Thinking About Innovation

Innovation leads to change, sometimes subtle and sometimes drastic, but always impactful to the organization, its leaders, its followers, and its partners. The business landscape is always facing new challenges and responding to innovative ideas. The internet age has now given rise to the age of artificial intelligence which is forcing all businesses to rethink their strategies and to redesign their business models. This trigger may be new, but the process of change has been constant for decades or even centuries. Inspiration and insight for dealing with these challenges can be found in dozens of different industries.

The essays in this book explore the current impacts of AI as well as the equally important historic emergence of coffee houses in Europe, the formation of the Royal Society of science, the disruption of the art world in the 1960's, the transformation of baseball recruiting in the 1980's, and dozens of other situations like these. Innovation and transformation happen everywhere all the time, offering a wealth of lessons and insights.

For over 300 years, the guiding motto of the Royal Society of scientists and mathematicians has been the Latin phrase "Nullius in Verba" or "Take nobody's word for it." This insistence on questioning established beliefs, testing new ideas, and seeking new knowledge has sparked of the Age of Enlightenment, the Industrial Revolution, the Information Age, and the Age of Artificial Intelligence. Leaders who are blazing new trails will find insightful, informative, and stimulating perspectives on innovation theory, practice, culture, and leadership. These essays have been the most popular column in one of the leading research management journals for ten years. They are now collected into a single volume.

Thinking About Innovation is a guidebook for inspiring leaders who are faced with new and unique challenges that require a change to their traditional perspective.