Creative Ecologies: Where Thinking Is a Proper Job

In Creative Ecologies, John Howkins identifies an ecology of thinking and learning based on how people create, develop and share ideas. This book shows the conditions for successful thinking and learning. It shows how we handle ideas and knowledge, both our own and other people's, and how this affects networks and markets. It starts by asking, What relationship to ideas do we want? Whose ideas do we want to be surrounded by? How, and where, do we want to think? Most of us choose according to what family, colleagues, and friends say and what we read about. We change through mimicry, symbiosis, collaboration and competition. Other ecological factors, such as diversity and adaptation, affect whether our learning is successful. We all know the positive feelings of working in a lively, creative group and the negative feelings of being in one that is fearful and unproductive. Creative Ecologies shows the factors that generate creative thinking.

Modern ecology results from the shift in thinking generated by quantum physics and systems theory. It reflects the change from reductionism, mechanics, and fixed quantities to a new view based on holistic systems where qualities are contingent on the observer. John Howkins shows how recent scientific discoveries change our understanding of how people treat ideas and facts. He addresses the crises in business systems and the environment, and the balance of creativity and control required in our response. He throws new light on national policies on arts, education and copyright.

John Howkins is a leading expert on creativity, innovation and the media. He is chairman of BOP Consulting and has advised numerous international organizations, governments and global firms. He is visiting professor at City University, London, and vice dean and visiting professor at the Shanghai School of Creativity, China. In addition to his pioneering book, The Creative Economy, he is the author of numerous other books, including Four Global Scenarios for Information, Understanding Television, and Mass Media in China.