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Title: How Breakthroughs Happen: The Surprising Truth About How Companies Innovate by Andrew Hargadon, Kathleen M. Eisenhardt ISBN: 1-57851-904-7 Publisher: Harvard Business School Press Pub. Date: 05 June, 2003 Format: Hardcover Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $29.95 |
Average Customer Rating: 5 (3 reviews)
Rating: 5
Summary: The Lone Genius Myth Must Die!
Comment: The Summary:
This is book looks to answer the question, "Can Innovation really be routine?" This book not only answers that questions but actually gets into the details of "How". The title of the book is "How Breakthroughs Happen" and Hargadon definitely successfully explains the 'How'. He doesn't proclaim that it is easy, but he does give a road map of how to achieve innovation through technology brokering, he even explains the different paths that apply to different types of companies. This book is ambitious since it is going to go in the face of popular belief that innovation is the sole province of geniuses. But it also isn't just another create an "innovative work space" through giving break/games rooms, adding free soda machines and providing all employees with Herman Miller chairs! This isn't a superficial answer to innovation; you can't just throw money at this and hope that innovation will just happen! But follow his rules and strategies you should be able to create an environment where recombinant ideas can flourish.
The central thesis of the book is that Innovation can be achieved through some best practices but first companies need to overcome the romantic preconception that innovation is the sole province of lone geniuses. Hargadon is a social scientist that has been researching innovation for the past decade. He explores the concept of technology brokering and creating Innovation factories a subject he first wrote about in a Harvard Business Review article - Building an Innovation Factory.
Hargadon's research explores in detail Edison's Menlo Park as an example of one of the first documented innovation brokerages. He also looks at modern day examples such as IDEO (a company he has worked at) and Design Continuum.
One of the most interesting topics that is discussed is the debunking of the 'Lone Genius Myth' and how the media could be responsible for putting American companies years behind the Innovation race by propagating and even probably being the original instigators of this myth. America's love affair with heroes is behind this myth; everyone wants to believe the stories of the lone genius in the garage inventing the next great technology that will change the world. This is not to say that lone geniuses don't come up with great inventions, but more to the point, they aren't the only source of innovation. Hargadon even goes as far as to explore the theory that Edison propagated this myth as a marketing exercise, he tapped into the America's need for heroes and played up his role as the lone inventor in the lab. In actuality his lab was a perfect example of innovation factory. He had a lot of very smart engineers that worked at the lab and most of his long list of inventions was really a product of their combined genius.
Menlo Park, New Jersey represented the first dedicated R&D facility and showed the industrial world the power of organized innovation. Menlo Park exemplifies Hargadon's model for innovation; by linking people, objects and ideas together from diverse worlds of knowledge you can create an environment where innovation through recombination happens. An modern day example of 'Recombinant Innovation' is taken from Design Continuum; they combined the concept of an 'inflatable splint' and a basketball shoe to create the concept of a basketball shoe that is used to prevent injuries by providing inflatable ankle support. They created these 'air bladders' from medical IV bags.
Menlo Park created an environment where recombinant innovation could happen by modeling the lab on machine shops from which Edison emerged. These machine shops were where mechanics and independent entrepreneurs/inventors worked side by side, sharing tools/machines, stories and inevitably ideas. Edison built his organization to redistribute the ideas emerging from the telegraph industry and applying it to any new industry that electricity was being applied to. By bringing these diverse industries together, by creating an environment where people with diverse background worked on diverse projects, side by side he had created one of the first Innovation Factories. People, Industries and ideas were brought together in an environment conducive to sharing.
Hargadon goes on to explain some of the underpinnings of his theory drawing from network theory and the theory of "small worlds". He then gets into the "how" by showing different brokering strategies:
- A company committed to a full time strategy i.e. IDEO, Menlo Park
- Remain focused on the core business but dedicate groups that bridge different worlds (departments) and help broker ideas - Xerox Parc, 3M's Optical Technology Center
- Develop a strategy to seize on one-time opportunities for brokering i.e. Microsoft and building the Xbox.
Hargadon completes the book by listing 8 rules that are the basis of an organized pursuit of innovation through technology brokering.
If you truly want to create an innovation factory, you should read this book and then apply what it teaches you.
Rating: 5
Summary: Excellent for managers and the MBA classroom
Comment: I have already been using Hargadon's research in MBA-level electives in innovation and technology management for its valuable insights to the managerial audience. Hargadon shows how innovation is intrinsically a social and cultural process (rather than the act of the isolated genius), and as a consequence, innovation is something that must be managed. The main advantage of Hargadon's work for a general managerial audience is it provides a theory of innovation that is adaptable to a wide-range of industries and technological settings, but at the same time eminently actionable with concrete recommendations and compelling, vivid examples that facilitate learning. Unlike most research on innovation that is narrowly focused on high-tech industries, Hargadon explores innovation as a general social process that is as important in areas as varied as mass manufacturing processes, specialty consumer products, and professional services. The book helps managers understand the importance of social structure and cultural context to the innovation process. In the process of explaining innovation, the book also introduces managers to complex theoretical issues around social structure and culture in a clear way that can be usefully applied by managers to arenas other than innovation. I will be assigning the book in my class this year as it compiles the previous research and adds new insights and cases in a handy and interesting package for the student.
Rating: 5
Summary: A significant contribution to several disciplines!
Comment: With this book, Dr. Hargadon has managed to take several concepts being explored in a number of disciplines and give them clarity, life, and meaning. His exploration of the true nature of innovation has a lot to teach us, cutting across traditional academic and professional boundaries. As someone operating in the world of knowledge transfer in the Canadian health sector, I have already begun to incorporate many of Dr. Hargadon's ideas into my work - to my great benefit. This is a must read and a great contribution to the area of knowledge transfer and knowledge brokering.
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Title: The Innovator's Solution: Creating and Sustaining Successful Growth by Clayton M. Christensen, Michael E. Raynor ISBN: 1578518520 Publisher: Harvard Business School Press Pub. Date: September, 2003 List Price(USD): $29.95 |
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Title: Open Innovation: The New Imperative for Creating and Profiting from Technology by Henry William Chesbrough ISBN: 1578518377 Publisher: Harvard Business School Press Pub. Date: 01 March, 2003 List Price(USD): $35.00 |
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Title: Experimentation Matters: Unlocking the Potential of New Technologies for Innovation by Stefan H. Thomke ISBN: 1578517508 Publisher: Harvard Business School Press Pub. Date: 12 June, 2003 List Price(USD): $35.00 |
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Title: The Slow Pace of Fast Change: Bringing Innovations to Market in a Connected World by Bhaskar Chakravorti ISBN: 157851780X Publisher: Harvard Business School Press Pub. Date: 12 June, 2003 List Price(USD): $29.95 |
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Title: Creativity Inc.: Building an Inventive Organization by Jeff Mauzy, Richard A. Harriman ISBN: 1578512077 Publisher: Harvard Business School Press Pub. Date: 16 April, 2003 List Price(USD): $27.50 |
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