The Innovator's Toolkit: 50+ Techniques for Predictable and Sustainable Organic Growth (Hardcover)

~ (Author), Philip Samuel (Author), (Author)
Key Phrases: design scorecards, value stream map, process behavior charts, Breakthrough Management Group, Steps Scenario, New York (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Review

"This is a well-written, confident and comprehensive volume that should form partt of any forward-thinking business leader's library." (Quality World, June 2009) "...this book offers a valuable bonus. It outlines the curriculum of a training programme that can be readily adapted" (Edge, June 2009)

Product Description

An innovation guide for business leaders, managers, and new product developers

The Innovator's Toolkit explains all the fundamental tools and concepts anyone involved in innovation should be familiar with--especially methods and strategies for improving products and services and developing new ones. This book is written in an easy-to-use reference format that helps readers understand why, when, and how to apply each tool. The tools and techniques in this book are organized around a four-step innovation methodology--define, discover, develop, and demonstrate--that takes readers through problem identification, then flows into idea generation, idea selection, and, finally, idea implementation. Constant innovation is a necessity for business success today; The Innovator's Toolkit presents an effective plan for achieving it.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 384 pages
• Publisher: Wiley (October 27, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0470345357
• ISBN-13: 978-0470345351
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 7.5 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.9 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (25 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #89,943 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Craftman Sized Tool Chest of Innovation, December 8, 2008

By	Sacramento Book Review "SacramentoBookReview.com" (Sacramento, CA) - See all my reviews

Lots of people know they need to "innovate." It's a big buzz word, and many books and magazine articles have been written on the subject. Many of those books are mostly case studies, some with list of innovation systems, charts and tools to help. The Innovator's Toolkit gives you a Craftsman sized set of tools to help you innovate in many circumstances.

They work around a four-step process (define, discover, develop, and demonstrate) to help define the problem, and then find ways to solve it. There is a wealth of ways to brainstorm and create solutions, and I'd maybe say too many, but I'm not sure you can have too many tools. The authors have collected many systems that give you lots of options when faced with a problem for your company or organization. And these systems look as if they will be useful to both high-level strategic planning and practical team based issue. It should be on the bookshelf of any owner or manger that wants to be able to find problems before they arise and effectively grow their business.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Good Book , March 30, 2009

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

Amazon Verified Purchase

This book presents many useful tools for Innovation with many of them focusing on the front end of innovation. However, one should have a broad understanding of the innovation process before applying these tools. For example, applying six-sigma to the front end of innovation would result in total failure as was noted by I believe it was GE.
This book is well organized by tool types, but again I would only recommend applying these tools if you have a firm and strong understanding of the innovation process, because I have came across in the book many occasions were they recommend a tool but I would not. I would recommend buying because it is a great reference!
Brian Glassman

Ph.D in Innovation management from Purdue
Innovation Management
Commercialization
Amazon

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Finally - an Actionable Innovation Book!, November 12, 2008

By	Brian Watson (New York, NY) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

The day after I received "The Innovator's Toolkit" I was already putting the concept of "Jobs to be Done" to good use while facilitating a team meeting. As the authors mention in the preface, there is a dearth of actionable Innovation books in the market and this book succeeds in filling that void. The Innovator's Toolkit, authored by the CEO and Chief Innovation Officer at Breakthrough Management Group, is yet another example of this consulting firm's track record of fulfilling the unmet needs of forward thinking leaders in the private and public sectors. I highly recommend "The Innovator's Toolkit".