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Innovation: The Five Disciplines for Creating What Customers Want
 
 
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Innovation: The Five Disciplines for Creating What Customers Want [Hardcover]

Curtis R. Carlson (Author), William W. Wilmot (Author)
4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (30 customer reviews)

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Book Description

August 8, 2006
Nothing is more important to business success than innovation . . . And here’s what you can do about it on Monday morning with the definitive how-to book from the world’s leading authority on innovation


When it comes to innovation, Curt Carlson and Bill Wilmot of SRI International know what they are talking about—literally. SRI has pioneered innovations that day in and day out are part of the fabric of your life, such as:

•The computer mouse and the personal computer interface you use at home and work

•The high-definition television in your living room

•The unusual numbers at the bottom of your checks that enable your bank to maintain your account balance correctly

•The speech-recognition system used by your financial services firm when you call for your account balance or to make a transaction.

Each of these innovations—and literally hundreds of others—created new value for customers. And that’s the central message of this book. Innovation is not about inventing clever gadgets or just “creativity.” It is the successful creation and delivery of a new or improved product or service that provides value for your customer and sustained profit for your organization. The first black-and-white television, for example, was just an interesting, cool invention until David Sarnoff created an innovation—a network—that delivered programming to an audience.

The genius of this book is that it provides the “how” of innovation. It makes innovation practical by getting two groups who are often disconnected—the managers who make decisions and the people on the front lines who create the innovations—onto the same page. Instead of smart people grousing about the executive suite not recognizing a good idea if they tripped over it and the folks on the top floor wondering whether the people doing the complaining have an understanding of market realities, Carlson and Wilmot’s five disciplines of innovation focus attention where it should be: on the creation of valuable new products and services that meet customer needs.

Innovation is not just for the “lone genius in the garage” but for you and everyone in your enterprise. Carlson and Wilmot provide a systematic way to make innovation practical, one intimately tied to the way things get done in your business.


Teamwork isn't enough; Creativity isn't enough; A new product idea isn't enough

True innovation is about delivering value to customers. Innovation reveals the value-creating processes used by SRI International, the organization behind the computer mouse, robotic surgery, and the domain names .com, .org, and .gov. Curt Carlson and Bill Wilmot show you how to use these practical, tested processes to create great customer value for your organization.

Frequently Bought Together

Customers buy this book with The Innovator's Dilemma: The Revolutionary Book That Will Change the Way You Do Business $12.23

Innovation: The Five Disciplines for Creating What Customers Want + The Innovator's Dilemma: The Revolutionary Book That Will Change the Way You Do Business


Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

As CEO of SRI International, Carlson has consulted with hundreds of organizations on becoming more effective and profitable. He has distilled that experience into a thorough treatise on the innovation process. The book cites dozens of examples of innovative ideas brought to fruition by innovators from Thomas Edison to Steve Jobs. It outlines, in workbook fashion, the critical decision-making process--the Five Disciplines of Innovation--required to think innovatively along with the quantitative tools that one needs to become an innovator, regardless of one's profession. The authors deliver this in easily digestible outlines of what Carlson believes to be a tried-and-true process of how companies can effectively innovate. Tips for jump-starting the creative process, a brainstorming method based on why office mates chat around a water cooler, and how to create a value proposition along with understanding market and customer needs are all addressed in a readable, easy-to-understand tone. Weaving in stories of companies that have successfully innovated, such as Dell, with those that haven't, such as Polaroid, the authors offer a well-reasoned approach to innovation. Gail Whitcomb
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Review

“Innovation—mystery or mastery? For Carlson and Wilmot, the answer is definitely the latter. Following the example of Deming’s approach to quality—another of those magically powerful substances—they lay out a thoughtful, practical methodology for managing innovation projects through to successful outcomes. Sure, in that one percent inspiration there may be the occasional moment of mystery, but for those of us operating in the ninety-nine percent perspiration part of the field, it’s terrific to finally get a great user’s manual.” —Goeffrey Moore, author of Dealing with Darwin: How Great Companies Innovate at Every Phase of Their Evolution

Product Details

  • Hardcover: 368 pages
  • Publisher: Crown Business (August 8, 2006)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 0307336697
  • ISBN-13: 978-0307336699
  • Product Dimensions: 6.4 x 1.3 x 9.5 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
  • Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (30 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #195,858 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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27 of 28 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Practical and engaging, June 5, 2007
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This review is from: Innovation: The Five Disciplines for Creating What Customers Want (Hardcover)
Everybody talks about "innovation" these days, but here's a practical guide to getting it right. Carlson writes in an engaging manner, with real-world examples. It all just seems to make sense when you read it. Any company or organization out there that wants long-term success would do well to follow the five disciplines described in this book.
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51 of 57 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Practitioners guide to extraordinary customer value creation, October 2, 2006
By 
Dale Lampson (Sunnyvale, CA USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Innovation: The Five Disciplines for Creating What Customers Want (Hardcover)
This practical and accessible book eloquently argues that innovation is much more predictable and achievable when the right process is used to guide those involved in the innovative effort. The authors leave no doubt as to what the process is, or who is involved. It's the 5 Disciplines for Creating What Customers Want. And these disciplines involve everyone in the firm--not just a few guiding superstars. Rather then a long list of new and complex concepts, the 5 Disciplines will probably appear as common sense to most readers. The authors forcefully argue that innovation is what enables the world's inhabitants to choose between living in scarcity or abundance, and that the best guide to innovation in the post-industrial "Exponential Economy" is to focus on Customer Value Creation (CVC). This is a book for practitioners, not theorists, although the latter will find the models offered provide fertile ground for validation and refinement. For the practitioner, the 5 Disciplines unfold in short, easy-to comprehend chapters that invite immediate application to one's current place of employment. Sprinkled liberally in the 300+ pages between the covers are suggestions for immediate application of a principle just presented and short stories that illustrate the authors' practical experience in putting their proposals into action. While SRI is most likely a place very unlike any firm at which you've ever worked, the book's slight bias towards fundamental research and innovation (vs. incremental product enhancement) entices the reader to always think first about what's most important. To, as the authors suggest in the early pages, put your innovative energy into new pain killers, not vitamins. At the end of the day, you want the results of your innovation to alleviate real pain, to not be just a generic undifferentiated "nice-to-have". This book is an excellent guide to anyone, or organization, ready to sign up to this goal.
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99 of 118 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars This is a BAD book on innovation, September 30, 2006
By 
This review is from: Innovation: The Five Disciplines for Creating What Customers Want (Hardcover)
This is a BAD book on innovation

As a matter of fact it is a bad book in the most general meaning of the word. First of all, it does not deliver what it promises to deliver and thus misleads the buyer. It claims that it is going to provide a `framework' for an innovative organization, but instead turns out to be a most general blah blah on every subject in the area of `management'. Apart from an abundant use of the word `innovation', there is hardly anything related to the core of innovation process in this book.

If you like, let me summarise what they say:

1. The book starts with an expose of the CHANGES in the world economy, globalization etc. The usual stuff you would expect to find in any `wake-up call' book these days. But is there anyone left who is not aware of the big changes going on around us? Do we need another book warning us that business is no longer usual?
2. The book then goes on outlining their `framework' for innovation. This is called the `five disciplines'. Disciplines indeed! And such `novel' ones. Let's look at them, if you like.
3. The first and second disciplines are about `creating customer value based on an important need'. It says that if your innovative idea does not address an unmet customer need and hence create a customer value, it will not be successful! Eureka and Wow. We all needed a thick new book to arrive at this very important finding. The many pages (106 in all) then go on `teaching' us how to write a value proposition (yes, business value proposition). Believe me, it mentions things like elevator speech, how many powerpoint sheets you must use, in how many minutes you must present your idea etc. And, we do not get anything regarding the HOW TO of innovation. But we hear a good deal about the wonderful people who work at authors' company (SRI). The many pages are simultaneously used for praising their own company staff by citing their names. The guys need some motivation, don't they. So, in those 106 pages we get illuminated on the nitty gritty details of writing business propositions (yes, business propositions!). The whole idea for them seems to be coming up with an innovative idea and selling it to some potential investor? But how can we come up with an innovative idea which will satisfy an unmet and important need? There is absolutely nothing on that subject apart from introducing you with a totally new concept: Brainstroming.

4. Then we move on to the third discipline which says that you need an innovastion `champion' in the company who will lead the projects (10 pages on this subject). The role models for champions? Easy: Steve Jobs, Steve Wozniak etc. Just be like Steve Jobs!
5. Our amazing fourth discipline is about innovation `teams'. As the subject of teams is an area where a lot has already been written, the authors are expectedly also prolific on this issue: 66 pages on the importance of teams. Yes, importance of teams, and teams in general! A general cut-and-paste from the existing team literature, decorated with a few anectodes and some SRI company-staff names. Then you have another earth-shaking DISCIPLINE. What the guys in effect say is `teamwork is important' and move on to show that it is indeed important. Pathetic.
6. The final and fifth discipline is about organizational alignment, and wer are already at page 235. And I am exhausted for trying to find any beef in this thick piece of nonsense and do not care about whether there is another dicscipline or not. By looking at the heading of the chapter though, I guess taht they will again chit-chat about `continuous innovation' as in kaizen. What else do you expect.
7. I hence decide to skip those two little chapters (together, 19 pages long) and move to the final piece: Chapter 17, A Foundation for National Competitiveness in a World of Abundance. However, it doesn't take too many pages to immediately realize that the authros' have been particularly impressed by Thomas Friedman's `The World Is Flat'. Still, I decide to finish reaing it and complete the ordeal. I decide I much prefer Friedman.

All in all, this was really an ordeal. No exagerration. This is a patchwork of things, and not even ideas. What is more distressing is that even though it promises to provide a framework for an innovative organization, it does not even come near the subject. It grossly misleads the reader. I hence feel that I not only wasted my valuable time, but more importantly was cheated. I believe the authors should stick with their business of inventing computer mouses, HDTVs, robotic surgery etc. and refrain from writing such shallow and misleading stuff on a critical subject like `innovation'.




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