Join getAbstract to access the summary!
Join getAbstract to access the summary!
Tom Kelley and Jonathan Littman
The Ten Faces of Innovation
Strategies for Heightening Creativity
Profile Books, 2006
What's inside?
Role playing isn't just for actors. Trying out new worldviews to experiment with ideas could be good for your business.
Recommendation
Welcome to an enjoyable, easy read – which is not to dismiss Tom Kelley's fine ideas. With the aid of Jonathan Littman, Kelley works throughout this book to show how innovation can be much more painless than most people think, and more fun. Kelley makes thinking collaboratively sound like a blast. In the process, he convinces you that your organization should nurture and cherish playing with ideas. Although he admits that his consulting company, IDEO, found itself grinding along on tedious projects at times, and that he has watched people shoot down perfectly good suggestions, his underlying message is one of open possibility. He presents 10 roles you can play during meetings, any one of which would be enough to add considerable value. By showing that these roles are temporary, he sends the message that if you want to stay competitive, you can change, and even must. As he examines everything from product names to rules governing how workers decorate their cubicles, Kelley demonstrates the many opportunities you have to create something new. The cost is often little or nothing; sometimes innovation simply means getting out of your employees' way. getAbstract recommends this book to managers who wish to break old patterns and encourage creative thought companywide.
About the Authors
Tom Kelley, who wrote The Art of Innovation, is managing director of IDEO, a creative design and innovation consultancy. Jonathan Littman is a contributing editor of the magazine Red Herring, and author of The Fugitive Game and The Watchman.
Comment on this summary