Creative You by David B. Goldstein & Otto Kroeger - Book review

Creative You

Using Your Personality Type to Thrive

By: David B. Goldstein, Otto Kroeger

Published: July 2, 2013
Format: Paperback, 320 pages
ISBN-10: 1582703655
ISBN-13: 978-1582703657
Publisher: Beyond Words








"In this book, you will happily discover it wasn't your fault if you've not yet learned how to fully utilize your creativity, because we're all naturally creative",write internationally known artist and entrepreneur, David B. Goldstein; and pioneer in practical applications of psychological type, Otto Kroeger, in their personality based and empowering book Creative You: Using Your Personality Type to Thrive. The authors describe how everyone is creative, but that their creativity is related to their personality type, and with that match in place, individual creativity is unleashed.

David Goldstein (photo left) and Otto Kroeger understand that people who believe they have no creativity lacked the tools to develop their skills. If they had the tools for creativity, they were all too often not taught how to use them, or discouraged from creative thinking entirely. The authors provide the good news that everyone is capable of creativity, and that the techniques for creativity are learned skills.

The authors go even farther, and demonstrate how different personality types are creative in very different and exciting ways. The learned skills of creativity, according to the authors, can be even more finely tuned and individualized as a result of matching personality type with the appropriate creative tools and techniques.

Otto Kroeger (photo left) and David Goldstein present an important series of new ideas that rebuttal the most common misconceptions about the nature of creativity and creative people. The authors stress that everyone has the capability of being creative, and the book contains the personality type matched skills to achieve unlimited levels of creation. The authors offer the concept that people can not only learn from the arts, but go well beyond the in all areas of life and work.

The authors utilize the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) as the basis for recognizing and understanding the personality types of each individual. The MBTI system emphasizes that there are no bad personality types, but simply locates the differences to ensure that the appropriate creativity tools and skills development is matched to each personality type. The authors cover the following overarching areas in the book's three parts as follows:

* Meeting your creative self
* The sixteen creative types
* Cultivating courageous creativity

For me, the power of the book is how David Goldstein and Otto Kroeger combine a comprehensive personality based framework for establishing creativity, and provide the practical tools and techniques appropriate for each of the personality types. The authors provide an empowering alternative, not only to the misconceptions about creativity as being confined to a select few, but to the idea that one method of creative thinking will work for everyone. The authors offer a fascinating and well considered use of the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) for facilitating different creative styles and techniques for different people.

The authors identify, through application of the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI), of how individuals prefer to think and act creatively. Through recognition of the different personality styles, strengths and weaknesses in team members can be identified to maximize the team skills. The authors go far beyond the usual concept of one creative technique for everyone, and tailor the skills to the individual. At the same time, the book contains an important section of developing personal creativity, for finding the ideal personal creative outlets, and for encouraging creativity in children.

I highly recommend the very comprehensive and hands on book Creative You: Using Your Personality Type to Thrive by David B. Goldstein and Otto Kroeger, to any business leaders, managers, entrepreneurs, artists, writers, educators, students, parents, and anyone who is interested in enhancing and developing their creativity skills. This book will help you match your personality type to the right skills and techniques for you.