Book Review by Beth Kanter

The following is an excerpt of Beth Kanter’s review of The Imagination Gap. It appears in full on Beth’s Blog. Beth is an expert on nonprofits and a sought- after leader in the field. She is also the author of The Happy Healthy Nonprofit.

My colleague Brian Reich has just published a new book, The Imagination Gap. I’ve known Brian for over ten years and he is a brilliant strategist for executive leaders and global brands — nonprofits, startups, and political organizations. He has done a lot of work recently in innovation processes, especially to solve big social change issues. So, I was excited to dig into his most recent book and thinking.

The big idea in the book is that imagination is the greatest natural resource available to humans and organizations and it is a muscle that we are not exercising regularly. Brian says that in our work we are too often just doing what we know and have always done. In other words, taking the easy way out. Imagination is achieving something that has never been done and explore new ways of thinking and doing that can move beyond what we know and have always done.

Before you begin thinking that only geniuses have permission to use imagination, Brian gives us permission to use it. It isn’t a special skill or talent. It also isn’t the same thing as creativity or innovation. Above all, imagination is about big NEW ideas.

To read the full review, visit Beth’s Blog.