Warren Berger
Warren Berger (born October 20, 1958) is an American journalist and host of the website "A More Beautiful Question," which is the title of his latest book, published by Bloomsbury in March 2014. Berger has written five other books (two as co-author) [1] and numerous articles, primarily on innovation, design, mass media, and popular culture.[2]
Background
Warren Berger grew up in Whitestone, New York, the youngest of seven children. He graduated from Syracuse University's S. I. Newhouse School of Public Communications in 1980. After working as a newspaper journalist in Dallas, Berger moved back to New York and worked for several years as a magazine editor for CBS.
In 1990, Berger founded his independent writing business, with The New York Times as one of the main outlets for his writing. He wrote a business column for the Sunday Times,[3] and also contributed culture articles regularly to the Arts & Leisure section as well as The New York Times Magazine.[4] His feature stories also appeared in GQ, The Los Angeles Times Magazine, New York magazine, Reader’s Digest, and Business 2.0. He served as a contributing editor at Wired magazine from 1999 to 2001.[5]
Innovation, Advertising, and Design Writing
Simultaneously, Berger pursued his interest in creativity in advertising by writing many articles for Ad Age’s Creativity, Communication Arts, Graphis, and Metropolis. In the mid-1990s, he formed an association with The One Club for Art & Copy, helping them launch the bimonthly publication ONE, about creativity in advertising, and then in 2007 launching the quarterly ONE: DESIGN. In 2001, he wrote the book Advertising Today, published by Phaidon Press. The book was included on Barnes & Noble’s best books of the year list, and was later included in a list of the “50 all time best books about media” compiled by The Independent of London.
Berger’s current project, A MORE BEAUTIFUL QUESTION: The Power of Inquiry to Spark Breakthrough Ideas, (Bloomsbury), is an examination of the ways deep questioning can lead to innovation and change, and how we can get better at doing it in both business and daily life. For the 250-page book, Berger interviewed leaders at dozens of companies such as Google, Netflix, IDEO, and airbnb, as well as hundreds of entrepreneurs, educators, artists, social activists, and basement tinkerers about the role of questioning in their successes.[6] (See reviews[7] and "Best of 2014" list citations[8] for A More Beautiful Question.) Berger’s website "AMoreBeautifulQuestion.com" features hundreds of articles, videos, studies, and links about the powerful role of questioning in business, education, and daily life. Berger also speaks on the topics of innovation and questioning at businesses and conferences around the world.[9]
Berger’s interest in questioning grew out of his 2009 book GLIMMER (published by The Penguin Press in the U.S.; Random House in Canada and Europe),[10] which explored how designers think and innovate. Glimmer took readers behind-the-scenes into studios such as IDEO, Pentagram, and Smart Design, and schools such as Rhode Island School of Design (RISD) and the Stanford Graduate School of Product Design (the d.school), as well as profiling many international design thinkers including Marianne Cusato, Dean Kamen, Yves Behar, Brian Collins, Paula Scher, Stefan Sagmeister, Tim Brown, and Bruce Mau, who collaborated at length with Berger on the project. The book examines, up-close, the ways in which designers approach problems, utilize unique tools and techniques, and ultimately arrive at solutions, and shows how non-designers can apply these principles in their daily lives.[11]
Berger currently resides in Mount Kisco, New York, with his wife, editor/webmaster Laura E. Kelly.[12]
Book List
Nonfiction
- A More Beautiful Question: The Power of Inquiry to Spark Breakthrough Ideas (2014; Bloomsbury Publishing) (ISBN 978-1620401453)
- CAD Monkeys, Dinosaur Babies, and T-Shaped People: Inside the World of Design Thinking and How It Can Spark Creativity and Innovation (2010; Penguin) (ISBN 978-0143118022) U.S. paperback edition of Glimmer
- Glimmer: How Design Can Transform Your Life and Maybe Even the World. Featuring the ideas and wisdom of design visionary Bruce Mau. (2009; The Penguin Press) (ISBN 978-1594202339)
- Nextville: Amazing Places to Live the Rest of Your Life (2008; Springboard Press); co-author with Barbara Corcoran (ISBN 978-0446178280)
- Hoopla: Crispin Porter + Bogusky (2007; PowerHouse Books) (ISBN 978-1576873120)
- No Opportunity Wasted: 8 Ways to Create a List for the Life You Want (2004; Rodale); co-author with Phil Keoghan of The Amazing Race (ISBN 978-1594864049)
- Advertising Today (2001; Phaidon Press) (ISBN 978-0714843872)
Fiction
- The Purples (2010; Ringer Books) (ISBN 978-0-615-23170-9)
Anthology
The Best Business Stories of the Year (2001; Pantheon) (ISBN 978-0375725005)
Select Article Highlights
- "Find Your Passion with These 8 Thought-Provoking Questions," FastCompany.com, 2014
- "Five Common Questions Leaders Should Never Ask," Harvard Business Review blog, 2014
- "Five Ways to Help Your Students Become Better Questioners," Edutopia.org, 2014
- "A More Beautiful Question: An Interview With Warren Berger", EducationWeek.com, 2014
- "Chasing Beautiful Questions," Spirit (Southwest Airlines) magazine, cover story, April 2014
- "The Five Bold Questions Every Company Should Ask Itself," FastCompany.com, 2013
- "The Secret Phrase Top Innovators Use," Harvard Business Review blog, 2012
- "What Zen Taught Silicon Valley (And Steve Jobs) About Innovation," FastCompany.com, 2012
- "Big Innovations Question the Status Quo. How Do You Ask the Right Questions?," FastCompany.com, 2012
- “The Creator Of TED Aims To Reinvent Conferences Once Again,” Article about Richard Saul Wurman in FastCompany.com, 2012
- “Big Innovations Question the Status Quo. How Do You Ask the Right Questions?,” FastCompany.com, 2011
- “To Innovate, You Need the Courage to Step Backward,” FastCompany.com, 2011
- “The Four Phases of Design Thinking,” Harvard Business Review blog, 2010
- “Me Me Media,” Reader’s Digest, Aug. 2005
- “Daredevils,” Business 2.0, April 2004*“Schwag Bag,” Wired, Jan. 2001
- “Lost in Space,” Wired, Feb. 1999
- “Adventures in the Toy Trade,” Wired, Nov. 1999
- “Life Sucks and Then You Fly,” Wired, Aug. 1999
- “Chaos on Madison Avenue,” Los Angeles Times Magazine, 1999
- “All Right, Who Turned the Advertising World Inside Out?” Los Angeles Times Magazine, 1999
- “Cable in the Court,” New York Magazine, 1991
- “They Know Bo,” The New York Times Magazine, Nov 11, 1990
Notes
- ↑ (http://www.warrenberger.com/books)
- ↑ See multiple links (http://www.warrenberger.com/articles)
- ↑ See links (http://www.warrenberger.com/articles)
- ↑ See links (http://www.warrenberger.com/articles)
- ↑ See links (http://www.warrenberger.com/articles)
- ↑ See full "list of questioners" (http://amorebeautifulquestion.com/what-can-we-learn-from-master-questioners/)
- ↑ Reviews & interviews (http://amorebeautifulquestion.com/newsmedia/)
- ↑ Best of the Year lists (http://amorebeautifulquestion.com/newsmedia/)
- ↑ See WarrenBerger.com speaker’s page (http://warrenberger.com/speaking)
- ↑ Random House Canada catalog (http://www.randomhouse.ca/catalog/display.pperl?isbn=9780307372741)
- ↑ Full description of Glimmer. (http://www.warrenberger.com/warren-bergers-books)
- ↑ WBLK Media "Who We Are" (http://wblkmedia.com/who-we-are)