A project of The Non-Obvious Company

Best Books Roundups

The Best Books On
Creativity &
Innovation

Non-obvious thinking begins with seeing what others miss. From more than 800 books honored across a decade of the Non-Obvious Book Awards, these are the ones we most recommend on creativity and innovation: where ideas come from, how to champion them inside organizations that resist them, and why the most original thinkers see the world differently.

*This list does not include books published in 2026, which are currently under review as part of our 2026 awards program.

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Make Art by Nishant Jain — book cover
2025 · Longlist

Make Art

by Nishant Jain

The artist behind SneakyArt makes the case that creativity is a practice, not a talent. Drawing the world around you, he argues, changes how you see everything in it.

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The Genius Myth by Helen Lewis — book cover
2025 · Shortlist

The Genius Myth

by Helen Lewis

Journalist Helen Lewis gleefully dismantles the myth of the lone genius, showing how our worship of brilliant individuals shortchanges the teams and conditions that actually produce great work.

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Imagination by Ruha Benjamin — book cover
2024 · Shortlist

Imagination

by Ruha Benjamin

Princeton professor Ruha Benjamin argues that imagination is a muscle for collective change, and that the futures we build begin with the ones we dare to picture.

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Awaken Your Genius by Ozan Varol — book cover
2023 · Longlist

Awaken Your Genius

by Ozan Varol

Rocket scientist turned law professor Ozan Varol offers a guide to shedding borrowed thinking, unlearning conformity and recovering the original thinker you started out as.

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How to Host a Viking Funeral by Kyle Scheele — book cover
2022 · Shortlist

How to Host a Viking Funeral

by Kyle Scheele

Kyle Scheele asked strangers for the regrets and crazy ideas they wanted to release, then burned 20,000 of them in a cardboard Viking ship. A joyful experiment in creative permission.

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How Design Makes the World by Scott Berkun — book cover
2020 · Shortlist

How Design Makes the World

by Scott Berkun

Scott Berkun reveals the invisible design decisions behind everything you touch, and gives you the vocabulary to see the made world with fresh eyes.

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Alchemy by Rory Sutherland — book cover
2019 · Shortlist

Alchemy

by Rory Sutherland

Ogilvy vice chairman Rory Sutherland celebrates ideas that make no logical sense but work anyway, and explains why the opposite of a good idea can be another good idea.

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Loonshots by Safi Bahcall — book cover
2019 · Shortlist

Loonshots

by Safi Bahcall

Physicist and entrepreneur Safi Bahcall explains why organizations kill their wildest ideas, and the structures that let loonshots survive long enough to change the world.

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The Creative Curve by Allen Gannett — book cover
2018 · Longlist

The Creative Curve

by Allen Gannett

Allen Gannett punctures the inspiration myth with data, showing that creative hits follow a learnable curve between the familiar and the novel.

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Imagine It Forward by Beth Comstock — book cover
2018 · Longlist

Imagine It Forward

by Beth Comstock

Former GE vice chair Beth Comstock delivers a candid account of championing change inside a giant company, and what it takes to give new ideas room in old institutions.

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Fifty Inventions That Shaped the Modern Economy by Tim Harford — book cover
2017 · Most Entertaining Winner

Fifty Inventions That Shaped the Modern Economy

by Tim Harford

Tim Harford turns the history of innovation into an addictive tour of fifty world-changing inventions, from barbed wire to the barcode. Our Most Entertaining Book of 2017.

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Hit Makers by Derek Thompson — book cover
2017 · Shortlist

Hit Makers

by Derek Thompson

Derek Thompson decodes the science of popularity: why some creations catch on while equally good ones vanish, and what making a hit really requires.

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Messy by Tim Harford — book cover
2016 · Most Original Winner

Messy

by Tim Harford

Tim Harford builds a counterintuitive case for disorder, showing why messiness, disruption and improvisation are so often the raw ingredients of creativity. Our Most Original Book of 2016.

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Originals by Adam Grant — book cover
2016 · Shortlist

Originals

by Adam Grant

Adam Grant on how non-conformists move the world: when to trust your instincts, how to champion new ideas, and why originality can be cultivated.

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Wonderland by Steven Johnson — book cover
2016 · Shortlist

Wonderland

by Steven Johnson

Steven Johnson’s delightful history of play, showing how amusement, games and wonder have quietly driven many of history’s biggest breakthroughs.

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The Doodle Revolution by Sunni Brown — book cover
2014/15 · Most Original Winner

The Doodle Revolution

by Sunni Brown

Sunni Brown reclaims doodling as a serious thinking tool for problem solving and idea generation. Our Most Original Book of 2014.

Buy AmazonBuy LocalAll 2014/15 Winners →

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