1. • You can learn all about IDEO and Standford’s School work in design thinking and creative confidence by Kelley brother’s Creative Confidence. For those who are skeptical about your creative confidence, it’s a great start.

1. • But, seriously, how different are creative people? Let Scott and Carolyn share some scientific baed perception on how different they are in Wired to Create. Hint, they tend to be messy, sensitive and highly emotional at times.

1. • Ok, but how does that look like in our life? Let Elizabeth take you on a ride on what creativity can look like from a writers perspective in Big Magic.

1. • And if you thought stealing (and integrating) other ideas were bad, let Austin change your mind in Steal Like an Artist which is an enlightening breeze.

• • Still skeptical? Let Ed share his journey on how building nothing out of something is possible at Creativity, Inc. Plus, you probably have seen some of their great works – thanks to his creative ways to produce animations but also building a team.

1. • Did you know how much creativity goes behind choreographing each piece of a dance? Twyla Tharp will share in The Creative Habits why building creative habits are critical to making creative thinking a routine.

1. • For those who want analytical and academic background on how creative thinking and decision making works in our brain, pick up Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi’s Flow to get satisfying answers and perspective.

1. • Educators who want to understand how creative exercise and games can help students build a more open perspective, Tina Seelig’s inGenius is great reading as she shares her experience teaching innovation and creativity classes at Standford University.

1. • The War of Art is great for those who want to understand how powerful attitude is in understanding creativity.

• • Both educators and practitioners will enjoy The Art of Possibility by Zanders if they want to understand how creativity can empower individuals to see possibilities in front of adversities in art, music, and relationships.

Building a creative mindset starts with asking better questions, having an open mind, seeking grit, being ok with making mistakes and being empathetic. Where do you want to start?

1. • First, we have to ask a lot of thoughtful questions. But how can we ask a more thoughtful question? Warren Berger explains the power of A More Beautiful Question in his studies in questioning as an educator and researcher.

1. • Second, we have to understand that shifting one’s mindset means building better assets. David Brooks look in The Road to Character what paths leaders took to build good characteristics and why this is important in our personal growth.

1. • Third, we must recognize how powerful having an open mindset is compared to a fixed one. Carol Dweck’s research on Mindset will help you get a good glimpse of this. We highly recommend for educators and parents who work with young adults.

1. • Fourth, keep track of your happiness. Dr. Emma Seppala can explain in The Happiness Track why happiness is a powerful component in our growth.

• • And lastly, remember that building a mindset is a journey. As Neil Gaiman speaks in his Make Good Art speech, making good art takes a lot of effort and time but it is also the most gratifying work as that is something that we can uniquely give back to the universe.

Empathy plays a critical role in creative thinking. When we are empathetic, we are open to more ideas, we are willing to have a ‘user-friendly’ perspective and be open to surprises. If you are ready to dive a bit deeper into this subject, we have some suggestions for you:

• • A transformative new vision for the way we lead, love, work, parent, and educate that teaches us the power of vulnerability. Daring Greatly: How the Courage to Be Vulnerable Transforms the Way We Live, Love, Parent, and Lead, by Brené Brown.

1. • Heal small emotional injuries before they become big ones. Emotional First Aid: Healing Rejection, Guilt, Failure, and Other Everyday Hurts, by Guy Winch.

1. • A handbook of how to succeed in the world – a pocket ‘bible’ for the talented and timid to make the unthinkable thinkable and the impossible possible. It’s Not How Good You Are, It’s How Good You Want to Be, by Paul Arden.

1. • Rising Strong: The Reckoning. The Rumble. The Revolution, by Brené Brown.

• • In The Power of Habit, award-winning business reporter Charles Duhigg takes us to the thrilling edge of scientific discoveries that explain why habits exist and how they can be changed.

1. • Excellent book for those readers who want to get a glimpse into the schedules of extraordinarily talented artists… that even true masters have to find the mundane ritual of daily routine a necessity when creating great work. Daily Rituals: How Artists Work, by Mason Currey.

1. • At least one-third of our waking hours are lived on autopilot. But habits of the mind do not have to control us—we can steer them. Psychologist Jeremy Dean explains why seemingly easy habits can prove difficult to form and how to take charge of your brain’s routines to make any change stick. Making Habits, Breaking Habits, by Jeremy Dean.

1. • A revelatory look at how we make decisions. Nudge: Improving Decisions About Health, Wealth, and Happiness, by Richard H. Thaler and Cass R. Sunstein.

• • Discover how our mistakes can be powerful opportunities for new ideas that we could never think up deliberately. The Art of Mistakes: Unexpected Painting Techniques and the Practice of Creative Thinking, by Melanie Rothschild.

1. • Dive into the cognitive tools as diverse as observing, imaging, recognizing patterns, modeling, playing, and more to provide “a clever, detailed and demanding fitness program for the creative mind”. Sparks of Genius: The Thirteen Thinking Tools of the World’s Most Creative People, by Robert S. Root-Bernstein.

1. • This book includes more than 80 games to help you break down barriers, communicate better, and generate new ideas, insights, and strategies. Gamestorming: A Playbook for Innovators, Rulebreakers, and Changemakers, by Dave Gray, Sunni Brown, and James Macanufo.

1. • The Artist’s Way, by Julia Cameron, is the seminal book on the subject of creativity and powerfully provocative and inspiring work. An international bestseller, millions of readers have found it to be an invaluable guide to living the artist’s life.

1. • Show Your Work!, by Austin Kleon, is about why generosity trumps genius. It’s about getting findable, about using the network instead of wasting time “networking.” Filled with illustrations, quotes, stories, and examples, it offers ten transformative rules for being open, generous, brave, productive.

1. • With wisdom from 20 leading creative minds, Manage Your Day-to-Day, by 99U, will give you a toolkit for tackling the new challenges of a 24/7, always-on workplace.