The “Lone Genius” innovation myth holds that great breakthroughs come from individual geniuses working alone, equipped only with insight. Alas, that myth doesn’t stand up to examination. The lone genius camp favors Henry Ford and Steve Jobs as prime examples. They love to quote Henry Ford saying that » Read More
Category: Innovation
When a team member brings you an idea
Ideas are the raw materials of innovation Innovation is the key to competitive success, but innovation is an end product. Ideas are the raw materials that are combined and modified to produce innovation. If you want great innovation you have to start by getting as many ideas as possible. That should be easy. Why many ideas » Read More
Learning about innovation from Mr. Edison and his phonograph
Most people think of Thomas Edison as a lone inventor and marketing genius. But history teaches different lessons. Here are some from Edison’s invention of the phonograph. Not so “lone” after all Edison was no “lone” inventor. He set up the prototype of the modern industrial laboratory. He » Read More
“What’s the answer?” is the wrong question
If you really want innovation, you have to get your head out of school. In school, every problem had a single solution and every question had a single answer. In real life that rarely happens. In real life, sometimes there are no right answers, only intelligent choices. Other times there will be lots of things that » Read More
Failure as prototype
Business Week asked James Dyson how he deals with failure. I loved his answer. “I mean, 99 percent of my life is failure, because we’re building prototypes all the time. We’re trying out ideas, and they all fail. You then have to try and make it work, and that requires hundreds or thousands of » Read More