Want to learn the ideas in How to Fly A Horse better than ever? Read the world’s #1 book summary of How to Fly A Horse by Kevin Ashton here.

Read a brief 1-Page Summary or watch video summaries curated by our expert team. Note: this book guide is not affiliated with or endorsed by the publisher or author, and we always encourage you to purchase and read the full book.

Video Summaries of How to Fly A Horse

We’ve scoured the Internet for the very best videos on How to Fly A Horse, from high-quality videos summaries to interviews or commentary by Kevin Ashton.

1-Page Summary of How to Fly A Horse

Overall Summary

This book talks about the creative process in business and other fields. The author has been a successful businessman, so his credibility is high. He believes that creativity is involved in most things we do, including art and medicine.

Ashton’s main point is that creativity is a natural part of being human. It’s not reserved for special people, but can be learned by anyone who works hard at it. People often think of creativity as something magical or mystical, when in fact it simply results from thinking processes that everyone has available to them.

The writer of this passage makes use of scientific research and stories throughout his book to explain how people actually come up with great ideas. The author debunks myths, such as Mozart’s musical ability or Einstein’s theory of relativity, by examining their work processes instead. According to the author, every potential creative genius goes through many steps to produce their masterpiece—evaluate a situation, solve problems, repeat—and this can be seen in almost any person who produces an impressive idea or momentous work. That kind of creativity is no different from what one sees in everyday life and normal jobs and activities; it is really just taking lessons learned from those daily routines and applying them wherever needed for creative thinking.

The book starts with the author’s main thesis about creativity. He then talks about other aspects of the creative process, like failure and how experts and beginners view problems differently.

Ashton also talks about the importance of recognizing that creation is a group effort. He uses specific examples to show how no one creates in isolation, and we all rely on the work of others who came before us. Therefore, giving credit for discoveries and inventions seems misguided. We are all contributing to a continuum of ideas, borrowing some while passing on others. Another important issue he addresses is whether creating has negative consequences or not. Ashton acknowledges that bad things may result from new ideas or inventions but argues that most times it’s hard to predict this beforehand, so when they do happen our best response is to solve the problem through more creation because creation is what humans do.

Preface: “The Myth”

This Preface starts with a story about Mozart. A letter he supposedly wrote claimed that his musical compositions came to him in their entirety, and all he had to do was write them down. It turned out that the letter was a forgery; real letters from Mozart said otherwise. Ashton calls the notion that only certain people are creative “the creativity myth.” He admits believing in this myth at one time.

He writes that his early career was frustrating because he wasn’t able to be creative. However, when he worked on a project in which he needed to keep track of lipstick inventory, it changed his perspective. He used the Internet and radio microchips to solve the problem, but then realized that being creative is work rather than magic.

Chapter 1: “Creating Is Ordinary”

The author argues that creating is not rare and special, but rather common to everyone. However, it was only recently recognized as a skill that can be taught and learned. The United States did not begin granting patents until 1790, when the first patent office opened in Washington DC. Since then six million different people have received a patent (the rate has clearly increased over time). This proves that “Creating is not for an elite few”.

On the other hand, creation is everywhere. This idea originated in the Renaissance and continued until recently. In fact, advances in neuroscience have shown that creating is like solving problems. Allen Newell was one of the first to promote this idea, and Robert Weisberg continued it by saying “creative thinking” isn’t different from regular thinking—it’s just a creative outcome.