Jack's Notebook, a business novel about creative problem solving, by Gregg Fraley

by Gregg Fraley
(Three Oaks, Michigan, USA)

Genre: "Business Motivation" or "Business Fable" is the trade classification -- but in reality it's a self-empowerment fable destined to become a classic of that genre. Endorsed by creativity maven Julia Cameron, author of The Artists Way. Author Gregg Fraley is an internationally recognized creativity and innovation expert.

Published in April 2007 by Thomas Nelson, 242 pages.

Synopsis: Jack Huber is a down on his luck 20-something who can't get much started in his life, he works two dead end jobs, and struggles to pay bills. He lives alone and is feeling hopeless when a chance encounter with Manny Gibran is the start of things turning around. Manny is a creative problem solving consultant, and he uses a method called CPS to resolve difficult business and personal challenges. Manny gets Jack thinking about his dreams and he teaches him ways to solve his problems with his own creative ideas. Soon enough Jack has quit his jobs and has a photography business started, and, he meets the girl of his dreams. Things go pear shaped when his girl disappears. Manny and Jack then use creative problem solving to resolve the many challenges put in front of them in a thriller style story.

The method Manny teaches Jack, "CPS" is a very effective and time proven process for solving complicated challenges. Originally invented by Alex Osborn in the 1940's it started the brainstorming trend. Until this book was written CPS was mainly used by big companies to develop new products and services, and the training was expensive and hard to get. Jack's Notebook teaches this method in a very easily digestible way, and shows how appropriate it is to use for personal as well as business challenges.

Comments/Reviews: This book has a near perfect score of about 4.8 on Amazon (out of 5). Readers and reviewers say it's a page turner, hard to put down, involving and highly effective in teaching creative problem solving. It is as far from a typical business book as one can find, one reviewer Nick Dragisic of The Business Ledger wrote: "This is one of the best business books I have read, although I have a hard time classifying it as a business book. Jack’s Notebook is a unique, gripping tale of intrigue. It is a novel, a story and along the way reveals how to structure the creative thinking process that every business needs. I think business people and non-business people will enjoy the book.

For more information on the book, go to Gregg Fraley's website and blog: www.greggfraley.com