We had some fantastic news come in this week. Our CEO Chris Griffiths’ latest book GRASP The Solution: How to find the best answers to everyday challenges has been nominated for an award in the management category of the 2012 Small Business Book Awards.

Since its release in October 2011, the book’s had some amazingly positive reviews but this is definitely the icing on the cake! Chris is absolutely thrilled and considers it a great honour to be nominated.

The Small Business Book Awards were created to recognise and celebrate books that make a difference to small business owners, managers and start-up entrepreneurs. This is now the fourth year for these awards and the competition is getting fierce!

Chris would love to do well in this competition – but in order to do that he needs your votes! If you’ve read GRASP The Solution and benefited from it – or simply enjoyed it – then we’d be extremely grateful if you could put in your vote for it.

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New Year’s Resolutions

As the New Year approaches, the mental list of New Year’s resolutions starts to form; usually a lengthy list with the aim of dispelling annoying personal habits, or reaching professional goals – and always with a few of the usual suspects making a repeat performance from the year before.

Many New Year’s resolutions emanate from the downfalls, disasters and misjudgements of the previous year, as a last-ditch attempt to avoid repetition in the New Year. We think that by avoiding the same failures, we might somehow pave a path to a more positive outcome at the end of the next year.

CEO of ThinkBuzan and co-author of Mind Maps for Business, Chris Griffiths, argues that this reactive mode of thinking simply doesn’t cut it in the modern world. “What worked in the past no longer fits the bill so we’re being forced to ‘up our game’”.

Rather than simply avoiding making the same mistakes again, we need to be more creative and more innovative. We need to look forwards, for new opportunities and anticipating future bumps in the road. In other words, we need to be proactive.

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We were over the moon this week to come across a couple of top reviews of our CEO, Chris Griffiths’ recently released book GRASP The Solution.

The first came from ForeWord Reviews. Based in the United States, this organisation is one of the few remaining wholly independent review sources, which makes it even better to see GRASP The Solution receive a superb 5 star rating from their reviewer Barry Silverstein. The book is described as ‘far-reaching’ and ‘engaging’ and the Mind Mapping chapter was especially well-received!

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18th November 2011, by Chris Griffiths

Focused daydreaming is one of the most effective tools for heightening creativity and cultivating powerful solutions to all sorts of business issues. While most bosses may frown upon daydreaming as a complete ‘waste of time’, I’ve recently been flying the flag for its strategic use in the workplace.

Listen to my interview with Henry Bonsu of Colourful Radio for more clarity on the creativity-enhancing benefits of this technique:

Chris Griffiths Interview with Colourful Radio

Also, please check out my guest article on Brainzooming.com where I go into detail on the value of daydreaming and how to use it purposefully:

‘Focused Daydreaming – A Practical Tool for Creativity’ from Chris Griffiths

Want to know more about Focused Daydreaming?

Focused daydreaming (or ‘Thought Experiments’) is one of several creativity topics and tools covered in my latest book GRASP The Solution: How to find the best answers to everyday challenges. In this book, I outline how rising entrepreneurs or those interested in self-development can use daydreaming strategically to access the deeper parts of the mind and develop champion ideas and solutions.

16^th November 2011, by Chris Griffiths

Not long ago I had the great privilege to be interviewed by Liam Hughes of Biggerplate.com. We had an enjoyable chat about my new book GRASP The Solution, the value of thinking creatively in tough times and the role that Mind Mapping can play.

Liam challenged me to share my perspectives on all sorts of sticky matters concerning creativity and innovation. Crucially, I debunk the myth that some people aren’t the ‘creative type’ or don’t have a creative brain. With the aid of a defined system and process, absolutely anyone can be creative and put new ideas into practice.

Other topics discussed include the GRASP concept and how the different modes of thinking affect creativity, the Solution Finder process for achieving ‘practical creativity’ and the usefulness of Mind Maps for capturing and cultivating ideas.

It’s well worth checking out. Read the complete interview on Biggerplate.com.

19^th October 2011, by Chris Griffiths

Finally the day has arrived! Today is the official launch date of my new book ‘GRASP The Solution’. It’s fantastic to see the media getting excited about the book and feedback from early readers has been exceptionally positive. Last week, the early pre-release copies from Amazon.co.uk sold out in a matter of days and ‘GRASP The Solution’ went on to become a bestseller before launch – hitting number 2 in the overall Business category!

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14th October 2011, by Chris Griffiths

It’s almost here! In less than one week (19th October) my new book GRASP The Solution will be officially launched.  The early pre-release copies from Amazon.co.uk have already sold out and the book is currently ranked in the top 100 out of the 5  million books sold on Amazon – number 3 in the Business category!

My goal in writing this book was to lend a huge helping hand to entrepreneurs and individuals who feel they sometimes struggle to make the ‘right’ decisions, are regularly disappointed by the results of their brainstorming sessions or at a complete loss on how to take their business forward.

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7th October 2011, by Chris Griffiths

Regular visitors to the blog will know that, a couple of weeks ago, I was lucky enough to get the opportunity to interview innovation expert Stephen Shapiro on this new book, Best Practices Are Stupid.

Later that day I caught up with Stephen again and, this time, the tables were turned. With the imminent launch of my new book, GRASP The Solution, Stephen ‘grasped’ the chance to ask me a few questions on topics covered in the book. In the video, we chat about the GRASP modes of thinking, Mind Mapping, evaluating ideas using generative ‘whole brain’ thinking and the importance of system and process for successful innovation.

Watch the interview here:

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GRASP The Solution by Chris Griffiths is a refreshingly pragmatic guide to making decisions and solving problems creatively. The book is out on 19th October 2011 and is available to pre-order on Amazon right now!

Pre-order Today!

Amazon.co.uk

Amazon.com

Want To Learn More About GRASP The Solution?

• View contents and chapter summaries
• Download a pdf excerpt
• Watch insightful videos featuring author Chris Griffiths
• Sign up for taster chapters and templates
• Hear what people have to say
• …and much more!

Visit www.GraspTheSolution.com

30^th September 2011, by Chris Griffiths

So you’ve been looking at your innovative output and have decided it’s time for a new approach. You need to bring some fresh ideas to your business and performance if you’re going to avoid being ‘left behind’. Up to now, you’ve tried all sorts of creative tools and techniques but, for some reason, you’re just not hitting on that killer idea that you really need – the one that will lead you to conquer your specific challenge and overcome ‘sameness’.

Unfortunately a lot of people don’t realise it’s the barriers they impose on themselves that prevent them from coming up with really great ideas. I’ll be speaking about this subject and more at the Like Minds Innovation + Opportunity Conference in Exeter, UK on 20^th October, the day following the launch of my new book GRASP The Solution. My talk on ‘Why You Can’t GRASP That Killer Idea’ kicks off at 10am during the ‘Disrupting the Norms’ session. Join me at the event and find out how to let go of the unhelpful thinking habits that hold you back from applying your limitless creative potential. Tickets are available now with a special early bird rate.

For more information or to register for the event go to http://wearelikeminds.com/events/exeter

It would be great to see you there!

Chris Griffiths

27^th September 2011, by Chris Griffiths

Last week I had the great fortune to interview Stephen Shapiro, one of the foremost authorities on innovation in business and author of one of my much loved books on the subject – 24/7 Innovation: A Blueprint for Surviving and Thriving in an Age of Change.

We chatted about his new book Best Practices Are Stupid: 40 Ways to Out-Innovate the Competition which highlights how many of our current efforts to boost innovation can actually destroy it! Watch the interview and learn about some of Stephen’s counterintuitive yet proven strategies for encouraging innovation in the workplace.

Watch my interview with Stephen Shapiro here:

Best Practices Are Stupid: 40 Ways to Out-Innovate the Competition by Stephen Shapiro is out on 29^th September 2011 and is available on Amazon.  Visit www.steveshapiro.com for more information.