Intuition, Creativity and the 'Intelligent Unconscious'

Hare Brain, Tortoise Mind

My most successful book to date, critically and commercially, is Hare Brain, Tortoise Mind: Why Intelligence Increases When You Think Less (Fourth Estate, UK, 1997, HarperPerennial, USA, 1999). It brought together for the first time a wide range of scientific evidence for the existence of 'the intelligent unconscious'. Very different from the wild, subversive unconscious of the Freudians, I showed that most of our everyday intelligence belongs not to the screen of consciousness but to the invisible 'motherboard' behind it.

'Just occasionally I get the feeling that somebody has said something important', said John Cleese, speaking of my work, in an interview in Newsweek . Together Cleese and I developed a video based on the book to help managers use their minds better (but sadly production money ran out before we could start filming. Dawn French was slated to play the 'hare' and Hugh Laurie the 'tortoise').

Be Creative

'So what?', people said, who wanted more practical advice about how to make use of their unconscious resources. So Bill Lucas and I wrote a very practical book in 2003 called Be Creative: Essential Steps to Revitalize Your Work and Life , published by BBC Books. Bill was founding Chief Executive of the Campaign for Learning, and is now much in demand as a consultant on creativity and learning to learn (see his website www.bill-lucas.com ).

For my latest book on the history of the unconscious, The Wayward Mind , go to News

Recent Development on the Intelligent Unconscious: Creativity, Wisdom, Intuition, Management and the Arts

The idea that there is more to ‘thinking’ than just working things out rationally is proving attractive and fruitful in a number of areas.

A number of people are exploring the concept of wisdom, and how it goes beyond mere ‘thinking’. I am editing a book with Howard Gardner and Anna Craft called Creativity and Wisdom in Education (Corwin Press 2007) that develops this line of inquiry
People in the business work are getting very interested in intuition. I gave a big public lecture on the subject to business leaders in New Zealand in November 2006. And I have a chapter titled ‘Beyond Cleverness: How to Be Smart Without Thinking’ in Jane Henry’s book Creative Management and Development (Sage 2006)
Creative practitioners in the performing arts rely a lot on intuition. I have been working with a group at the Centre for Research into Creation in the Performing Arts, ResCen, at Middlesex University, to develop their ideas, and these are now published in a book called Navigating the Unknown: The Creative Process in Contemporary Performing Arts (2006, see www.rescen.mdx.ac.uk). My chapter is called ‘Creative Glide Space’.

For courses and presentations, go to Contact and Booking.