Artistry Unleashed: A Guide to Pursuing Great Performance in Work and Life

"In a world suffocating in data, Artistry Unleashed is a breath of fresh air. Hilary Austen shows how mastery in the arts depends on connoisseurship, judgment, and "feel."

Sir Ken Robinson, educator; New York Times bestselling author of The Element: How Finding Your Passion Changes Everything

‘Here is the big idea: The new MBA is an MFA. Artistry Unleashed could be the most important business book you’ll ever read."

Alan M. Webber, co-founder, Fast Company magazine; author of Rules of Thumb: 52 Truths for Winning at Business without Losing Your Self

"No one ever marveled at the 'science of leadership'; great leadership is about developing great judgment. Hilary Austen's brilliant book helped me to see that it is the 'art of leadership' that will lead in the 21st century."

Chip Conley, CEO Joie De Vivre Hotels and author of 'PEAK'

"When artists create art, it is usually perceived as a kind of sorcery that a more left-brained person might appreciate, dismissing their own ability to make the same kind of magic. To remedy this divide, Austen has produced an elegant volume that connects the quantitative world of business with the qualitative world of artists. Not the usual "7 secrets of a leader" you'd normally find in the business section, this book provides important new tools in an incredibly digestible form."

John Maeda, President, Rhode Island School of Design

"We’re all artists now. That’s the urgent aspiration at the heart of this provocative, rigorous, and profoundly important exploration of work as art. This is not a liberal arts extracurricular. It goes right to the heart of the most vital ambitions of leaders today." Polly LaBarre, co-author of Mavericks at Work; editorial director, Management Innovation eXchange

"Artistry Unleashed makes a compelling case for the role of artistry in our lives – from how we work to how we live. Clear, entertaining, and eminently readable, Austen’s book belongs on the bedside table of anyone engaged in creative work, but also of anyone interested in bringing artistry into unexpected parts of their lives."

Richard Florida, author of The Rise of the Creative Class and Who’s Your City?

"Artistry in business? At first glance an odd, even uncomfortable, pairing of concepts, but Austen shows us how it’s done. She unpacks the experience of artistry and gives us an insightful glimpse into how a diverse group of accomplished practitioners simultaneously produce excellence and fulfillment at work."

Amy C. Edmondson, Novartis Professor of Leadership and Management, Harvard Business School

"Don’t just read this book, use it. Now that capturing and transferring the capabilities of our most experienced, skillful, and innovative people are critical, this book delivers. It will radically change how we learn within organizations."

Bill Underwood, Director of Organizational Development, Granite Construction

"We all know there’s something more to life and to work than what our analytic, quantitative way of thinking tells us – this way of thinking fails to address the messy side of life, our best laid plans fail, and our most rigorous judgments turn out to be mistakes. But we lack what Austen offers: a language for talking about qualities and a conceptual map for developing the ability to think collectively and systematically in more qualitative terms. For those of us who aspire to excellence outside the arts, it is a godsend."

Diana McLain Smith, author of Divide or Conquer