A Passion for Ideas: How Innovators Create the New and Shape Our World [Hardcover]

Heinrich Von Pierer (Author), Bolko Von Oetinger (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 1, 2001 | ISBN-10: 1557532095 | ISBN-13: 978-1557532091 | Edition: 1

The creation, implementation, and sustainability of new ideas is the lifeblood ensuring the growth and viability of any organization. Without continuing innovation, competitive advantage and global market share are endangered. Once-thriving organizations can find themselves unprepared for the future. A Passion for Ideas gathers together a stunning list of today's thought leaders to shed light on how "the new" is discovered. Via interviews and essays, an exciting and diverse international group of innovators-representing not only business, but also science and the arts-share their insights and help us to understand the process of creativity and construction and the methods to move organizations forward in an ever-changing climate.

Editorial Reviews

Language Notes

Text: English (translation)
Original Language: German

About the Author

Bolko von Oetinger studied political science in Berlin and holds an MBA from the Stanford Graduate School of Business. He has worked for the Boston Consulting Group, where he is now senior vice president.

Heinrich von Pierer studied law and economics and joined Siemens AG's legal department in 1969. From 1977 to 1987 he held various commercial duties with Kraftwerk Union AG and in 1988 became the commercial head of the corporate sector of KWU. In 1989 he became a Board Member of Siemens AG; he has been Chairman of the Board since 1982.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 367 pages
• Publisher: Purdue University Press; 1 edition (November 1, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1557532095
• ISBN-13: 978-1557532091
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.3 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,205,707 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #36 in Books > 4-for-3 Books > Health, Mind & Body > Self-Help > Creativity

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A glimpse into the struggling recesses of the psyche, April 13, 2002

By 

Midwest Book Review (Oregon, WI USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: A Passion for Ideas: How Innovators Create the New and Shape Our World (Hardcover)

Collaboratively edited by Heinrich V. Pierer (President and CEO of Kraftwerk Union AG) and Bolko V. Oetinger (Senior Vice President, The Boston Consulting Group), A Passion For Ideas: How Innovators Create The New And Shape Our World is an impressive and superbly presented anthology of interviews and commentaries focusing on the concept of how new ideas are actually generated. A wide range of twenty-seven notable thinkers informatively present their carefully articulated thoughts on the creative process and what it really means. Highly recommended reading for students and non-specialist general readers with an interest in technological innovation and the creative process, A Passion For Ideas is a fascinating, seminal volume, offering a insightful glimpse into the struggling recesses of the psyche.

4.0 out of 5 stars Provocative, but some interest in business required, June 29, 2003

By 

C. Bordman "chuckbordman" (Bridgewater, MA United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: A Passion for Ideas: How Innovators Create the New and Shape Our World (Hardcover)

This book addresses the topic of innovation and transcends into the philosophical with some profound input from business leaders, artists, and other thinkers. "Passion for Ideas" reaches beyond innovation by considering what new is, how innovation can be created and how innovation will affect our future. In one chapter for example, "Increase and Arrival," Professor Gerhard Schultz from the University of Bamberg argues that the era of innovation is coming to an end.

Other chapters refer to business innovation, with thoughts on how companies can sustain creativity. Some of these ideas, although business related, and sometimes German-centric (the book was translated from German) reveal great insight into what new is and what can be done to develop new ideas. For example, an organization has the potential for more creativity by allowing more disorder in the chapter "The Virtues of Corporate Disorder."

Some of the chapters in this book I want to read again and others I found uninteresting or too abstract. Overall, I thought the authors have pulled together a compelling collection of ideas.