The Innovation Killer: How What We Know Limits What We Can Imagine-And What Smart Companies Are Doing About It Book

This book is part description of what prevents innovation, part description of how to stop preventing innovation.

Not creating innovation. Stopping preventing it. Because, more often then not, there are plenty of innovative people within an organization. It's just that their mindsets, both personal and institutional, prevent them from going for it.

The author covers Groupthink, which is well-known from other works, and proposes Expertthink. "Going with the flow" as in Groupthink, is a well-known pattern for "doing what we've always done," which is (by definition) not innovative. Expertthink is more a matter of "I've done that in the past, and this is what worked for me, so I'll stick with what I know works." Just because you've always done it that way doesn't mean it's the best way.

Breaking these two mindsets is critical, according to the author. She provides a variety of ways individuals can recognize and beat these problems, as well as ways a leader within an organization can beat them.

In some way, this book provided some validation for me. I have many characteristics of her highly-desired "Zero-Gravity Thinkers," who are the Holy Grail of these exercises. Not all of them, but many of them. Such people, routinely, chafe at working for large organizations which have no apparent room for innovation.