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5th out of 30 books
—
25 voters
The Innovator's DNA: Mastering the Five Skills of Disruptive Innovators
Master the discovery skills that distinguish innovative entrepreneurs and executives from ordinary managers. In "The Innovator's DNA," the authors identify five capabilities demonstrated by the best innovators.
Hardcover, 304 pages
Published
July 19th 2011
by Harvard Business Review Press
(first published July 12th 2011)
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With exemplar innovators and successful innovating companies examples this books dwells on the whys and hows of their essence as innovation agents in under to help the reader understand what needs to be done to be an effective innovator. The book is divided into two chapters, one for individuals and one for companies. The regular reader may find the insights useful and might want to incorporate a couple of suggestions into their life. However, as most management books, the ideas and suggestions...more
The concepts are great and definitely worth incorporating into your daily life, but all of the important information can be found in the HBR article they wrote - the book just adds anecdotal stories from the lives of successful innovators. Some of the cases were so tied to business that I found them contradictory when trying to apply them to the citizen or government sectors. There are 4 skills to practice, which culminate in the skill of association, or connecting various fields and ideas. That...more
This book is excellent. If the CEO of a certain company is a creative innovator at heart or better yet a "disruptive" innovator, he will lead a group of other innovators. If not....simply more of the same, deliverers. Super compelling reason why we need to think seriously about why we need many more creative people instead of adding more technology in our industries and the world, for that matter. We have way too much technology, now we need to find a way to counter it with many, many more creat...more
The research piece behind this book might be the next thing I read, as I'm intrigued by the academic rigor applied.
The reveal and living examples of the five skills - questioning, networking, experimenting, observing and associating - are tangible and approachable given their articulation through well-known and highly visible entrepreneurs running innovative companies. There's much to be gleaned by looking at the way these people behave and, even through simple emulation, enhancing one's own ski...more
The reveal and living examples of the five skills - questioning, networking, experimenting, observing and associating - are tangible and approachable given their articulation through well-known and highly visible entrepreneurs running innovative companies. There's much to be gleaned by looking at the way these people behave and, even through simple emulation, enhancing one's own ski...more
I found the way the authors approached the topic of innovation to be at odds with the overall structure of the book. This dichotomy was distracting. While the book is about innovative entrepreneurs, thinking outside the box, and what it takes to master those skills, the authors presented the information in an extremely structured, traditional, and data heavy format. It seemed strange to be posturing that one could up their innovation quotient through a structured set of contrived behaviors. The...more
Innovation gurus Jeff Dyer, Hal Gregersen and Clayton M. Christensen studied today’s innovators and synthesized their findings into this immediately applicable handbook. They never oversimplify or suggest that innovation always succeeds, but they do indicate that the practices they identified in their research correlate with commercial achievement. getAbstract recommends their expert compilation to those who want to become more innovative, to business leaders seeking to revitalize their firms an...more
I love every book I've ever read written by Clayton Christensen. This book describes five characteristics that all innovators share in common: Associating, Questioning, Observing, Networking, and Experimenting. I would like to develop these skills to help me in my career. After the first section of individual skills developed by innovators, he lists out companies that share this same DNA structure and are able to innovate in the marketplace. I found this book, like all the other Christensen book...more
"Filled with practical exercises for building innovation capacity. The biggest takeaway? Companies most consistent performance for innovation had innovative leaders at the top through all product cycles. Nods are also given to the critical importance of execution skills but the author shows clear distinction in the two skill sets supported by the research he conducted.
C suite leaders who model innovative behaviors that emerged from the research, lead organizations that consistently deliver inno...more
C suite leaders who model innovative behaviors that emerged from the research, lead organizations that consistently deliver inno...more
It took a sheer force of will to finish this because a friend of mine wanted to borrow it. At the conclusion of my first reading, I felt like I had heard the same quotes and same ideas over and over so many times that I marveled how Jeff Dyer, Hal Gregersen could write the same chapter 10 times and get Clayton Christensen to let them put his name on it (I say that because I don't ever sense Clay's voice throughout the mini-tome). The book is so repetitive, I had to wonder if they had put on an e...more
Didn't really like it. Too much Steve Jobs boosterism, and I don't agree with the basic premise that if we all get to be better innovators, we can be like Steve Jobs too. That's not really a goal I aspire to, frankly, nor do I think it's possible.
However, there is some helpful language here that will help those in the delivery chain think more creatively about discovering areas for improvement.
However, there is some helpful language here that will help those in the delivery chain think more creatively about discovering areas for improvement.
the deconstruction of some of the greatest innovators and innovative companies of our century..
The illustrations and examples shows the depth of research done...
its for anyone who wants to understand, after all how those greats people were and how those great companies functions..
The illustrations and examples shows the depth of research done...
its for anyone who wants to understand, after all how those greats people were and how those great companies functions..
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Books let you take away something , it is how you perceive them with that thought there are take away from this book as well, some simple practial ways to increase your creativity, the five pointers take away.
Great book this – nearly five stars
The identification of five innovation skills is powerful:
• Associative thinking
• Networking (for ideas, not resources)
• Questioning
• Observing
• Experimenting
The last four of these are skills that can be learned or improved. One of the main takeaways of the book is that innovation is a learnt skill, not a natural ability.
Also interesting to note is that these skills are very different from those of an execution oriented executive. Much of innovating is somewhat...more
The identification of five innovation skills is powerful:
• Associative thinking
• Networking (for ideas, not resources)
• Questioning
• Observing
• Experimenting
The last four of these are skills that can be learned or improved. One of the main takeaways of the book is that innovation is a learnt skill, not a natural ability.
Also interesting to note is that these skills are very different from those of an execution oriented executive. Much of innovating is somewhat...more
This is a good book for skimming. The entire concept, action plan & tips would have made just a few pages or a chapter at most. Good concepts. Best to borrow from the library instead of purchase.
A few good ideas and packed in here with about 200 pages of filler. Read the first three pages of each chapter then skip to the next and you'll get as much out of this book as I did.
Love Clayton Christensen (co-wrote it) and found the "discovery" vs "delivery" skills framework a useful way to compare and contrast larger company CEOs to entrepreneurs.
Great book for those looking to find that spark for innovation. Lots of tips and exercises to get you started in thinking in different ways. My only critique is that I've read quite a few books about culture, innovation, creativity and the such and every book uses the same examples for companies. Surely there is more than a handful of companies out there that are doing amazing things. Sure they may not be Fortune 500 companies but I would like to see some other examples.
Innovation isn't just about being creative, it's about building the right skills. Anyone can be "innovative" if they practice the right skills to get there.
Nice thoughts about innovation. Some good ways to come up with creative ideas. Well written. Seems to be written for business people more than creative writers, photographers, designers, etc., though they could learn a thing or two by reading it.
Oct 06, 2012
John Gorman
added it
Some good points, but should have remained an article rather than a book for the amoun of real content.
Jun 17, 2012
Smartowl09
is currently reading it
Discovery vs. delivery skills - key differention between an innovator and a manager.
Good, but nothing earth-shattering here.
The past five months I have been a part of an innovation team for my company and I see this book as a must read for anyone working in my area. Reading this book has been a great reinforcement to the challenges and direction we are striving to create.
I would recommend this book to anyone who really is trying to unleash their own innovation skills on thinking differently. The principles in this book are evident in successful entrepreneurs and the companies that desire to be successful in the years...more
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Nov 23, 2012
Emily Leathers
is currently reading it
read sample, self better
Pretty good overview of what it takes to be an "innovator". Recommended.
Empowering!
I really enjoyed reading this (slightly formulaic) book because it gave me some very tangible starting points to start working on the innovation culture in my organization. By looking at behavioural habits of innovators (observing, questioning, networking and experimenting) they demystify innovation show how anybody can do more associating. One of the most useful distinction they made is the one between delivery skills and discovery skills. This book has given me some good language to argue my c...more
A typical HBR publication - a bit repetitive, but with solid examples and ideas to improve your own innovation factors.
Informative, but not nearly as awesome as the Innovator's Dilemma.
| topics | posts | views | last activity | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Innovative thinking is really Learnt!! | 1 | 2 | Jun 13, 2012 08:59am |
