Zig ZagThe Surprising Path to Greater Creativity

"Exceptional creators often zigzag through all eight steps, in varying order, every day. That’s part of the secret...Each step feeds the other seven."

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Zig Zag in Action

Every creative success is the result of zigs and zags:

Twitter. Twitter started as an audio podcasting company called Odeo. When Apple introduced podcasting into iTunes in 2005, there was no longer any need for Odeo, and the company had to change fast.

Groupon. Groupon started by organizing political movements (as the campaign website ThePoint.com, which still exists).

YouTube. YouTube started as a video dating site called Tune In Hook Up.

Chegg. In 2003, Cheggpost.com provided free classified ads for college students. Chegg gradually zigzagged from classified ads to textbook rentals. Today, Chegg rents over 1 million books a year and has 150 employees.

Click on "Case Study " to read the creative story behind Instagram, and why I call these shifts zigzags instead of the more popular term, pivots.

Praise for Zig Zag:

“Zig Zag is the most fun and most useful creativity book I have ever read. Keith Sawyer’s gem sweeps you up with a host of great stories, quizzes, exercises, and teaches you one way after the other to be more creative.”

Robert I. Sutton, professor at Stanford University and author of The No Asshole Rule and Good Boss, Bad Boss

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"In geometry, the shortest distance between two points is a straight line. But in creative pursuits, Zig Zag shows us, it's anything but. Keith Sawyer is the most creative person writing about creativity I know."

Robert Mankoff, cartoon editor of The New Yorker Magazine and author of The Naked Cartoonist

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"Creativity is essential in our journey to the future, and this gem of a book helps each of us on the way."

Tim Brown, CEO of IDEO and author of Change By Design

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"Zig Zag reveals the true nature of the creative process: improvisational, surprising, with unexpected twists and turns. The book is filled with hands-on activities that help you manage that process and keep it moving forward to a successful creative outcome."

Josh Linkner, author of Disciplined Dreaming

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"Keith Sawyer is the best combination of a brilliant creativity researcher and storyteller around. Here's another awesome book."

Peter Sims, author of Little Bets

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“Finally! A creativity advice book that’s grounded in scientific research.”

Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, professor at Claremont Graduate University and author of Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience

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