Short Review for ADDexecs

Since childhood I’ve had lots of creativity, but it often seemed more curse than blessing. Can I bring it back in a way that brings me joy as an adult – as part of my working world, and more importantly, as part of me?!

If this sounds like you, consider A.D.D. and Creativity: Tapping Your Inner Muse by Lynn Weiss, PhD. Chapter 10, Overcoming Practical Problems, addresses issues like self-discipline, self-honesty, organization, and negotiation that are relevant in career management for creative souls. Chapter 11, Making a Living with Your Creativity , addresses the greatest hope for creative ADDexecs – getting paid for the daily act of invention. Chapters 1 through 9 focus on the relationship of ADD and creativity, the suppression of creativity in both childhood and adulthood, and ways to recapture the lost creative spirit.

ADDexec Relevance

For an ADDexec who only wants workplace tips and analysis, the book may be frustrating, because Weiss gives equal time to (1) creativity as something worthy in and of itself and (2) creativity within the context of the workplace. Other books provide much better concrete advice on business organization, working with people, goal-setting and related business topics. Weiss’s book should not be considered a complete coverage for ADD in the working life, even for the ADDexec who wants to make the most of her creativity.

Click below for longer review and excerpts:

However, the book may be a great benefit for the creative adults who are just learning about their ADDultness – especially if they learn well from reading other people’s “stories” instead of from more abstract or general analysis. Weiss’s writing is very personal, and she tells stories from own life and from the lives of many of her clients or other subjects. Chapter 10, Overcoming Practical Problems, does as good a job of any text in illustrating in clear terms how ADD and creativity can challenge the working ADDult, and possible paths through the problems. Chapter 11, Making a Living with Your Creativity offers real stories and diagnostic tools that make more clear both the opportunities and challenges for the ADDult seeking a career in the creative.

Other Good Items

In Chapter 3, The ADD/Creativity Merger, Weiss catalogs many of the similarities between the labels (both good and bad) attached to creative people and people with attention deficit disorder. One of the interesting things is how her list of labels provides an opportunity for an ADDexec to look at their behaviors from different angles: Am I being impulsive or am I being spontaneous? Am I being judgmental or am I exhibiting high standards? Am I being demanding or ambitious? For sure, either “side” of the coin may apply at different times, but Weiss’s catalog of labels makes it easier to see both the breadth of how we may be perceived, and the ways we can choose to perceive ourselves.

Warnings

Weiss is a storyteller, and you get the feeling that her editor wanted the book to feel that way – full of personal stories from her own life and the lives of her friends and clients. This writing style makes for easy comprehension, but it also makes for more writing than you might consider necessary for the lessons learned. If you’re an impatient reader or are averse to the “touchy and feely,” be warned.

Selected quotes:

From Chapter 10, Overcoming Practical Problems:

“Lying about commitments that you don’t, or can’t, follow through on is a common scenario among people with ADD. Maybe you committed to provide twenty paintings for an art show, but then you can’t seem to get them done…Sometimes the commitments aren’t the least bit realistic. But when you want something so bad, you make them anyway—fooling yourself into think you can do it. The need to please is that strong.”

From Chapter 11, Making a Living with Your Creativity:

“Recently, a friend of mine who’s a lot more linear than I am began to think about starting a business. Her first thought was to do a needs assessment of the market…She wanted to know what kind of bottom-line money can be made…

“Knowing my friend, I realize that she will go about the design and implementation of the business in a creative way. She is one of those people who truly lives a creative lifestyle. But she also has a large linear part to her that makes her creatively successful in business. I call her a “bridge person,” because she has, within herself, both creative and strategic-planning capability. I’m glad she’s my friend so I can draw on her skills.”

Also by Lynn Weiss: Attention Deficit Disorder in Adults

This entry was posted on Friday, March 30th, 2007 at 11:24 am and is filed under Reviews -- Books. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.