The Idea Factory: Bell Labs and the Great Age of American Innovation

by Jon Gertner

Of course, these two philosophies—that individuals as well as groups were necessary for innovation—weren’t mutually exclusive. It was the individual from which all ideas originated, and the group (or the multiple groups) to which the ideas, and eventually the innovation responsibilities, were transferred. The handoffs often proceeded in logical progression: from the scientist pursuing with his colleagues a basic understanding in the research department, to the applied scientist working with a team in the development side, to a group of engineers working on production at Western Electric. What’s more, in the right environment, a group or wise colleague could provoke an individual toward an insight, too. In the midst of Shannon’s career, some lawyers in the patent department at Bell Labs decided to study whether there was an organizing principle that could explain why certain individuals at the Labs were more productive than others. They discerned only one common thread: Workers with the most patents often shared lunch or breakfast with a Bell Labs electrical engineer named Harry Nyquist. It wasn’t the case that Nyquist gave them specific ideas. Rather, as one scientist recalled, “he drew people out, got them thinking.” More than anything, Nyquist asked good questions.41