Coming soon · Book Profile
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Two IDEO and d.school founders argue that creativity is not a rare gift but a natural human capacity anyone can reclaim by building 'creative confidence'—the belief in one's ability to create change combined with the courage to act.
A profile of this book is on the way.
What it’s about
Written by brothers David and Tom Kelley, the minds behind design firm IDEO and Stanford's d.school, Creative Confidence dismantles the pervasive 'creativity myth'—the false belief that some people are born creative and others aren't. Drawing on decades of innovation work with clients from Apple to GE Healthcare, plus research from psychologists like Albert Bandura and Carol Dweck, the authors show that creativity is a skill that can be strengthened like a muscle through practice, small successes, and the courage to overcome fear of failure and judgment. Through vivid stories (a redesigned children's MRI, a life-saving infant warmer, a hit iPad app built in ten weeks) and a toolkit of concrete design-thinking exercises, the book teaches readers to flip their mindset from analytical to creative, dare to act despite fear, spark insight through empathy and observation, leap from planning to action, seek passion over duty, and build creatively confident teams. It's a practical, optimistic guide for anyone—doctors, lawyers, teachers, managers—who wants to unlock latent creative potential and make a positive dent in the world.
The through-line
- Who it’s for
- A professional or individual—doctor, lawyer, manager, teacher, engineer, student—who wants to be more creative and make a positive impact but doubts their own creative abilities.
- The problem
- They face open-ended challenges at work and in life that require new ideas and solutions but lack the tools and confidence to generate and act on them. They feel like they are 'not the creative type,' held back by fear of failure and judgment, bringing only half of themselves to their work.
- The plan
- FLIP: Adopt a growth mindset and embrace design thinking to see yourself as creative.
- DARE: Move from fear to courage by facing failure through small, guided successes.
- SPARK: Move from blank page to insight using empathy, observation, and reframing.
- LEAP: Move from planning to action with a 'do something' mindset and rapid prototyping.
- SEEK: Move from duty to passion by aligning your work with meaning.
- The payoff
- You believe in your ability to create change and approach challenges with courage and optimism. · You generate better solutions, take sensible risks, and persist through setbacks. · You find more passion, purpose, and meaning in your work and life.
See our guide
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Additional reading
- Immunity to Change: How to Overcome It and Unlock Potential in Yourself and Your Organization · Robert Kegan and Lisa Laskow Lahey
This is the authors' previous book, which provides a deep dive into the ITC framework that is presented as a key tool in Chapter 6 and used by the fledgling DDOs in Chapter 7.
- In Over Our Heads: The Mental Demands of Modern Life · Robert Kegan
This book lays out the foundational theory of adult development and mental complexity that underpins the entire DDO concept, explaining the 'adaptive gap' that DDOs are designed to address.
- Mindset: The New Psychology of Success · Carol Dweck
The book explicitly references Dweck's work, contrasting the 'fixed mindset' (prevalent in ordinary organizations) with the 'growth mindset' that is fundamental to a DDO's culture.
- Organizational Culture and Leadership · Edgar H. Schein
Mentioned in the book, Schein's work provides a foundational understanding of organizational culture, which is the primary medium through which DDOs operate.
- The Functions of the Executive · Chester Barnard (1938)
Chapter 10 identifies this book as providing the seminal concept of 'willingness to contribute to the cooperative system,' which forms the theoretical foundation for the modern construct of Organizational Citizenship Behavior (OCB).
- The Psychology of Careers · Donald E. Super (1957)
Chapter 3 cites this as a foundational work that established the concept of career stages, a model that has profoundly influenced career development theory and research for decades.
- Decision-making in the employment interview · E. C. Webster (1964)
Chapter 6 highlights this as the key report from the influential McGill University studies, which revealed the cognitive biases inherent in unstructured interviews and shifted the focus of research toward understanding the interviewer's decision process.
- Principles for the Validation and Use of Personnel Selection Procedures · Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology (SIOP)
Multiple chapters (e.g., 13, 15) refer to this document and the related AERA/APA/NCME 'Standards' as the authoritative professional guidelines that define best practices and core concepts, like the modern unitarian view of validity, for the entire field of personnel selection.
- Managing Human Assets · Beer, M. et al. (1984)
This is a seminal book that introduced the 'Harvard framework' of HRM, emphasizing a multi-stakeholder approach that considers the interests of employees, not just shareholders. It provides a foundational 'soft' HRM perspective.
- Strategic Human Resource Management · Fombrun, C. J., Tichy, N. M. and Devanna, M. A. (1984)
This book introduced the 'Michigan framework,' which advocated for a 'hard' HRM approach focused on tightly matching HR strategy to the business strategy (vertical fit). It is a foundational text for the strategic alignment concept.