Iconoclast, by Gregory Berns

No organization can survive without iconoclasts — innovators who single-handedly upturn conventional wisdom and manage to achieve what so many others deem impossible.Though indispensable, true iconoclasts are few and far between. In Iconoclast, neuroscientist Gregory Berns explains why. He explores the constraints the human brain places on innovative thinking, including fear of failure, the urge to conform, and the tendency to interpret sensory information in familiar ways.

Through vivid accounts of successful innovators ranging from glass artist Dale Chihuly to physicist Richard Feynman to country/rock trio the Dixie Chicks, Berns reveals the inner workings of the iconoclast’s mind with remarkable clarity. Each engaging chapter goes on to describe practical actions we can each take to understand and unleash our own potential to think differently — such as seeking out new environments, novel experiences, and first-time acquaintances.

Packed with engaging stories, science-based insights, potent practices, and examples from a startling array of disciplines, this engaging book will help you understand how iconoclasts think and equip you to begin thinking more like an iconoclast yourself.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Gregory Berns, MD, PhD, is professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Emory University. He has written for numerous science publications and has been interviewed on National Public Radio, CNN, and ABC’s Primetime. He has been profiled frequently in the Wall Street Journal, New York Times, and other media.

Mastering the Hype Cycle, by Jackie Fenn and Mark Raskino

It happens over and over again. Some innovation (a new product, a management trend) comes along that captures the public’s imagination. Everybody joins the parade with great fanfare and high expectations. This “next big thing” promises to transform the companies that adopt it — and inflict great peril on those that don’t.

Then, when the innovation fails to deliver as promised immediately, everyone starts bailing out. Investments are wasted; stock prices plunge; disillusionment sets in.

It doesn’t have to be this way. In Mastering the Hype Cycle, Jackie Fenn and Mark Raskino explain what drives this pattern and how your company can avoid its potential dangers. By understanding the hype cycle, you can ride it more skillfully — timing your investment decisions so that the innovations you adopt stand the best chance of succeeding in the long-term.

Drawing on company examples and Gartner’s proven STREET (Scope, Track, Rank, Evaluate, Evangelize, Transfer) framework, the authors show how to orchestrate the key steps in the innovation-adoption process — from choosing which innovations to take on and when in their life cycle you should adopt, to paving the way for a successful introduction.

The hype cycle isn’t going away. But this book arms you with the strategies you need to ride the crest of a new idea to success — and steer clear of the trough of disillusionment.

ABOUT THE AUTHORS

Jackie Fenn is a vice president and Gartner Fellow in Gartner Research. She focuses on innovation management issues and emerging technology trends. Mark Raskino is a vice president and Gartner Fellow in Gartner Research, specializing in emerging trends.

The Innovator’s Guide to Growth, by Scott Anthony, Mark Johnson, Joseph Sinfield, and Elizabeth Altman

“…the authors have provided a model that should help companies spot and seize opportunities for growth.” — Financial Times

More than a decade ago, Clayton Christensen’s breakthrough book The Innovator’s Dilemma illustrated how disruptive innovations drive industry transformation and market creation. Christensen’s research demonstrated how growth-seeking incumbents must develop the capability to deflect disruptive attacks and seize disruptive opportunities.

In The Innovator’s Guide to Growth, Scott Anthony, Mark Johnson, Joseph Sinfield, and Elizabeth Altman take the subject to the next level: implementation. The authors explain how to create this crucial capability for unlocking disruption’s transformational power. With a foreword by Christensen, this book provides a set of market-proven tools and approaches to innovation that have been honed through fieldwork with innovative companies like Procter & Gamble, Johnson & Johnson, Pepsi, Intel, Motorola, SAP, and Cisco Systems. The book shows you how to:

• Follow a market-proven process — so your company can reliably create blockbuster businesses
• Create structures, systems, and metrics — so the disruptive innovations that will power your firm’s future growth receive the funding and personnel needed to succeed
• Create a common language of disruptive innovation — so managers can reach consensus around counterintuitive courses of action

Incisive and practical, this book helps your company take the steps necessary to benefit from disruption — instead of being eclipsed by it.

ABOUT THE AUTHORS

Scott D. Anthony is president of Innosight, a consultancy cofounded by Clayton Christensen that helps organizations build innovation expertise. Mark W. Johnson is chairman and cofounder of Innosight. Joseph V. Sinfield is a senior partner at Innosight and an assistant professor of civil engineering at Purdue University. Elizabeth J. Altman is vice president of strategy and business development in Motorola’s Mobile Devices business.

The Art of Possibility, by Benjamin Zander and Rosamund Stone Zander

In their playing you hear not only precision, color and balance, but thunder, lightning and the language of the heart. This is what the Boston Globe said about a performance by conductor Benjamin Zander with the Boston Philharmonic Orchestra, but it could apply equally to the Zanders’ inspirational book, the product of a synthesis of the diverse worlds of the symphony orchestra and cutting-edge psychology.

The Art of Possibility offers a set of breakthrough practices for creativity in all human enterprises. Infused with the energy of their dynamic partnership, the book joins together Ben’s extraordinary talent as a mover and shaker, teacher, and communicator, with Rosamund Stone Zander’s genius for creating innovative paradigms for personal and professional fulfillment. In lively counterpoint, the authors provide us with a deep sense of the powerful role that the notion of possibility can play in every aspect of our lives.

ABOUT THE AUTHORS

Rosamund Stone Zander is a family therapist and a landscape painter. Benjamin Zander is the conductor of the Boston Philharmonic Orchestra and a professor at the New England Conservatory of Music.

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The Innovator’s Solution, by Clayton Christensen and Michael Raynor

“…valuable tool for every aspiring upstart–whether you’re inside a billion-dollar company or have a billion-dollar glimmer in your eye.” – Fast CompanyIn the worldwide bestseller The Innovator’s Dilemma, Clayton M. Christensen exposed a crushing paradox behind the failure of many industry leaders. By doing what good companies were supposed to do-focus on pleasing their most profitable customers-leaders were paving the way for their own demise. How? By ignoring “disruptive technologies”-new, cheaper innovations that initially target small customer segments but evolve to displace the reigning product.

Now, Christensen and coauthor Michael E. Raynor cut the Gordian knot of the “innovator’s dilemma” with The Innovator’s Solution. This groundbreaking book reveals that innovation is not as unpredictable as most managers have come to believe. While the outcomes of past innovations seem random, the process by which innovations are packaged and shaped within companies is very predictable. By understanding and managing the forces that influence this process, companies can shape high-octane business plans that create truly disruptive growth.

Drawing on years of in-depth research and using new theories tested in hundreds of companies across many industries, the authors identify the processes that create successful innovations, and show managers how to tailor their strategies to the changing circumstances of a dynamic world.

Comprehensive yet practical, The Innovator’s Solution is an actionable prescription for innovation-driven, profitable growth.

ABOUT THE AUTHORS

Clayton M. Christensen, D.B.A., is the Robert and Jane Cizik Professor of Business Administration, with a joint appointment in Technology and Operations Management and General Management, at the Harvard Business School.

Michael E. Raynor, D.B.A., is a Director at Deloitte Research, the thought leadership arm of Deloitte.

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The Innovator’s Dilemma, by Clayton Christensen

The Innovator’s Dilemma demonstrates why outstanding companies that had their competitive antennae up, listened astutely to customers, and invested aggressively in new technologies still lost their market dominance. Drawing on patterns of innovation in a variety of industries, the author argues that good business practices can, nevertheless, weaken a great firm. He shows how truly important, breakthrough innovations are often initially rejected by customers that cannot currently use them, leading firms to allow their most important innovations to languish. Many companies now face the innovator’s dilemma. Keeping close to customers is critical for current success. But long-term growth and profits depend upon a very different managerial formula. This book will help managers see the changes that may be coming their way and will show them how to respond for success.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Clayton M. Christensen, an associate professor of business administration at the Harvard Business School, is the coauthor of numerous articles in journals such as Research Policy, Strategic Management Journal, Industrial and Corporate Change, Business History Review, and Harvard Business Review.

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