In today's flat world, business as usual no longer cuts it. Anyone can compete on quality, price and timing. So what's the secret weapon that will boost your business over and above the competition?

Creativity!

But far too often creativity is sidelined and the energy and excitement that go along side it are subdued.

The Business Playground* will change all that!

Prodigious musician, producer and entrepreneur Dave Stewart, and advertising and branding guru Mark Simmons show you how to rediscover your creativity. Through a quirky selection of idea-inducing games and stimulating stories you'll be able to bring your workplace back to life.

Be inspired by creative conversations with legendary Mick Jagger, Tony Award winning director Matthew Warchus, and Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen. And learn from innovative companies like Google, NASA and Nokia.

Unleash your amazing creative potential and get ready to play!

What they say about Dave Stewart:

"If you are an entrepreneur and you spend time with Dave, you will know exactly what your next business idea should be, if you are a philosopher and you get talking to Dave, your mind will suddenly have clarity like never before. If you are a student and you listen to Dave, immediately you will believe in yourself and know exactly what you need to do next. Dave is a creative genius."
-Simon Fuller, Founder and CEO of 19 Entertainment and creator of American Idol

"Captain Dave is a dreamer and a fearless innovator, a visionary of high order, very delicately tractable on the surface but beneath that, he's a slamming, thumping, battering ram, very mystical but rational."
-Bob Dylan

"Dave is who we all want to be - living his dream and actually changing the world every day with his gentle inspirational genius."

Janice Vandenbrink, Senior Vice President of Global Systems at Visa International

"Dave is a truly extraordinary blend of creative genius and business person with flair."

Rita Clifton, Chairman of Interbrand

"Real creativity has me in awe, and Dave Stewart is one of the most thrilling creative minds I have ever met."
Anita Roddick, Founder of The Body Shop

"When I met Dave he talked for 12 hours about the impact of digitalizationon the production and distribution of media. As a banker, I didn't know what the hell he was talking about - nor did anyone else. Over the next five years, we all found out."
*-Michael Philipp, Chairman and Executive Board Member of Credit Suisse Europe, Middle East And Africa

"For over 30 years I have been working with creative people the world over; but none compare with Dave. His creative cup overflows with originality, profusion and, most importantly, generosity. He is undoubtedly a genius"
Andy Law, Worldwide Chairman, The Law Firm

"Jack of All Trades Master of All of Them"

Sunday Times

"He's a One Man Advertising Think Tank"

The Daily Telegraph
What they say about Mark Simmons and Punk Marketing:

"Blunt, fair, fearless and outrageous - just like the marketing style they espouse."

Publishers Weekly

"Punk' reads like the insider wisdom your tattooed brother gave during your first nose-piercing session: 'Don't show Mom, but the girls at school will dig it.'"

Advertising Age

"Taken together, their anecdotes show that truly original, engaging, and- most important - surprising ads will always prevail, whether they're labeled punk or not."

Business Week

Autorentext

Dave Stewart is founder and chairman of Weapons of Mass Entertainment, an idea factory described by the LA Times as 'a media company for the new world'. A multimedia entrepreneur, his career spans more than 25 years and over 100 million album sales. As well as being one half of Eurythmics with Annie Lennox, Stewart has worked with some of the best including Bono, Mick Jagger, Gwen Stefani, Sinead O'Connor, Tom Petty and Bob Dylan, winning best songwriter and best producer 4 times as well as numerous Grammy and Life Time Achievement Awards. Described by Dylan as 'a fearless innovator', Stewart was recently named one of the 100 Most Creative People in Business by Fast Company Magazine. Stewart is an acclaimed public speaker and regularly advises businesses on creativity and innovation. He is a key advisor to mobile phone giant Nokia, where he has the unique title of 'change agent', and has created a number of game-changing ventures in the entertainment industry. Stewart is an accomplished photographer and filmmaker, and also makes a mean vodka martini.

Mark Simmons is a branding expert, innovator and the co-author of Punk Marketing: Get Off Your Ass and Join the Revolution. Over the past twenty years he has been a senior global marketer at Coca-Cola, run advertising agencies in the UK and US, been an adviser to the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and Al Gore's Alliance for Climate Protection, and is the co-founder of useless.org, a social enterprise dedicated to helping people use less and give more. Mark frequently speaks at conferences about creativity, marketing and branding. He passionately believes in the power of ideas to make a positive difference in business and society and works with organizations around the world to put this into practice. Follow Mark on Twitter: @markjcsimmons.

Klappentext

The Business Playground is the definitive guide to creativity and innovation Written by musician/entrepreneur Dave Stewart and branding expert Mark Simmons, The Business Playground offers a revealing look at what creativity is and how to apply it in business through an inspiring mix of scientific studies, anecdotes, high-profile interviews, and thought-provoking games that you can play alone or with your co-workers. The Business Playground is not your average business book. Former Eurythmics band member Dave Stewart turns on his rock and roll charm with personal, inspirational stories from his own career as well as interviews with such innovative and influential thinkers as Mick Jagger, Microsoft's Paul Allen, and Twitter's Evan Williams. The legendary Sir Richard Branson makes a guest appearance as the author of the book's foreword where he sets the tone for this quirky, fun, emminently useful guide to creative business thinking. Whether you're running a one-man show or heading up a multinational corporation, you'll discover new techniques for finding and harnessing your creative abilities and putting them to work for your business in this entertaining book. The Business Playground includes real-world examples of innovation in action, as well as substantial and practical techniques that you can use immediately to aid in creative thinking and problem solving. Play the games at the end of each chapter and you'll learn how to:

Ask the right questions so you can find the right answers
Rediscover, train, and utilize your innate creative abilities
Conduct "the perfect brainstorm"-yes, such a thing really does exist
Create a work culture that's conducive to creativity
Help people collaborate with others within and outside of the organization
Kill ideas that aren't working before they waste too much time and too many resources In his foreword Sir Richard Branson says, "Dave and Mark's enthusiasm for creativity and how it can be applied in business leaps off every page. The Business Playground will bring out the creative child inside all of us and I can't imagine many readers being left uninspired to try it out for themselves. Their mix of insights about creativity, revealing examples, anecdotes, interviews with creative thinkers, and games make fo…