Customer Reviews

Innovation for Underdogs: How to Make the Leap from What If to Now What

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This is a fascinating book -- truly informative and fun to read. It is one that brings to life real-world examples that illuminate how something is transformed from an idea into a reality in the marketplace. More importantly, Pensak has the credentials to back him up -- as the inventor of the firewall which was the world's most important invention to transform computer security, he was also the Chief Scientist at Dupont for many years, and has taught at University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School of Business. Never boring and always interesting - readers begin to understand how innovation begins with the smallest ideas (ie; making drugs that only need to be taken once a day versus 5 times) to something as large as making an international conglomerate compete effectively in today's global marketplace. The book expounds on everything innovation-related: from processes to products, from near-catastrophe to capital. A nice plus that is different from other books on innovation, Pensak gives hope to the entrepreneur and inventor -- teaching them "how to think" about innovation and how to make peace with the dozens of ideas many have at once, in order to get one to marketplace successfully. He chronicles what can go wrong and how to avoid it, and ends one of the last few chapters with one of the most pressing issues of our time, global warming and clean energy. Included is an insightful chapter on financing the venture, as well as historical perspective on the world's earliest innovators. An insightful read and page-turner.

Truly a book that will help you recognize your own creative energy and how to capitalize on innovative ideas!

Dr. Pensak writes about how he started and continues to innovate new ideas everyday. Everyone can look around at what is needed then create new ways to solve the problems with what is already here. Dr. Pensak helps you understand the process and how you too can be an innovator.

Dr. Pensak has created a really delightful text in an innovative (no pun intended)way, but what else would I expect from someone who sat on Professor Einstein's knee and was the developer of the first internet firewall along with many others! The book is large enough to cover the topic well yet small enough to assure you non-essential and boring subjects are avoided. I like this because it enables you to complete the book in a reasonable amount of time and use the rest of your time thinking about what you just read and how you can use it in your pursuits!

The book, in my opinion, is divided into three broad areas. The ideas and experiences that shaped his earliest ideas on the mechanics of innovation. Each set of principles have practical and funny examples plus a keen view into Dave Pensak's own thought process. The second group of chapters deal with the pragmatic essentials an innovator need be aware of to stay out of trouble. The third group deal with taking these principles and applying them productively by tickling new ideas in you. An 'efficient' read, you will thoroughly enjoy !

I read this book while trying to get an innovative product to market and found it a perfect energizer . . . a must read for the innovator and entrepreneur. In a sea of `how to' books, Pensak's book creates, using wit and witticism, a guide to everyday living . . . as an innovator.

A practical guide to finding the "innoventor" within. I found the writing style to be friendly and unassuming -- a fun and fascinating read; I highly recommend!

What a delightful read this is for the thinking person. The author's viewpoint is fascinating and the examples of innovations used are interesting and fresh. This is a book to stroll through reflectively and think about innovation as you go. It provides ample opportunities to explore how to approach problem solving in a creative way. A great read for educators, scientists, and business professionals in all walks of life.

Dr Pensak has written an insightful, informative and transformative book about one of the important ingredients of our knowledge based economy:innovation. Innovation must be nurtured in today's world. It is America's "special sauce". It is what sent man to the moon, it is what created the internet, and it is what will help us to solve the problems we confront in today's complex global economy. It is imperative that we continue to encourage young minds to expand their ability to think in creative ways. This book helps us to recognize the elements that lead to innovation and does so in an interesing and fun way. Dr Pensak helps us to recognize creative energy and shows us how to stretch our minds to create. This is a MUST read.

Dr. Pensak's book makes innovation easy and explainable. It opens your eyes to a really simple process of stretching your mind to unlock its creative capabilities. His belief that the most successful companies listen to their employees and customers is right on. If you are going to have a successful company in these tough economic times, management must foster an environment that lets people be more creative than they ever have been in their lives and then reward them for it.

Review by J. Noonan

That is this illusive thing - Innovation?
In the workplace, advertising, and schools the word is ubiquitous. My boss wants it on demand, business schools teach it using case studies of every new idea out there that ever turned a profit. Everyone wants it, but no one has satisfactorily defined it so that I could actually use it or even recognize it when I tripped over it - until now.

This book tells us not only what Innovation is, but what it is not. He breaks it down into practical steps that I have been able to use in my life and work.

This IS NOT some dry old business school textbook.
David Pensak's writing is interesting, insightful, entertaining - a quick and fun read. He teaches practical steps and lessons to create and nurture the innovation that's in all of us, illustrating his points with stories and acedotes from his own peculiar and sucessful life. How many people do you know that have sat with Einstine's brain? The author has!

David Pensak not only teaches innovation but he lives it - to great success.
This guy's practiced what he preaches, for more see his website www.davidpensak.com
His ideas really work.