The problem with this book is that it is so reasonably priced. I will explain why that’s a problem, but first let me summarise the book’s contents. This is not – mercifully – yet one more book about how to have creative ideas. Rather it is about what to do with those ideas once you’ve had them. Anne Miller – an inventor with 39 patents to her credit - guides the reader through the typical processes by which ideas come to be adopted. There are two main types of process – the internal (creators’ own practices) and the external (other people’s reception of – or rather resistance to – new ideas).

Creators need to understand three things – that resistance to creativity is normal, that the very personality traits that make people creative might make them less suited to persuading others to adopt their ideas, and that it is not enough for an idea to be creative: it also needs to fulfil a demand.

Anne Miller

Though this account of ‘internal’ processes is interesting, it’s Miller’s description of the ‘external’ processes of that I find particularly illuminating. She argues that the diffusion of a creative idea typically runs through four stages. First, ‘blindness’: people seem wilfully to avoid seeing the idea at all. Next comes the ‘frozen’ stage: people find excuses for not actually responding to the idea; only when we get to the third (i.e. ‘interested’) stage do people genuinely start to explore and engage with the new idea; after which, finally, we may reach the stage where people are ready to integrate the idea into their work. For each stage Miller suggests ways to hasten adoption.

The problem with the price is that we might not take the book seriously enough. Publishing at 100 times the price and calling a consultancy report, rather than a book, would have given it more gravitas.

Can one really spend less than twenty pounds and just a few hours reading – it’s pleasantly light read – and come away with anything of genuine value to one’s business? Well, in the case of this book, which is both wise and original, yes, one can.