The Accidental Creative

May 9, 2011
Henry, founder and CEO of the consulting firm Accidental Creative, has been helping "creatives" maximize their efficiency for years. Here he aims to help individuals in explicitly creative professions, like writers and designers, establish enough structure to get the most out of their processâand "accidental creatives," such as managers, consultants, and salespeople, to unlock their latent imaginative, artistic abilities. He tells both groups: "Don't go to the grave with your best work still inside of you. Die empty." He discusses the challenges and stresses of careers that pay workers not on their time but on the value they create, and which require them to overcome greater-than-usual emotional hurdles. With references to a plethora of business and personal-growth gurus, including Keith Ferrazzi and Tony Schwartz, he guides readers through a system of increasing productivity and effectiveness, monthly checkpoints, self-definition, and how to identify and seize new opportunities. Even if his one-size-fits-all setup is broad and somewhat of a stretch, his can-do attitude and encouragement is contagious.