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Juice: The Creative Fuel That Drives World-Class Inventors
Building value in our global economy increasingly demands creating new opportunities and solving new problems. In a nutshell, that's what inventors do. Just as software has driven growth and opened new markets over the past generation, invention is poised to become the X-factor for the future. With a foreword by former Microsoft research chief Nathan Myhrvold, this groundbreaking book takes us inside the laboratories and inside the minds of some of today's leading inventors to demystify the critical process by which they imagine and create.
Evan I. Schwartz argues that invention has remained steeped in myth and misunderstanding. We tend to view invention as a byproduct of accidental discovery or supernatural genius rather than what it truly a focused quest fueled by a special creativity latent in each of us. Juice juxtaposes the stories of classic inventors with a new breed of innovators, such as hypersonic sound inventor Woody Norris, genomics pioneer Lee Hood, mechanical whiz Dean Kamen, and business systems inventor Jay Walker. Schwartz reveals the brilliant strategies—including pinpointing problems, crossing knowledge boundaries, visualizing results, applying analogies, and embracing failure—that today's inventors use to journey beyond imagination and bring back ideas that can change the world.
Evan I. Schwartz argues that invention has remained steeped in myth and misunderstanding. We tend to view invention as a byproduct of accidental discovery or supernatural genius rather than what it truly a focused quest fueled by a special creativity latent in each of us. Juice juxtaposes the stories of classic inventors with a new breed of innovators, such as hypersonic sound inventor Woody Norris, genomics pioneer Lee Hood, mechanical whiz Dean Kamen, and business systems inventor Jay Walker. Schwartz reveals the brilliant strategies—including pinpointing problems, crossing knowledge boundaries, visualizing results, applying analogies, and embracing failure—that today's inventors use to journey beyond imagination and bring back ideas that can change the world.
224 pages, Hardcover
First published September 1, 2004
1 person is currently reading
68 people want to read
About the author
Evan I. Schwartz
7 books9 followersEvan I. Schwartz writes about history, innovation, tech, music, and media.
He is the author of The Last Lone Inventor: A Tale of Genius, Deceit, and the Birth of Television (HarperCollins), named by Amazon Books as one of “100 Biographies & Memoirs to Read in a Lifetime.”
His book Finding Oz: How L. Frank Baum Discovered the Great American Story (Houghton Mifflin) is a narrative about the origins of a cultural icon, The Wizard of Oz.
His first book, Webonomics, was the #24 bestselling book on Amazon.com for the year 1997 (when only geeks bought stuff on the Internet), and his second book, Digital Darwinism, was a New York Times bestseller. Both are published by Broadway/Random House.
His 2021 book, REVOLVER: a novel, was issued as a free paperback, direct by mail, from the Concord Free Press, a 501c3 that promotes generosity through reading.
Schwartz has taught writing at Boston University and Tufts University.
He is the author of The Last Lone Inventor: A Tale of Genius, Deceit, and the Birth of Television (HarperCollins), named by Amazon Books as one of “100 Biographies & Memoirs to Read in a Lifetime.”
His book Finding Oz: How L. Frank Baum Discovered the Great American Story (Houghton Mifflin) is a narrative about the origins of a cultural icon, The Wizard of Oz.
His first book, Webonomics, was the #24 bestselling book on Amazon.com for the year 1997 (when only geeks bought stuff on the Internet), and his second book, Digital Darwinism, was a New York Times bestseller. Both are published by Broadway/Random House.
His 2021 book, REVOLVER: a novel, was issued as a free paperback, direct by mail, from the Concord Free Press, a 501c3 that promotes generosity through reading.
Schwartz has taught writing at Boston University and Tufts University.
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
January 12, 2021
Really good book. I will actually put it on my re-read list. Fascinating stuff, i do think inventors brains function differently.
July 25, 2008
Juice: The Creative Fuel That Drives World-Class Inventors
Evan I. Schwartz
Harvard Business School Press
Schwartz brilliantly explains "the creative fuel that drives world-class inventors" while explaining, also, that each of them followed a process by which to create possibilities. More specifically, by pinpointing problems to be solved, recognizing what are usually interconnected patterns, "channeling chance" (i.e. serendipity), eliminating or transcending boundaries, detecting barriers in order to remove or overcome them, recognizing and applying appropriate analogies, visualizing probable results, embracing each failure as a learning opportunity, "multiplying insights" as they reveal themselves, and at all times "thinking schematically" (i.e. cohesively). Yes, that's a mouthful but essentially what the process of invention involves. It bears striking similarities with how the human mind functions.
All of the inventors whom Schwartz discusses in this book channeled their creative "juice" the right way. By making new and unexpected connections, they produced that special form of creativity known as invention. According to Schwartz, there has never been a prior time when the need for inventions was greater, inventions that can alleviate and eventually eliminate the world's problems in areas such as healthcare, nutrition, and education. It is Schwartz's expressed hope that those who read this book will be better prepared to "turn on the juice" of their own inventiveness. "We know that brainstorms are electrical, and you need to have many of them if you want to change the world.... So, let's turn on the juice and see what shakes loose."
The Keystone Advantage: What the New Dynamics of Business Ecosystems Mean for Strategy, Innovation, and Sustainability
Marco Iansiti and Roy Levien
Harvard Business School Press
Iansiti and Levien explain "what the new dynamics of business ecosystems mean for strategy, innovation, and sustainability." They point out that, in recent years, in industries as different as personal computers and personal care products, "companies [have] leveraged multiple organizations in distributed supply chains, integrated technological components from a variety of business alliances, collaborated with a number of channel partners to distribute their products, and leveraged complementary services from banks, insurance providers, or retailers." As a result, many industries have been forced to create or become involved in a fully networked structure, one "in which even the simplest product or service is now the result of collaboration among many different organizations." For example, Microsoft and Wal-Mart have a decisive competitive advantage in large measure because they are "keystone" companies in their respective ecosystems. More specifically, both of them understand that “their fate is shared with that of the other members of their business network. Rather than focusing primarily on their internal capabilities (as many of their competitors did), they emphasize the collective properties of the business networks in which they participate, and treat these more like organic ecosystems than traditional supply chain partners. They understand their individual impact on the health of these ecosystems and the respective impact of ecosystem health on their own performance...[For that reason] "a new, holistic approach to strategy is critical to an increasingly broad range of firms in our economy as they face the new set of challenges and responsibilities created by competing in business ecosystems."
All organizations involved in a given ecosystem must, of course, rigorously monitor but also take an active role in nourishing that system's health so as to promote and facilitate the leveraging of an enduring and evolving core. However, it remains for keystones to provide both the vision and the leadership needed, especially in response to market design, operation, and competition. They must also facilitate and support integration, innovation, and adaptation within their ecosystem. "This is the price that keystones must pay for their privileged position at the hub of a business network and as owners of enduring assets: Keystones must manage the health of their ecosystems as a key business strategy. The challenge for each niche player is to decide in which ecosystem to become actively involved with, and, with which keystones to be associated in a strategic alliance.
Evan I. Schwartz
Harvard Business School Press
Schwartz brilliantly explains "the creative fuel that drives world-class inventors" while explaining, also, that each of them followed a process by which to create possibilities. More specifically, by pinpointing problems to be solved, recognizing what are usually interconnected patterns, "channeling chance" (i.e. serendipity), eliminating or transcending boundaries, detecting barriers in order to remove or overcome them, recognizing and applying appropriate analogies, visualizing probable results, embracing each failure as a learning opportunity, "multiplying insights" as they reveal themselves, and at all times "thinking schematically" (i.e. cohesively). Yes, that's a mouthful but essentially what the process of invention involves. It bears striking similarities with how the human mind functions.
All of the inventors whom Schwartz discusses in this book channeled their creative "juice" the right way. By making new and unexpected connections, they produced that special form of creativity known as invention. According to Schwartz, there has never been a prior time when the need for inventions was greater, inventions that can alleviate and eventually eliminate the world's problems in areas such as healthcare, nutrition, and education. It is Schwartz's expressed hope that those who read this book will be better prepared to "turn on the juice" of their own inventiveness. "We know that brainstorms are electrical, and you need to have many of them if you want to change the world.... So, let's turn on the juice and see what shakes loose."
The Keystone Advantage: What the New Dynamics of Business Ecosystems Mean for Strategy, Innovation, and Sustainability
Marco Iansiti and Roy Levien
Harvard Business School Press
Iansiti and Levien explain "what the new dynamics of business ecosystems mean for strategy, innovation, and sustainability." They point out that, in recent years, in industries as different as personal computers and personal care products, "companies [have] leveraged multiple organizations in distributed supply chains, integrated technological components from a variety of business alliances, collaborated with a number of channel partners to distribute their products, and leveraged complementary services from banks, insurance providers, or retailers." As a result, many industries have been forced to create or become involved in a fully networked structure, one "in which even the simplest product or service is now the result of collaboration among many different organizations." For example, Microsoft and Wal-Mart have a decisive competitive advantage in large measure because they are "keystone" companies in their respective ecosystems. More specifically, both of them understand that “their fate is shared with that of the other members of their business network. Rather than focusing primarily on their internal capabilities (as many of their competitors did), they emphasize the collective properties of the business networks in which they participate, and treat these more like organic ecosystems than traditional supply chain partners. They understand their individual impact on the health of these ecosystems and the respective impact of ecosystem health on their own performance...[For that reason] "a new, holistic approach to strategy is critical to an increasingly broad range of firms in our economy as they face the new set of challenges and responsibilities created by competing in business ecosystems."
All organizations involved in a given ecosystem must, of course, rigorously monitor but also take an active role in nourishing that system's health so as to promote and facilitate the leveraging of an enduring and evolving core. However, it remains for keystones to provide both the vision and the leadership needed, especially in response to market design, operation, and competition. They must also facilitate and support integration, innovation, and adaptation within their ecosystem. "This is the price that keystones must pay for their privileged position at the hub of a business network and as owners of enduring assets: Keystones must manage the health of their ecosystems as a key business strategy. The challenge for each niche player is to decide in which ecosystem to become actively involved with, and, with which keystones to be associated in a strategic alliance.
April 20, 2013
Interesting book. Schwartz talks about some of the top inventors of the world, and how they came to invent new products and services. My favorite parts were the tales about the inventors - their backstories, if you will.
Schwartz attempts to divide the inventors in to various classes based on how he believes they came up with their inventions: Pinpointing Problems, Recognizing Patterns, Transcending Boundaries, Detecting Barriers, Applying Analogies, Visualizing Results, and so on.
I had a hard time with this as I think all the inventors did most of the things he discusses, but I do applaud Schwartz for attempting to analyze this and for coming up with his theories and trying to justify them.
For me, the book would have been better had it told all the inventors' stories first, and then gotten in to Schwartz's theories and conclusions.
Schwartz attempts to divide the inventors in to various classes based on how he believes they came up with their inventions: Pinpointing Problems, Recognizing Patterns, Transcending Boundaries, Detecting Barriers, Applying Analogies, Visualizing Results, and so on.
I had a hard time with this as I think all the inventors did most of the things he discusses, but I do applaud Schwartz for attempting to analyze this and for coming up with his theories and trying to justify them.
For me, the book would have been better had it told all the inventors' stories first, and then gotten in to Schwartz's theories and conclusions.
April 2, 2011
Very inspiring book. Love it.
Read
November 30, 2009Interesting, but a little slow, thought it would give more feedback on how to bring out invention.
Read
September 22, 2010Excelent to travel trough creative minds
November 15, 2012
Inspired me to continue inventing.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews