Hiam has written extensively on business topics ranging from leadership and conflict management to marketing. He is an award-winning author of more than 20 books, including: Vest Pocket CEO, Adventure Careers, Marketing For Dummies, Closing the Quality Gap, and The Manager’s Pocket Guide to Creativity.His newest work, Business Innovation for Dummies (June 2010, Wiley), is a how-to guide that offers practical techniques for stimulating imagination and developing ideas into successful innovations.When he's not writing, Hiam is a sought-after speaker on innovation, creativity and leadership. Thousands of managers - including Fortune 500 and government leaders - have attended his workshops and idea-generation retreats, and relied on his guides: Creativity By Design, Creative Roles Analysis, and The Entrepreneur's Complete Handbook.
Hiam holds a B.A. from Harvard College in anthropology and an MBA in marketing and strategic planning from the University of California, Berkeley. For more than 12 years, he has worked at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst Isenberg School of Management, with additional teaching posts at American International College and Western New England Collage.Today, Hiam is a consultant to a diverse set of clientele. At the U.S. Coast Guard’s Leadership and Management School, he provides assistance with curriculum design for leadership development. His leadership novella, The Starfish Files, is required reading for U.S. Coast Guard leaders. Hiam also provides leadership training to nonprofit and government groups, extending his well-honed innovation principles beyond the private sector for clients ranging from the U.S. Army and U.S. Senate to the City of New York. In the business arena, Hiam's creativity exercises are used by top advertising agencies to help their staff be more open to fresh ideas. His educational publishing company, Trainer’s Spectrum (www.trainersspectrum.com), features assessments, workshops, books, and learning games for team building, leadership, conflict management and other employee development programs. He is also the developer of the Dealing With Conflict Instrument and the Strategic Leadership Type Indicator. His personal Web site is at www.alexhiam.com.