Innovation by Design: What It Takes to Keep Your Company on the Cutting Edge [Hardcover]

Gerard H. Gaynor (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 24, 2002

"Doing innovation" company-wide requires not only an attitude of innovation from every individual, but a wide-ranging corporate commitment to a new organizational model. This important new book describes how companies can align processes, resources, and management practices with sound design, so that every department is empowered (and expected) to innovate.

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

A former engineering director at 3M and president of his own consulting firm, Gaynor (Handbook of Technology Management) has written this guide to help business leaders create and encourage innovation in all aspects of their companies. He discusses why companies should innovate, the different types of innovation, and how innovation works in a variety of organizations. Two chapters outline the path of an idea from initial stages to fruition. The book also profiles several companies, such as Canon, Apple, and 3M, and explains their different approaches to innovation. Gaynor details how an organization's culture can help foster innovation in all departments and describes the three areas on which the organization must focus: optimizing people's involvement, guiding management practices, and encouraging professional attitudes. He concludes with a questionnaire to help managers evaluate their company's resources for innovative practices. This book provides a very detailed plan on how to create an innovative company. Recommended for corporate libraries and larger academic business collections. Stacey Marien, American Univ. Lib., Washington, DC
Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

Review

"this book shows how managing innovation company-wide can have a very real impact on business growth. " -- BIZLIFE, Jan. 2003

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 320 pages
• Publisher: AMACOM (May 24, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0814406963
• ISBN-13: 978-0814406960
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.3 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,977,895 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars How innovation really works, January 25, 2005

By 

Michael Aucoin (College Station, TX USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Innovation by Design: What It Takes to Keep Your Company on the Cutting Edge (Hardcover)

If you're looking for a definitive guide to the way that innovation really works, then this book is for you. With decades of experience as a successful innovator, including 25 years at 3M, Mr. Gaynor knows the subject well.

There are abundant gems of wisdom in this book, many of which challenge conventional thinking about innovation. As Gaynor emphasizes, every organization needs to innovate, and innovation must permeate every department of the organization. Innovation is only meaningful when it is oriented to customers and produces beneficial results in the marketplace.

While the entire book is excellent, two chapters offer great quick takes on innovation. Chapter 11, "The Virtual Innovation Prevention Department," is a roadmap for how to kill innovation, and Chapter 13, "Making Innovation Happen" is the guide for how to make innovation work in the real world.

I enthusiastically recommend this book for anyone who is serious about promoting innovation in their jobs and organizations. Come to think of it, that should describe us all!

2 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent text on innovation, April 18, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: Innovation by Design: What It Takes to Keep Your Company on the Cutting Edge (Hardcover)

This book is an excellent treatment of the topic of innovation. Innovation is a difficult subject to address because it is believed that innovation is a characteristic that either exists or does not. Mr. Gaynor's book put structure to it and describes ways that organizations are formally, even if unconsciously, opposed to innovation and how it can be remedied. The first chaper should be required reading and the chapter on the "Innovation Prevention Department" would be funny if it did not point out painful realities. A keeper.

0 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent text on innovation, April 18, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: Innovation by Design: What It Takes to Keep Your Company on the Cutting Edge (Hardcover)

This text is a great treatment of the topic of innovation. Innovation often seems as a random event or personal characteristic. Mr. Gaynor's book describes a more structured framework by which innovation can be approached, encouraged, and fostered. It describes how organizations can be formally, although possibly unconsciously, resistant to innovation in products and processes. The first chapter is required reading and the chapter on the Innovation Prevention Department would be funny if it did not ring so true. A keeper.