Creativity Imagineer and Author Michael Michalko

Updated 11/15/15

Michael Michalko is a highly-acclaimed creativity expert and author of the best-seller Thinkertoys (A Handbook of Business Creativity), and other books.

As an officer in the U.S. Army, he organized a team of NATO intelligence specialists and international academics in Frankfurt, Germany to research, collect, and categorize all known inventive-thinking methods. His team applied these methods to various NATO military, political, and social problems and produced a variety of breakthrough ideas and creative solutions to new and old problems. His duties included facilitating CIA think tanks using his creative-thinking techniques.

After leaving government service, Michael later applied these techniques to problems in the corporate world with outstanding successes. Michael now provides keynote speeches, workshops, and seminars on fostering creative thinking for clients who range from Fortune 500 corporations to associations and governmental agencies. In addition to his work in the U.S., Michael speaks and provides workshops in countries around the world. Learn more at www.creativethinking.net.

Michael Michalko on Creativity

Michael Michalko Interview
Koinonia principles, Abstraction techniques, Edison's Idea File, Blossom Brainstorming, and DaVinci's Idea Box.

The Creative Thinking Habit Da Vinci, Edison and Whitman Had in Common
Includes tips on how to create your own idea collection system.

Charles Darwin and Creative Thinking
The creative genius will always look for alternative ways to think about a subject.

Dancing in the Rain (Frog/Horse Puzzle)
Is it a frog or a horse? Life is not about waiting for storms to pass, it's about learning how to dance in the rain.

How the Creative Mind Works
The mind is like a universe.

Thinkertoys Preface: Handbook of Creative Thinking Techniques
Our own creativity is decided by what we choose to do or what we refuse to do.

Stuck? Take a Thought Walk
Problem-solve and stimulate creative thinking simply by getting your body involved.

Your Mind Was Once a Cathedral
How going to school changes that.

Michael Michalko by the Numbers

12 Things Not Taught in School About Creative Thinking
A dozen new things you can learn right now.

The Tale of 5 Monkeys
We don't question that with which we are most familiar.

101 Tips on How to Become More Creative
Effective strategies for using everyday resources to increase your creativity.

6 Creative Thinking Habits of Thomas Edison
The legendary career of Thomas Alva Edison illustrates how creativity can be cultivated by anyone, in any industry.