Includes 72 ideas on how to implement innovation into the work culture.

Innovation may be the hottest discipline around today, in business circles and beyond. And for good reason. Innovation transforms companies and markets. It is the key to solving vexing social problems. And it makes or breaks professional careers. For all the enthusiasm the topic inspires, however, the practice of innovation remains stubbornly impenetrable. No longer. In this book the author draws on stories from his research and field work with companies like Procter & Gamble to demystify innovation. He presents a simple definition of innovation, breaks down the essential differences between types of innovation, and illuminates innovation's vital role in organizational success and personal growth. This unique hybrid of professional memoir and business guidebook also provides a powerful 28-day program for mastering innovation's key steps: (1) Finding insight, (2) Generating ideas, (3) Building businesses, and (4) Strengthening innovation prowess in workforces and organizations. Using several illustrative case studies and vignettes from a range of companies around the globe, this playbook teaches people how to turn themselves or their companies into true innovation powerhouses.

The patent system is based on "one-patent-per-product" presumption and therefore fails to sustain complex follow-on innovations that contain a number of patents. The book explains that follow-on innovations may be subject to market failures such as hold-ups and excessive royalties. For decades, scholars have debated whether the market problems can be solved with voluntary licensing i.e., open innovation, or with compulsory liability rules. The book concludes that neither approach is sufficient. On the one hand, incentives to engage in open innovation practices involving patents are insufficient. On the other hand, the existing compulsory liability rules in patent and competition law are not tailored to address follow-on innovator's interests. To transcend this problem, the author proposes a compulsory liability rule against the suppression of follow-on innovation, that paradoxically, fosters early-on voluntary licensing between patent holders and follow-on innovators. The book is aimed at patent and competition law scholars and practitioners, patent attorneys, managers, engineers and economists who either engage in open innovation involving patents or conduct research on the topic. It also offers insights to policy and law-makers reviewing the possibilities to foster open innovation initiatives or adapt the scope of patent remedies or employ compulsory licenses for patents.

In this new paperback edition of the classic bestseller, you'll be taken on a hilarious, fast-paced ride through the history of ideas. Author Scott Berkun will show you how to transcend the false stories that many business experts, scientists, and much of pop culture foolishly use to guide their thinking about how ideas change the world. With four new chapters on putting the ideas in the book to work, updated references and over 50 corrections and improvements, now is the time to get past the myths, and change the world. You'll have fun while you learn: Where ideas come from The true history of history Why most people don't like ideas How great managers make ideas thrive The importance of problem finding The simple plan (new for paperback) Since its initial publication, this classic bestseller has been discussed on NPR, MSNBC, CNBC, and at Yale University, MIT, Carnegie Mellon University, Microsoft, Apple, Intel, Google, Amazon.com, and other major media, corporations, and universities around the world. It has changed the way thousands of leaders and creators understand the world. Now in an updated and expanded paperback edition, it's a fantastic time to explore or rediscover this powerful view of the world of ideas. "Sets us free to try and change the world."--Guy Kawasaki, Author of Art of The Start "Small, simple, powerful: an innovative book about innovation."--Don Norman, author of Design of Everyday Things "Insightful, inspiring, evocative, and just plain fun to read. It's totally great."--John Seely Brown, Former Director, Xerox Palo Alto Research Center (PARC) "Methodically and entertainingly dismantling the cliches that surround the process of innovation."--Scott Rosenberg, author of Dreaming in Code; cofounder of Salon.com "Will inspire you to come up with breakthrough ideas of your own."--Alan Cooper, Father of Visual Basic and author of The Inmates are Running the Asylum "Brimming with insights and historical examples, Berkun's book not only debunks widely held myths about innovation, it also points the ways toward making your new ideas stick."--Tom Kelley, GM, IDEO; author of The Ten Faces of Innovation

NEW from the bestselling HBR’s 10 Must Reads series. To innovate profitably, you need more than just creativity. Do you have what it takes? If you read nothing else on inspiring and executing innovation, read these 10 articles. We’ve combed through hundreds of articles in the Harvard Business Review archive and selected the most important ones to help you innovate effectively. Leading experts such as Clayton Christensen, Peter Drucker, and Rosabeth Moss Kanter provide the insights and advice you need to: • Decide which ideas are worth pursuing • Innovate through the front lines—not just from the top • Adapt innovations from the developing world to wealthier markets • Tweak new ventures along the way using discovery-driven planning • Tailor your efforts to meet customers’ most pressing needs • Avoid classic pitfalls such as stifling innovation with rigid processes Looking for more Must Read articles from Harvard Business Review? Check out these titles in the popular series: HBR’s 10 Must Reads: The Essentials HBR’s 10 Must Reads on Communication HBR’s 10 Must Reads on Collaboration HBR’s 10 Must Reads on Leadership HBR’s 10 Must Reads on Making Smart Decisions HBR’s 10 Must Reads on Managing Yourself HBR’s 10 Must Reads on Strategic Marketing HBR’s 10 Must Reads on Teams

Amid mounting concern over the loss of jobs to low-wage economies, one fact is clear: America's prosperity hinges on the ability of its businesses to continually introduce new products and services. But what makes for a creative economy? How can the remarkable surge of innovation that fueled the boom of the 1990s be sustained? For an answer, Richard K. Lester and Michael J. Piore examine innovation strategies in some of the economy's most dynamic sectors. Through eye-opening case studies of new product development in fields such as cell phones, medical devices, and blue jeans, two fundamental processes emerge. One of these processes, analysis--rational problem solving--dominates management and engineering practice. The other, interpretation, is not widely understood, or even recognized--although, as the authors make clear, it is absolutely crucial to innovation. Unlike problem solving, interpretation embraces and exploits ambiguity, the wellspring of creativity in the economy. By emphasizing interpretation, and showing how these two radically different processes can be combined, Lester and Piore's book gives managers and designers the concepts and tools to keep new products flowing. But the authors also offer an unsettling critique of national policy. By ignoring the role of interpretation, economic policymakers are drawing the wrong lessons from the 1990s boom. The current emphasis on expanding the reach of market competition will help the analytical processes needed to implement innovation. But if unchecked it risks choking off the economy's vital interpretive spaces. Unless a more balanced policy approach is adopted, warn Lester and Piore, America's capacity to innovate--its greatest economic asset--will erode.

The Innovation Book is your hands-on guide to turning new thinking into exciting opportunities. The quick-read format features an overview of each topic, what success looks like, the pitfalls to dodge and an action plan of what you can start doing - right now - to achieve success. Includes: Your Creative Self – how to become a more powerful innovator Leading Innovators – how to inspire and motivate creative people Creating Innovation – how to develop and test new concepts Winning with Innovation – how to sell your new ideas The Innovator’s Toolkit – 20+ tools to help you create, shape and share your ideas The Innovator’s Case Notes – real-life examples of innovation in action; what would you have done?