Conquering Innovation Fatigue: Overcoming the Barriers to Personal and Corporate Success (Hardcover)

~ Jeffrey Lindsay (Author), (Author), Mukund Karanjikar (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

This practical guide reveals the nine major “fatigue factors” that can block the path to innovation success, along with solutions to energize innovation. Original advances in innovation practice and new case studies are applied to guide inventors, entrepreneurs, companies, universities, and even policy makers in conquering innovation fatigue. Cost-effective solutions include guidance on intellectual assets, dealing with disruptive innovation, and driving innovation using the “Horn of Innovation” and “Circuit of Innovation” models. A surprising view of DaVinci as an engine of open innovation is presented. Throughout the book, a unique aspect is exploring the journey of innovators, including corporate employees and entrepreneurs, at the often-overlooked personal level using the metaphor of immigrants in a strange land to identify barriers and solutions.

From the Inside Flap

Conquering Innovation Fatigue: Overcoming the Barriers to Personal and Corporate Success

Conquering Innovation Fatigue is for anyone seeking success through innovation. Business leaders, inventors, researchers, entrepreneurs, and civic leaders will benefit from its insights and practical solutions. It reveals the sometimes hidden barriers—nine major "innovation fatigue factors"—that can block the path to innovation success, and shows how to cope with or conquer them.

Conquering Innovation Fatigue takes a unique personal look at the challenges innovators face in their journey, invoking the metaphor of immigrants in a strange land facing barriers at multiple levels. By drawing upon original case studies and advances in innovation theory and practice—some presented here for the first time—the authors show how innovation can be energized to conquer fatigue and help innovators reach success.

You will learn how to:

• Recognize and overcome the nine major innovation fatigue factors across three key categories
• Make the right connections to bring innovation to the marketplace
• Avoid unintended innovation-killers
• Enhance the productivity of your personnel involved with innovation
• Exploit low-cost intellectual assets (not just patents) to better deal with disruptive innovation
• Turn the "innovation funnel" upside down to create more efficient, targeted innovation
• Tap multidisciplinary skills for innovation success

This important book explains that understanding and overcoming these barriers is vital not only to you, as an inventor, entrepreneur, or researcher, but also to business leaders, licensing professionals, IP professionals, corporations, and even leaders of nations!

Conquering Innovation Fatigue points the way to cost-effective, practical solutions to strengthen innovation and achieve personal or corporate success. There's no reason to let fatigue get in your way.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 279 pages
• Publisher: Wiley (July 7, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0470460075
• ISBN-13: 978-0470460078
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.4 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #724,177 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Finally, the REAL barriers to innovation are addressed!, June 29, 2009

By	Walter Reade (Appleton, WI United States) - See all my reviews

Conquering Innovation Fatigue is an important and much-needed contribution to the innovation literature. If you have any interest in innovation, this book is a must read.

The book recognizes that the struggle corporations are facing to provide real innovation is complex and goes far beyond a lack of good ideas. On the contrary, there are behavioral, organizational, and external challenges that are the real culprits for squelching innovation.

The book addresses 9 "fatigue factors," providing compelling case studies and practical advice on overcoming these barriers to innovation.

Conquering Innovation Fatigue also introduces a new paradigm for thinking about innovation . . . the "Horn of Innovation." I found it a well-thought-out and particularly intriguing metaphor for enhancing success with innovation.

As I read the book, I couldn't help but feel overwhelmed at the task faced most major corporations to improve innovation. With so many potential barriers, where should one start? I would have appreciated if the book had contained some sort of assessment to help prioritize which of the 9 fatigue factors to tackle first. An easy thing to fix, and hopefully something that will appear on the book's website in the future.

Walter Reade, Ph.D.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars To put things into perspective read my review, October 13, 2009

By	Brian Glassman "Go Innovate!" - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

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To put things into perspective, you first have barrier to innovations, which is being studied by a great number of people. Second you have things that are not barrier but more or less slow down or hinder innovating. Lastly, you have thing that very much help innovation. This book is very specifically about the second topic of what things create fatigue in respect to innovating. Clayton Christenson's series of book talk about major barrier to innovation, and many creative books by authors like Tom Kelley talk about factors which help innovation. This book is rare, in that is studies and details the factors which cause fatigue, hence the name "conquering innovation fatigue."

This book explains the many fatigue factors by organizing them smartly into 9 easy to remember categories detailed in chapters 4 to 17. The book is well organized and easy to read. Interestingly, executive managers can take easy steps to remove fatigue factors and then have an easier time concentrating on the major barrier to innovation in the companies. Hence, I recommend this book as a nice read for innovation managers, and I strongly feel it would make a great reference book.

Brian Glassman
Ph.D in Innovation Management from Purdue
Innovation Management
Commercialization
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3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars So relevant for today's and tomorrow's innovators, August 9, 2009

By	Mary Ellyn Vicksta "Creative Innovation Pioneer" - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This is truly a unique book about innovation. Unlike most of the innovation books out there, this looks straight at innovation and masterfully helps you to recognize and overcome the 9 innovation fatigue factors. The advice is very practical, with examples and stories that helps the inventor understand the fatigue factors from the perspective of an individual, the organization, and the outer world. The examples are extremely well-written so that you become engaged in the story, while clearly understand what's causing the fatigue and what you can do to be a successful innovator.

The stories expalining the fatigue factors have a tremendous range; something will speak to you given your own perspective on invention and innovation. Here are a few of my favorites:

From the innovation fatigue factor of theft: Robert W Kearns, the inventor of the intermittent windshield wiper, who eventually won $30million. Also associated with this chapter is "Stigler's Law of Eponymy" which states that no scientific discovery is named after it's original discover. This discussion will whet your appetite about Edouard-Leon Scott and recorded sound. Farnsworth and television. And with this series of stories comes the practical advice of non-disclosure agreements and use of laboratory notebooks.

From innovation in business methods, there is an inspiring chapter from Orion Energy systems and how they have transformed the business model for energy and sustainability by installing the lights for free and accepted payments based on the savings that his customer's received.

And the rapid granting of a patent involving the author and the Peer to Patent program that utilizes the "wisdom of crowds' to unearthing prior art. And in the author's experience, they were able to make good on their claim of efficiently getting a patent issued within a year.

There are many more gems within this book. It's well-written, full of engaging stories, and a treasure box of great insight about invention and innovation.