Let the Elephants Run

April 20, 2015
Usher's debut is a guidebook to help readers awaken their own creativity. Best known for his career as rock musician, Usher also runs a company called CloudID Creativity Labs, which has furthered his knowledge of the creative process in a multi-disciplinary way. He strongly believes that creativity is a crucial part of our modern world, shaping many things beyond what is typically considered artistic endeavours. With a conversational style, he aims to help readers overcome self-doubt, connect with their own innate abilities and passions, and then put their ideas into motion. Each chapter outlines a creativity-related concept, often something gleaned from other artists, authors, and innovators. The reader is encouraged to follow through with a corresponding action item to break out of old habits and patterns and discover fresh ways of thinking and doing. The design invites marginalia, and Usher asks readers to draw, dream, and explore as they read. The entire book is also visually stunning, with beautifully chosen photos, typography, and graphics throughout. Combining hard data and personal experience, Usher offers inspiration and a clear map to creativity.

June 15, 2015

Musician and tech entrepreneur Usher makes his living being creative and is highly successful. It's wrong to think that just some people are born artistic, says the author; we all are original, but it's easier to believe that you lack talent than to take on the challenge of harnessing it. Featuring highly relatable language and many stories from Usher's own accomplishments, short chapters describe how to reconnect with the imagination you enjoyed as a young child, or bring the inventiveness you use in one area of your life to bear on other endeavors. Usher's advice will be familiar to self-help readers, but his book adds welcome, concrete tips that are often missing from other books in that genre. He recommends various approaches to getting out of a rut and seeing things differently--everything from making your coffee in a different way to taking a hard look at your business. He suggests that readers develop a routine and a ritual and allow a half hour for innovation each day. Reading and writing are essential habits, Usher maintains, as are sometimes unpalatable-to-artists ideas such as imposing a deadline on yourself. He closes with a useful case study: his process for writing this book. VERDICT An enjoyable read with many easy-to-implement tips; this is just the right length for would-be creators, whether their project is a painting, a book, or a new way of doing business.--Henrietta Verma, Library Journal

Copyright 2015 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.