The myths
of
innovation
Friday AM KeynoteScott Berkun
Web Directions SouthSydney, Australia
Book goals:
1)What do we believe about innovation that isn’t true?
2)Why is the myth popular?
3)What is the truth and how can we apply it now?
The myths of innovation
1: The myth of epiphany2: We understand innovation history3: The sole inventor4: People like it when you innovate5: There is a secret method (shhh)
6: Good ideas are hard to find7: The best idea wins8: Solutions matter more than problems9: Your manager knows more than you do10: Innovation is good
The myths of innovation
1: The myth of epiphany
2: We understand innovation history
3: People like it when you innovate
What people focus on
The work that makes eureka possible
The work of innovation
The myths of innovation
1: The myth of epiphany
2: We understand innovation history
3: People like it when you innovate
Time
Business
Politics
Luck / Randomness
Timing
What friends think is cool
Charisma
International Economics
Wars & Disasters
Time
Something
is
happening!
Something
is
happening
Time
SORRY.
NOTHING HAPPENS.
Something
is
happening
Time
SORRY.
NOTHING HAPPENS.Flying cars
Virtual Reality everything
Supersonic commuter travel
Personal nuclear power
Anything on the cover of Wired magazine
Voice recognition, AI…
Time
Something
is
happening
Something
happened
Time
The myths of innovation
1: The myth of epiphany
2: We understand innovation history
3: People like it when you innovate
The diffusion of
innovation is a
social process,
based more on
psychology and
sociology than
technology.
Innovation distilled
1. Delegate
2. Take risks / make mistakes
3. Reward initiative
"As our business grows, it becomes increasingly necessary to
delegate responsibility and to encourage men and women to
exercise their initiative. This requires considerable tolerance.
Those men and women, to whom we delegate authority and
responsibility, if they are good people, are going to want to do
their jobs in their own way.
"Mistakes will be made. But if a person is essentially right, the
mistakes he or she makes are not as serious in the long run as
the mistakes management will make if it undertakes to tell
those in authority exactly how they must do their jobs.
"Management that is destructively critical when mistakes are
made kills initiative. And it's essential that we have many
people with initiative if we are to continue to grow.“
-William McKnight, 3M Chairman, 1948
The myths
of
innovation
Scott Berkunwww.scottberkun.com
Web Directions SouthSydney, Australia
Photo Credits
• http://www.sxc.hu/photo/127397• http://www.sxc.hu/photo/653541
• Rome: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/53/Colosseum_in_Rome%2C_Italy_-_April_2007.jpg
• http://solarsystem.nasa.gov/multimedia/gallery• http://www.learnhistory.org.uk/cpp/luddites.htm
• http://www.sxc.hu/photo/456847• http://www.sxc.hu/photo/618860
• http://www.sxc.hu/photo/780429 (Phone)• http://interactivetools.com/staff/dave/damons_office/
Top Related