Cambridge Business Association
Innovation
Book

Innovation

Create an Idea Culture, Redefine Your Business, Grow Your Profits.

Tom Gorman
Adams Media, 2007
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Editorial Rating

6

Qualities

  • Applicable
  • Concrete Examples
  • For Beginners

Recommendation

“Innovation” is a hot buzzword that’s generated a lot of confusion. Early on, Tom Gorman emphasizes that he, for one, does not limit his definition of innovation to revolutionary change, nor to the fundamental transformation of a product. Instead, he defines innovation as any “product, service or process” that springs from a new idea. Innovation, he says, can be a matter of marketing or packaging. He has no new theories, nor even many new tips – but he provides a clear, extremely accessible introduction to the innovation process, demystifying it so you’ll feel almost irresistibly drawn to take part in it. With its definitions of key words and breakdown of complex realities into manageable stages and diagrams, Gorman’s book is a good beginner’s guide; and his integration of multiple models and all divisions of an organization may give even experienced innovators additional tools. getAbstract suggests that you stick this bright little manual into your back pocket, and get to work.

Summary

What is Innovation?

Innovation is making something new based on a new idea. Simply coming up with the idea doesn’t qualify you as an innovator: You must use it to produce something in the real world. As you develop ideas, you move from an initial flash of possibility into something larger, more specific and more focused. Rather than remaining potential, an innovation – a new “product, service or process” – solves a real problem. Innovation is thus satisfying in and of itself, but it is also a way to make money. In fact, you could say that innovation drives the world economy. People and businesses will always have problems to solve.

Thus, innovation can happen in many ways – for example, what Apple did with the personal computer. Apple didn’t invent the computer. Other people did, and businesses were already using computers when Apple came on the scene. However, the large mainframe computers of the time were hard to use. IBM dominated the mainframe market, but it didn’t lead the way to smaller computers. DEC developed a minicomputer – but even DEC “didn’t develop and popularize the microcomputer – Apple did.” It took an existing product, shrunk it, redesigned it and...

About the Author

Tom Gorman has an M.B.A. from New York University, and has written or co-written more than 15 business books.

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