| name | The Truth About Innovation |
|---|---|
| orig title | |
| translator | |
| image |  |
| author | Max Mckeown |
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| country | United Kingdom |
| language | English |
| series | |
| classification | Non-Fiction |
| genre | |
| publisher | Prentice Hall |
| release_date | 2008 |
| media_type | Print (Paperback) |
| pages | 264 |
| isbn | ISBN-10: 0273719122 (first edition) |
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Executive Summary
Max Mckeown, an influential management consultant, further established his credibility with his sixth book, the comprehensive, practical, and readableThe Truth About Innovation, published in 2008.Mckeown explains 55 truths, or principles, about innovation that are drawn from the body of research and the experience he has of working with large organisations that are attempting to innovate.
Chapter Summaries
Truth 01: Innovation is new stuff that is (made) useful
Mckeown defines innovation as new stuff that is made useful. This definition leads to two questions "how new is new?" and "useful for whom?". He distinguishs between ideas, insights, inventions, and innovations. He categorises the newness of innovation from incremental, radical, and revolutionary. He makes a distinction between innovation that is independent and that which is dependent - concluding that most innovation is dependent on other ideas, innovations, and inventions. He argues that the user determines how useful an innovation is and that human kind 'make' innovations useful through adaptation.
Truth 02: A beautiful idea is never perfect
Mckeown uses the examples of Target, Walmart, and K-Mart to argue that a beautiful idea is never perfect. All these companies were founded in the same year with the same idea - discount retailing. However each one has prospered at different times by improving upon the implementation and conceptualisation of the idea. K-Mart did time-limited bargains, Walmart did everyday low prices, while Target asks it's customers to pay less while expecting more.
Truth 03: A crisis is a terrible thing to waste
Crisis creates urgency that can be used to encourage action and help people out of their complacency. Those leaders that use external crises to promote innovation and those that can emphasis a sense of urgency will be more likely to overcome the barriers to innovation. Examples from Samsung are given in which the CEO time-limits product go-to-market times in order to heighten creativity. Examples also given of Intel's paranoia with it's strengths and weaknesses.