New Book Redefines Innovation: The Innovative Mindset Imparts Set of Behaviors That Can Transform How We Act

MINNEAPOLIS, Oct. 14, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- When the curtain goes up, improvisational comedy actors step into their roles as master innovators, working without a script. For the past 15 years, John Sweeney and Elena Imaretska have shared those razor-sharp improv-based behaviors and skills with hundreds of top companies, demonstrating how living in the mindset of discovery can ignite a culture of innovation.

Photo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20151013/276589

Photo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20151013/276590

And now they've explored those critical behaviors in The Innovative Mindset: 5 Behaviors for Accelerating Breakthroughs (ISBN: 978-1-119-16128-8; Wiley; Oct. 26, 2015; $25), which reevaluates the nature of innovation as a set of behaviors you cultivate – rather than a corporate-defined initiative or inflexible theory.

The book details how embracing and practicing the improv actor's mindset of discovery can transform how you act, and lead to significant productivity and profitability in your professional and personal lives. For more information, visit www.johnsweeney.co/books.

Sweeney, an innovation behaviorist, speaker and author, is also the owner of the Brave New Workshop Comedy Theatre in Minneapolis, America's oldest comedy theater. Years ago, he and his team – including Brave New Workshop vice president Imaretska – began sharing the skills and behaviors of improvisational theater with companies worldwide. Since then, Sweeney has become one of the most sought-after keynote speakers and trainers in the world, honing his experience in improvisation to ignite cultures of innovative behavior within America's biggest businesses, including Microsoft, PWC, General Mills and UnitedHealth Group.

In The Innovative Mindset, Sweeney and Imaretska use their scientific understanding of how human behavior is influenced and improv expertise to create simple but groundbreaking tools and behaviors to spark innovation and transform organizations. The authors introduce the "Big 5" behaviors designed to accelerate breakthroughs – listening, deferring judgment, reframing, declaring and jumping in.

The Innovative Mindset: 5 Behaviors for Accelerating Breakthroughs is filled with real-world examples of innovative behavior by everyone from progressive mayors to insurance company execs to Benedictine nuns. This groundbreaking text helps you identify what you need to do in order to become more innovative and less fearful, and assists in creating a regimen that transforms how you act.

"An innovative mindset is the key to a happier, more productive, stronger life in and outside of the workplace," says Marcus Buckingham, New York Times bestselling author and founder and chairman of TMBC. "This book is a great guide for anyone seeking to behave in a way that transcends fear and fuels progress."

"If anyone can help you change your mindset, it's the team of John Sweeney and Elena Imaretska. Through their work with the Brave New Workshop, they break the barriers of innovation and fearlessness," says Harvey Mackay, author of the #1 New York Times bestseller Swim With The Sharks Without Being Eaten Alive.

Contact:
Brian Bellmont, Bellmont Partners 
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SOURCE Brave New Workshop