, the author discusses the ways that organizations tend to stifle creators and that few people are able or interested in having a placid conformist facade that hides a deeply private interior creator (8), after which the author disposes of the myth of the genius (9).

In one book this author manages to touch upon a great deal of what makes creativity so difficult for people to understand and for institutions to practice.  On a basic level, creativity is quite frequent as human beings face problems and adversity and seek to solve them with the internal and external resources that are at hand.  Seldom do people think about the long chain of consequences that result from new creations, and all too often creative people are not always what institutions want to support, given that they disturb the status quo and often pursue problem solving for distinctly personal reasons that may or may not bear any profit for others at all.  Creativity cannot be commanded, but it can be practiced and improved.  And rather than being geniuses, creative people can be found all over the place, even if they do not often get the sort of credit they deserve because the accolades tend to fall on those who are already somewhat famous and well-rewarded anyway.  This book gives a lot of unpleasant food for thought, to be sure.