Gottlieb Guntern - Böcker

The Spirit of Creativity is a systemic study of human creativity. It offers a fascinating visual model of the creative process consisting of four major stages: stage I, the interplay of chaos and order; stage II, creative production; stage III, cultural selection; stage IV, morpho-evolution and morpho-elimination of created products and forms. The author analyzes the seven phases (germination, inspiration, preparation, incubation, illumination, elaboration and evaluation) of stage II, leading from a vague hunch to a product meeting the criteria of creativity. A vast number of examples, taken from all continents and various cultures as well as from art, technology and science and other fields of human endeavor, illustrate how cultural recognition and rejection influence the creative processes of individuals and teams. The author demonstrates the tremendous impact of the Mongol Empire, the Silk Road, and the medieval Muslim golden age on the origin of the European Renaissance.

The Spirit of Creativity is a systemic study of human creativity. It offers a fascinating visual model of the creative process consisting of four major stages: stage I, the interplay of chaos and order; stage II, creative production; stage III, cultural selection; stage IV, morpho-evolution and morpho-elimination of created products and forms. The author analyzes the seven phases (germination, inspiration, preparation, incubation, illumination, elaboration and evaluation) of stage II, leading from a vague hunch to a product meeting the criteria of creativity. A vast number of examples, taken from all continents and various cultures as well as from art, technology and science and other fields of human endeavor, illustrate how cultural recognition and rejection influence the creative processes of individuals and teams. The author demonstrates the tremendous impact of the Mongol Empire, the Silk Road, and the medieval Muslim golden age on the origin of the European Renaissance.

When this book was first published in German, it topped Switzerland’s non-fiction bestseller list. Now available in English, In the Sign of the Butterfly asks why natural selection eliminated the gigantic dinosaur from the game of evolution some 65 million years ago, yet the delicate butterfly, which already existed at the time, continues to survive. Gottlieb Guntern’s conclusion: the dinosaur based its survival strategy on a maximization of body weight and size, while the butterfly responded flexibly when faced with drastic changes in environmental conditions. This takes the author to the core issue of the book: the basic leadership failures that typify present-day society. His diagnosis rings ever truer in the course of recent events: leadership failures are symptoms of a deep-seated illness — a spiritual crisis. Our greedy society has forgotten how to adapt as it attempts to survive in the sign of the dinosaur. Guntern shows us how to learn from the butterfly and succeed in abandoning the dino-strategy of maximizing single variables. There is no question that wanting to be bigger, faster, richer, more ruthless, and more powerful, with no thought of the consequences, is mindless and dangerous — a perfect prescription for doom.