Hi Renee: I am currently working on a project regarding innovation for the completion of my bachelor's degree. You article was just the source I was looking for! Thank you!

I thought some of these ideas might interest you and your colleagues. http://longislandideafactory.blogspot.com/ Thanks.

How can one get a copy of the presentation you refer to?

Toronto, Canada's quirky popsters Barenaked Ladies were never ones to follow a trend. They were more interested in making someone laugh than being astute and serious.barenaked lady ticketMost of all, a friendship consumed this band and that bond cemented their place in alternative rock. Teenage friends Ed Robertson and Steven Page found themselves laughing at the innocent and child-like term "barenaked lady" while attending a Bob Dylan concert in 1988.

Bipolars are really creative but they have many weaknesses also

Thank you for this book review. It sounds quite interesting, and we're always looking for more ways to solve problems creatively. We'll add it to our summer reading list!

I thought the remarks made by one Heather Rainwater were strangely cold and disturbing. I'm not going to get into the validity or non validity of what she said, but how she said it was revealing.

"Unfortunately, the previous poster, Melissa Frost, has demonstrated this very clearly in her entirely unclear post. If she were a non-native English-speaker, or 9 years old, the difficulty of reading her paragraph would be acceptable. However, she makes claims she cannot possibly back up, such as the idea that the mentally ill use more of their brain than the mentally sane. Additionally, at near-adulthood, she writes with all the linguistic acuity of a child. Perhaps if she had not had to suffer her mental illnesses, she would have advanced more normally. " That's somewhat rude, I suppose. I suffer from a severe form of bipolar disorder, or manic depression. I'm 20, and have had it since I was 12. The negative aspect of the 'disease' being my attendance and inconsistancy during school. Despite doing terrible in high school, and having missed 90 days or so a year due to crippling depression, I still have a top 1% IQ and could easily join Mensa. I constantly formulate economic principles and devise political philosophies, and I'm an exceptional artist. Mania increases creativity as assuredly as depression limits creativity. They are, after all, opposites. You say mania kills inhibition? Well good, a lack of inhibition is necessary while being creative. Inhibition prevents a direct link between the subconscious and the brush, pen, or instrument. All I can say is that when I'm manic, everything works. I'll draw a figure in 30 seconds that would take me 30 minutes to draw in a depressive state. The mind is receptive to all sorts of possibilities, and the trained mind should be able to work effectively with minimal inhibition. The moral of the story is: Don't formulate opinions based off of anecdotal evidence. I could give a list of famous authors, poets, composers, and artists with manic depression that would make your head spin, and I fully intend to add myself to the ranks.

Broadcast, Watch and participate in Supernova 2007 using http://www.blogTV.com/supernova/

"I also wonder if specific training in creativity skills might help bipolar people whose symptoms don't currently manifest themselves as the more positive creative traits. Perhaps if they knew what to do with their innate creativity, these folks would be able to live more on the positive than the negative side of creativity." De-mystifying the creative process, removing the fear that the ability to be creative might disappear when stable, broadening ones knowledge - and anchoring it in solid academic ground; these are things that I believe can help. The result is that ideas are better and they can be explained easier by reference to other creatives / creative acts. Often creative acts are made when communication is difficult - so called outsideer art bears witness to this. Teaching communication skills would help the bi-polar but perhaps reduce their need to produce artifacts which have come to be known as 'artworks.' The blurring of boundaries between outsider art and the mainstream and the perpetuation of the mad genius myth is in my opinion, not a healthy one. Being able to gauge you moods, and deal with your own thoughts while being aware of the influence of your mood in your thoughts helps. RE leaders: Winston Churchill was bi-polar. I am not sure that bi polars make the most best creative leaders: more like the 'i know best' type.

Thanks Rene. If you judge a post by the quality of its comments, you are up there with the greats. I've missed your earlier posts by will be taking a further look at them. There's been a shift from the old 'creativity and madness close allied' view over the last decade or so. Eysenck among others have researched and written on the subject. There is still a lot to be done, with advocates of 'positive thinking' for enhancing creativity, and critics still doing battle. There is another connection which I'm finding interesting, in creativity as it applies to leadership, both positive and 'the dark side'. I'd welcome you and your great discussants to join in. http://leaderswedeserve.wordpress.com/2007/06/02/what-is-creative-leadership/ Thanks and best wishes

I am a creativity researcher and the author, most recently, of GROUP GENIUS (Basic Books, June 2007). I have recently added your a link to your blog on my blog page, and would be honored if you would link to mine: http://keithsawyer.wordpress.com Also you might enjoy the book's web site: http://www.groupgenius.net

I agree with your statement that the article uses the words interchangeably and other articles do the same. There is not a clear model for the acceptance of products in an international environment. Acceptance and Diffusion are two separate processes that are influenced by culture. A product that is not accepted will not experience diffusion. The acceptance can be influence at different levels and presents the basis for a diffusion process.

Bipolar people are known to be hypersexual as well as creative. Sex is used as a self-medication for high energy we feel

Bipolars are extremely creative. It´s ashame in our closed-minded society this creativity is not tapped. avidsaver.com/tqt

I Think in bussines culture is a problem to do money :P

I think to creat swat teams or support varied innovation will not resolve any problem ; while the big country don t stop there co2 . i will study an environnment engenering . so i will be very happy to put me on all news thanks

I believe that the word "blue ocean strategy" is used to say everything...it's a way of saying to show out culture in to define something to which nobody has been thinked until at that moment...I believe that kim E MAUOBORGNE will not be happy!!

Jack's Notebook; seems a note worthy read for any business savvy individual. While reading your post I couldn't help but have another well thought out business book come to mind. I was fortunate enough to come across a copy of a new book- The Enlightened CEO: How to Succeed at the Toughest Job in Business. This book is genius for people who are CEO's or plan on making it that far in their career. The authors really focus on how to approach being a CEO and making decisions in all aspects of your business to truly succeed. If you are business savvy, I encourage you to read a copy of the Enlightened CEO; the book is a relaxed read and just flows the whole way through. I included the link below to the book; I read somewhere that it is only available online. I really feel that Jack's Notebook and the Enlightened CEO, are two books that shed light on to the business world and those who really want to achieve. http://www.amazon.com/Enlightened-CEO-Succeed-Toughest-Business/dp/1934380105/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1/002-3343959-8055254?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1175279849&sr=8-1

I think a dangerous classification of bipolar people away from normal people has occurred. A so called normal person does not have the right to analyze a bipolar person because there are much more pushing matters with people that cause harm considered as normal that have not yet been classified as having a disorder due to the lack of scientific advances. I envy people who don't rationalize anything they do because it would be a simpler world if I could do that and a few others could as well, though society would progress even slower as well her unanswered questions that need to be addressed in order for science to advance for all of our sakes.

does bipolar disorder account for my lack of revision for about a week now when I really want to succeed evident by how much revision i did prior? it just seems so difficult to do the normal things in life. even now i question whether i am bipolar because people say it is linked with intelligence, but though i am creative sporadically i never feel intelligent. I mean it evens itself out. One day I feel intelligent and the next i feel like everything i hoped for has evaporated either because i don't continue something like revision or because i have lost the inspiration through over thinking about it. It sucks to be me and everyone knows that. my first recollection of being bipolar was when my dad said to me you are either too frivolous or too serious and i was preteen. does that mean by now I've lost all my creativity as I'm 20. should i just give up as i don't want to take drugs for bipolar disorder or is there a possibility that I am not bipolar? I suppose comment like that bring me down all the time more and more regularly. Memories of paste experiences bring me down and people's comments about me when I was fat and hugely unattractive and disliked but more importantly myself.

I agree with you and your views. I work very closely with bi-polar challenged persons and I have found they are remarkable in the way they deal with life and their outlook on life. I am a big believer in persons developing skills towards life and this article just confirms my beliefs. Thank you TerryG http://www.psychic-aus.com

good article...visualization software often times requires too much effort to get going...this was very helpful

Renee, what this article fails to mention is that there are different levels of bipolar disorder, and rapid cycling bipolar is more debilitating. The mood swings for rapid cycling bipolar are violent, from extreme highs to extreme lows. In some cases the extreme highs cause, but are not limited to auditory hallucinations, and delusions of grandeur. Then you have literally the polar opposite, where the person rarely reaches a manic episode, but rather is more often in the depressive and hypomania stages. I absolutely agree with you that people with bipolar disorder are more creative and psychiatrists will tell you that all day long. The underlying problem is keeping the person in a "Goldie locks" area. If symptoms are too severe suffers are too debilitated to have the clarity to be brilliant, or maybe mainstream society fails to see the logic in their thinking. Let's keep in mind how many scientists and mathematicians have been shunned, have been called quacks, but they end up proving themselves in the end. Albert Einstein would stay up deprived of sleep for days at a time when working on his theories, and was notoriously moody. If you read any books on Einstein or his writings it clearly reflects that he suffered from bipolar disorder. Another example is Leonardo Davinci, clearly bipolar if you know the symptoms and read anything about him. People, who suffer from bipolar disorder, and other mental illness, definitely have the ability to see out of the box when others fail. All you have to do is visit an art museum to prove that point. Read William Blake, study his art, or do some research. Also clearly bipolar and pointed out in one of his writings that dead stars create new stars. It wasn’t even proven until recently and he wasn’t a scientist. Pretty shocking. As for the person who posted on May 9th, your level of disinformation shocks me. Anyone from a hospital will tell you they see more mental patients based on lunar activity, there have been books written on it, and it dates back B.C. It even effects the oceans movement. If it affects something as big as an ocean, wouldn’t it have the ability to affect a person? Obviously its pull is astronomical. But I guess you would actually have to get out of that box and read all different types books and data to come to a rational conclusion. This woman’s e-mail was completely coherent to me, and just because you lack the ability or willingness to try to understand where she is coming from does not make her at a nine year olds level. If you look at children, they are consistently clearer, open minded, and creative compared to adults, so now I actually think you gave her a compliment. Personal attacks like that are frightening, narrow minded, and fall under the category of Aristotle's "Logical Fallacies". Finally, in defense of the articles writer, you don't have to be a doctor or have a career astrophysics to figure out people with bipolar tend to be bright. All you have to do is be bright enough to pick up all types of books, look at art, and do research.

Thank you for your artical; I found it very interesting. I have suffered from depression and mania since I was 10--I'm now 36. I was offically diagnosed less than a year ago. I have always been creative and have always thought that I was more creative than most people. I have an ability to think outside the box and sometimes see what becomes obvious but cannot be seen by most because it is too simple. I am a creative business owner and an Interior Designer. I am able to see things in a space that most cannot see. Now I would like to say that there are many Interior Designers that are great and not bipolar. I think the point is that people with this disorder have a propensity to think outside the box, not that we are any more special than those who don't have this disorder and I think alot of us get pretty crazy with "thinking outside the box". Well I say hats off to some part of this illness-hats off to thinking outside the box-those without this illness and think that there is no creative component to it perhaps feel threatened on some level as they may be lacking in something and do not want to think that they are at a genetic disadvantage to someone. You no all of us who are bipolar would give love, love to not have this illness--can we at least find something positive about it? Really! Stay Steady April