The Little Black Book of Innovation: How It Works, How to Do It [Hardcover]

Scott D. Anthony (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 27, 2011

Innovation may be the hottest discipline around today—in business circles and beyond. And for good reason. Innovation transforms companies and markets. It’s 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 The Little Black Book of Innovation, long-time innovation expert Scott D. Anthony draws on stories from his research and field work with companies like Procter & Gamble to demystify innovation. In his trademark conversational and lively style, Anthony 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:

• Finding insight
• Generating ideas
• Building businesses
• Strengthening innovation prowess in your workforce and organization

With its wealth of illustrative case studies and vignettes from a range of companies around the globe, this engaging and potent playbook is a must-read for anyone seeking to turn themselves or their companies into true innovation powerhouses.

Editorial Reviews

Review

“Great wit and insight" — The Economic Times

“Highly recommended.” — Choice magazine

“Innovation knowledge is locked up in relatively dense books or in people's heads. [Anthony] makes innovation more accessible, to help readers realise their full potential.” — Engineering and Technology Magazine

“This book is insightful, with actionable tips to increase an organisation’s innovation capacity. It is easy and essential reading for business leaders and their teams.” — Business Executive

“The core of the book is a very practical 28-day programme on innovation. Anthony cuts through much jargon and sums up the key ideas and imperatives for those who wish to innovate. Written in a light-hearted and sometimes humorous style, it also draws on the authors own innovation journey including some early failures.” — The Irish Times

“This ‘little black book’ is a quick-read how-to book that boils down the principles of innovation to discreet ideas anyone can understand,” — BizEd

“The Little Black Book of Innovation is one of the most thought-provoking business books I’ve read recently, one of those “whacks on the side of the head” that one needs from time to time.” — Business Standard

“At just 304 pages and about 6-by-9 inches in size, you can easily take this book places—and it may do the same for you.” — Directorship

"Powerful for a team, this is the kind of book that can help a group of people start producing innovative ideas…" — 800 CEO READ

About the Author

Scott D. Anthony is the managing director of Innosight, a global strategic innovation consulting and investment firm. He is the head of Innosight’s Asian headquarters in Singapore. He has worked with clients ranging from national governments to companies in industries as diverse as healthcare, telecommunications, consumer products, and software. He has authored The Silver Lining and coauthored Seeing What’s Next and The Innovator’s Guide to Growth.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 304 pages
• Publisher: Harvard Business Review Press (December 27, 2011)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1422171728
• ISBN-13: 978-1422171721
• Product Dimensions: 5.7 x 1.2 x 8.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (21 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #40,649 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #38 in Books > Business & Investing > Organizational Behavior > Organizational Change

More About the Author

Scott D. Anthony is the managing partner of Innosight, a global strategic innovation consulting and investment firm. Based in the firm's Singapore offices since 2010, he has led Innosight's expansion into the Asia-Pacific region as well as its venture capital activities (Innosight Ventures). He has worked with clients ranging from national governments to companies in industries as diverse as healthcare, telecommunications, consumer products, and software. He has authored "The Little Black Book of Innovation,""The Silver Lining" and "Building a Growth Factory" and coauthored "Seeing What's Next" and "The Innovator's Guide to Growth."

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

19 of 20 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars One for the masses December 26, 2011

By PT Navendra

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase

I manage a team of individuals in a very large organization and I have been waiting for a book like this for a very long time. For the serial innovator, this book may be a little light, but for individuals and teams wanting to get with the program or are being cajoled into innovation initiatives, I can't think of another simpler or more practical primer than this. While I found a few spots that I thought were corny in there, this is something that I will not hesitate to recommend for entire teams and organizations as a synthesis on innovation and a starting point in their innovation journey. It is an easy read and it was hard to put down. Even if only one internal/non-commercial idea is identified and implemented within an organization using the practical tools and simple exercises in the second part of the book, one would have thousand-folded their investment. And I am only looking at it from an internal cost center perpective. I see strong potential here for pervasive transformation of individuals, teams, and organizations if used systematically.

15 of 17 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars How to develop and then apply the skills needed to create "something different that has impact" January 6, 2012

By Robert Morris HALL OF FAMETOP 100 REVIEWERVINE™ VOICE

Format:Hardcover

I have read and reviewed all of the other books that Scott Anthony has authored or co-authored and think this is the most valuable...thus far. In ways and to an extent even Clay Christensen hasn't, Anthony has embraced his reader and said, in effect, "I am now going to share with you everything I have learned about what innovation is...and isn't, what it does...and doesn't do, and how you can master the skills of innovative thinking." He immediately establishes a direct and collegial rapport with his reader and then sustains it throughout the lively and eloquent narrative.

Although his book is technically not a memoir, Anthony draws heavily on his own experience, sharing anecdotes from defining moments and memorable relationships throughout his "personal innovation journey" that "began in earnest" during an airline flight more than a decade ago. He was carrying with him and began to read a copy of Christensen's The Innovator's Dilemma. He was among the students enrolled in an experimental course ("Building a Sustainably Successful Enterprise") at Harvard Business School taught by Christensen. Thus began a personal as well as professional relationship with him that continues to this day. Anthony's aforementioned "journey" since that day (October 20, 2000) enabled him to learn "the truth" about innovation (especially from academic researchers who have "decoded" many of its mysteries") that has prepared him well to help each of his readers to embark on a comparable journey. As he explains,

"Much of this learning is out of reach for the layperson. It is locked up in books that are too dense, or even worse, it is locked up in the heads of individuals. The Little Black Book of Innovation aims to address this issue by providing the tools and giving you [his reader] the confidence to more reliably turn your dreams into reality."

After establishing his book's "foundation" in Part I, he introduces a 28-day innovation program in Part II. Here are the primary goals for each of the four weeks:

Week 1: Discovering the Opportunities ("Wrap Up" on Page 126)
Week 2: Blueprinting Ideas ("Wrap Up" on 165)
Week 3: Addressing and Testing Ideas ("Wrap Up" on 206)
Week 4: Moving Forward ("Wrap Up" on 245)

Anthony introduces each of the four ("This week will help you to accomplish the following [objectives]") and devotes a separate chapter to each of the 28 days, posing a "Central Question" followed by a "One-Sentence Answer" as well as a set of "How-To Tips." Within this framework, he provides an abundance of information, insights, and recommendations based on real-world situations that illustrate what innovation is...and isn't, what it does...and doesn't do, and how almost anyone can master the skills of innovative thinking.

This four-week/28-day program will be of substantial benefit both to individuals and to teams. If a senior-level executive reads this book and decides to create and lead a project team whose objective is to develop a game plan to increase and support innovation throughout the given enterprise, I presume to suggest that Anthony's previously published book, The Silver Lining: An Innovation Playbook for Uncertain Times, also be read. In it, he also offers a wealth of advice. For example:

o Identifying the "different approach to take when prudently "pruning" by obtaining the answers to five questions (Pages 30-31)
o What the four business unit portfolio "traps" are and how to avoid or escape from them (Pages 34-35)
o Four specific analyses that can help to determine the degree to which an existing business has unexploited or under-developed potential (Pages 38-39)
o Three important lessons for cost cutting to be learned from the basic pattern of disruptive innovation (Page 52)
o The three-step process to drive "intelligent cost cutting" (Pages 52-63)
o The three-step process that innovators have used to drive disruption to create "spectacular success" (Pages 75-82)
o Four common strategic traps that may appear (Pages 96-98)

Mind you, all this is provided during the first hundred pages.

With all due respect to the other books that have been written about these and other issues, if you will read only one, I think it must be The Little Black of Innovation. If you read only two, The Silver Lining is my recommendation.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Highly recommended! January 13, 2012

By jplatypus

Format:Hardcover

I don't work for a big company, so when someone recommended I read this book I was a bit skeptical. But I am glad I read it. The book is very accessible, and can be put into action immediately. And I think the point the author makes about innovation being a challenge everyone faces is spot on. I feel much more confident that I am going to "do something different that has impact." Highly recommended!