The Three Sources of Creativity: Breakthroughs from Your Head, Heart and Gut

Everyone is creative—even you! You have three intelligence centers, which serve as distinct sources for creativity. Each one is equal in capacity to deliver breakthrough results. Learn how to take advantage of each source in your own creative process: Your head, heart and gut intuition. The goal is for one source not to suffocate the other two sources, but to unite and create intersections bringing forth synergistic new creative life.

This is not another book about theory or someone else’s prescription for creativity. It is about your own unique brand of creativity. The Three Sources of Creativity contains a self-assessment, exemplars (modern and ancient), many illustrations and exercises/applications tailored to you. It offers a new way of looking at creativity, and takes a long view of approaching your creative life. You learn about how the three sources of creativity work in your life and the iconic characters’ lives. This candid evolutionary view opens new windows for revolutionary creative change.

You complete a three-center self-assessment and learn about your composite creative process, through your head, heart, and gut centers. You learn which center is: most dominant, supportive, and which is least used or "hidden." This composite significantly impacts your creativity. Unlocking your undervalued/underused center is key. By proactively building your three centers’ awareness, you build muscle memory and can multiply your creativity. You will explore a chosen problem/opportunity that you have passion for throughout the book.

In Part 1, three distinct ways to tap into creativity are explored to gain creative self-confidence. In Part 2, we apply the concepts of the “three sources of creativity” to our lives. We learn about the six creative patterns naturally flowing from the three sources. We observe the intersections between the three intelligence centers (synergistic and contradictory) and how these impact creativity. Our exemplars demonstrate how they dealt/deal with their creative sources. We connect with their deep center struggles and triumphs. Likewise, we learn about our own creative patterns.

Inspiration comes from: Einstein’s genius experiments (and greatest blunder), the reluctant revolutionary Charles Darwin, King Solomon’s glory and demise, Thomas Edison’s gut in overdrive (and Nikola Tesla’s “head” reaction to him), Meryl Streep's secret, Antonio Gaudi’s Cathedral from heaven, J Paul Getty’s mysterious kouros, Wayne Gretzky “improv” skating, Jackson Pollock’s dancing art, LBJ and MLK’s unlikely gut collaboration, Craig Ventor’s versus the Gov’s human genome wresting match, St. Peter’s gut-filled reactions, Navy seals, Eckhart Tolle’s power of now, President Lincoln’s extraordinary heart fruit, Steve Job’s heart driven i-creativity, Mother Teresa’s anguished higher calling, McCartney & Lennon’s harmonic heart songs, Seinfeld’s anti-heart sitcom, Lance Armstrong’s tormented heart, the social entrepreneur Eleanor Roosevelt, musician King David, and many more.

Authentic creativity happens when what we think, feel and what we do intersect. Readers learn about how to apply the six natural patterns, and different intersections to their lives and problem/opportunities to gain breakthroughs.

In the last chapter Brandt addresses organizations as having three centers too, influenced from the top down. Examples include: Rick Warren’s Saddleback church’s BHAG (big hairy audacious goal), Apple Corp., and how creative “flow” applies to organizations' centers too. Chinese artist Ai Weiwei shows how creativity at a higher level can/will change worldviews.

The manifesto is always trust your three ways of knowing, all equally important as sources for your creativity. These distinct paths build your creative confidence. Honor their mysterious strengths and strive for breakthrough intersections often. Experience the joy and fulfillment this brings... because you are enough!