The Myths of Innovation [Paperback]

Scott Berkun (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 30, 2010

In this new paperback edition of the classic bestseller, you'll be taken on a hilarious, fast-paced ride through the history of ideas. Author Scott Berkun will show you how to transcend the false stories that many business experts, scientists, and much of pop culture foolishly use to guide their thinking about how ideas change the world. With four new chapters on putting the ideas in the book to work, updated references and over 50 corrections and improvements, now is the time to get past the myths, and change the world.

You'll have fun while you learn:

* Where ideas come from
* The true history of history
* Why most people don't like ideas
* How great managers make ideas thrive
* The importance of problem finding
* The simple plan (new for paperback)

Since its initial publication, this classic bestseller has been discussed on NPR, MSNBC, CNBC, and at Yale University, MIT, Carnegie Mellon University, Microsoft, Apple, Intel, Google, Amazon.com, and other major media, corporations, and universities around the world. It has changed the way thousands of leaders and creators understand the world. Now in an updated and expanded paperback edition, it's a fantastic time to explore or rediscover this powerful view of the world of ideas.

"Small, simple, powerful: an innovative book about innovation." -Don Norman, author of Design of Everyday Things

"Insightful, inspiring, evocative, and just plain fun to read... It's totally great." -John Seely Brown, Former Director, Xerox Palo Alto Research Center (PARC)

"Methodically and entertainingly dismantling the cliches that surround the process of innovation." -Scott Rosenberg, author of Dreaming in Code; cofounder of Salon.com

"Will inspire you to come up with breakthrough ideas of your own." -Alan Cooper, Father of Visual Basic and author of The Inmates are Running the Asylum

"Brimming with insights and historical examples, Berkun's book not only debunks widely held myths about innovation, it also points the ways toward making your new ideas stick." -Tom Kelley, GM, IDEO; author of The Ten Faces of Innovation

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Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Scott Berkun was a manager at Microsoft from 1994-2003, on projects including v1-5 (not 6) of Internet Explorer. He is the author of three bestselling books, Making Things Happen, The Myths of Innovation and Confessions of a Public Speaker. He works full time as a writer and speaker, and his work has appeared in The New York Times, Forbes magazine, The Economist, The Washington Post, Wired magazine, National Public Radio and other media. He regularly contributes to Harvard Business and BusinessWeek, has taught creative thinking at the University of Washington, and has appeared as an innovation and management expert on MSNBC and on CNBC. He writes frequently on innovation and creative thinking at his surprisingly popular blog: scottberkun.com and tweets at @berkun.

His ambition in life is to fill the above bookshelf, which is by his writing desk, with books he has written. If he were smarter, he’d have picked a smaller shelf.

He’s based in Seattle, WA, but speaks often all around the world speaking about creativity and other topics he’s written about. If you’d like to hire him to speak at an event, head over here: www.scottberkun.com. You can watch videos of him in action and get in touch.

Product Details

• Paperback: 248 pages
• Publisher: O'Reilly Media; 1 edition (August 30, 2010)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1449389627
• ISBN-13: 978-1449389628
• Product Dimensions: 5.5 x 0.6 x 8.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (94 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #29,372 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #39 in Books > Business & Investing > Economics > Environmental Economics
  • #56 in Books > Business & Investing > Small Business & Entrepreneurship > New Business Enterprises
  • #57 in Books > Business & Investing > Economics > Theory

More About the Author

Scott Berkun (@berkun) is the best selling author of four books, Making Things Happen, The Myths of Innovation, Confessions of a Public Speaker and Mindfire Big Ideas for Curious Minds. His work has appeared in the The Washington Post, The New York Times, Wired Magazine, Fast Company, The Economist, Forbes Magazine, and other media. He has taught creative thinking at the University of Washington and has been a regular commentator on CNBC, MSNBC and National Public Radio. His many popular essays and entertaining lectures can be found for free on his blog at http://www.scottberkun.com.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

33 of 34 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Debunking Myths and Revealing Truths about Innovation May 19, 2007

By K. Sampanthar VINE™ VOICE

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase

Scott Berkun has written a great little book on debunking the myths of innovation. He uses the myths to help explain how innovation happens. He also delves into some of the reasons for why these myths are popular and then proceeds to provide some insights on how to approach innovation without falling prey to these myths.

He starts the book with a great story of when he visited Google's head quarters and joined a tour group. He describes the moment when two of his co-tourists whispered to each other pointing over to a group of programmers "I see them talking and typing, but when do they come up with their ideas". This lays the groundwork for the rest of the book. It's a question many people ask of any creative/innovative person. Scott continues to explore our fascination with innovation and our desire to find the hidden secrets. Like all myths, the ones behind innovation are derived from quaint stories from history; Newton's Apple, Archimedes' bath tub.

Each chapter addresses one of the main myths and exposes the real path to innovation:
- the myth of epiphany,
- we understand the history of innovation,
- there is a method for innovation,
- people love new ideas,
- the lone inventor
- and many more.

The book is a fun read, and Scott has a very witty writing style. His stories and personal experiences help to explain some of his counter-intuitive demythologizing. As always the classic sign of a book I love, is that by the end I have many pages highlighted and copious notes written down the margins. Scott's book definitely fell into the category of `stimulating'. Even when I disagreed with him, I agreed with his underlying point.

I highly recommend the book for anyone interested in innovation. If you believe innovation is only open to lone geniuses or you are waiting for the proverbial apple of a good idea to fall on your head, then you NEED to read this book immediately!!

Scott has done a great service by debunking many of cherished myths that hold many people back from innovating. It is ironic that a book that aims to destroy innovation myths actually provides a set of insights that will help anyone come up with ideas (whether they work at Google or not).

Kes Sampanthar
Inventor of ThinkCube

66 of 75 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Will have you thinking long after the final page is turned... May 20, 2007

By Thomas Duff HALL OF FAMETOP 500 REVIEWERVINE™ VOICE

Format:Hardcover

(review of 2nd edition - 10/03/2010)

"Innovation" is a word that gets used so often in marketing hype that it seems to have lost its meaning. Scott Berkun sets out to reclaim the word and offer up a true definition in his book The Myths of Innovation. I found this book so compelling while reading it on my iPad that I ended up figuring out how to do highlighting as there were many points I wanted to remember and ponder.

Table of Contents:
The myth of epiphany; We understand the history of innovation; There is a method for innovation; People love new ideas; The lone inventor; Good ideas are hard to find; Your boss knows more about innovation than you; The best ideas win; Problems and solutions; Innovation is always good; Epilogue - Beyond hype and history; Creating thinking hacks; How to pitch an idea; How to stay motivated; Research and recommendations

One of the reasons this book resonated so deeply with me is due to my view of how people add importance to events that weren't critical at the time. For instance, a particular battle may be touted as the turning point of a war, and a commander's decision a brave and ingenious move. But the battle could have just as well been lost, no one would have written it up, and some other potential outcome would have decided the war. We seem to think that the outcome we received was the only possible course, and that's incorrect. Quoting Berkun: "Yes, when we look at any history timeline, we're encouraged to believe that other outcomes were impossible. Because the events on timelines happened, regardless of how bizarre or unlikely, we view them today as predetermined." I'm glad to see that Myths fights back against this common belief.

Looking more directly at innovation, Berkun reveals another myth that bugs me to no end. "The dilemma is that, at any moment, it's difficult to know whether we're witnessing progress or merely, in a hill-climbing distraction, a short-term gain with negative long-term consequences." We can't know how things are going to turn out, and there are far too many examples of ideas and "innovations" that were found out later to have horrible long-term effects. DDT, anyone?

Just one more example that caused me to do a "yes!" when I was reading... We attach major significance to objects that, at the time, were common. The Rosetta Stone is thought to be one of the most significant discoveries and artifacts ever found. But the text on the stone is nothing but basic, everyday communication to the people of the time. It would be like someone discovering a piece of our junk mail 1000 years from now and declaring it a significant piece of 21st century communication. Yet at the time, we throw it away. Because we look at the Rosetta Stone as enabling us to decipher ancient languages, we tend to revere the stone itself. But it's really just a common thing that happened to survive the centuries, and we've attached significance to the item that wasn't intended when it was first created.

Berkun goes on in the later chapters to help you understand the true nature of innovation, as well has how the process of getting and developing ideas is available to any of us. Coming away from reading Myths, you should understand that innovation is hard work, it's not a single event, and your ideas build upon the ideas of others. In addition, what you think your idea is good for and what actually happens to it could be two entirely different things. When the first HTML page was built and put on a network for sharing, no one could have imagined what the Internet would end up becoming.

The Myths of Innovation is a top-notch read, and one that you should plan on revisiting often...

Disclosure:
Obtained From: Publisher
Payment: Free

16 of 17 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Innovation is what brilliant minds have thrust upon them in the middle of the night May 28, 2007

By Vanessa Howell

Format:Hardcover

Right?

Not really. In this book Scott does a great job debunking the commonly held myths about innovation in a witty, approachable style. If you've ever wondered how innovation happens, or how to improve the innovativeness and creativity of your team this book is worth a read.

I particularly enjoyed the insight in chapter 4- people don't really love new ideas, but you'll find similar gems throughout the book.

I gave it only 4 stars, because after I'd finished reading the book I came away wanting something more (though lots of great references and links are provided) - perhaps more stories to get involved in, or just to enjoy Scott's humor for a while longer.

Overall I recommend this book, you'll gain some new insights and a new perspective on your old ones.