The Innovator's Way:Essential Practices for Successful Innovation

The ruling buzzword in business today is innovation.  Technology companies invest billions in developing new gadgets.  Business leaders see innovation as a key to gaining a competitive edge.  And policymakers craft regulations to foster a climate of innovation.

And yet, businesses report a success rate of only four percent of innovation initiatives reaching their financial objectives.  Can we significantly increase our odds of success and lower our expenses in creating innovations?

In our summary of The Innovator’s Way:  Essential Practices for Successful Innovation, Peter J. Denning and Robert Dunham reply with an emphatic yes.  They remind us that innovation is not merely an invention, a policy, or a process to be managed.  It is a personal skill that can be learned, developed through practice, and extended into organizations.

Denning is Distinguished Professor, Chair of the Computer Science Department, and Director of the Cebrowski Institute for Information Innovation and Superiority at the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, California.  He is the author of The Invisible Future and other books.  Dunham founded the Institute for Generative Leadership and the consulting company Enterprise Performance.

Denning and Dunham found that the best innovators had personal success rates far above the dismal industry average of four percent.  By examining what these innovators do, they discovered eight personal practices that all successful innovators perform.  This summary will help you to understand and master those eight practices.