Food for thought

A casual Sunday morning read of Vanity Fair has lead me to discover that a new book “The Innovators” has just been published by Walter Isaacson, who previously wrote a biography of Steve Jobs. Reading the early reviews, it could well be that this book will become an indispensable guide to the digital revolution and the dawn of the age of computing. The article in Vanity Fair makes some great points that support very nicely all of the conclusions that Cristina and I came to when writing “Coaching for Innovation”:

  • Innovative thinkers cross thinking boundaries. Isaacson says that it is where disciplines such as art and science cross over that the imagination is stimulated.index
  • Creativity is a collaborative process – innovation is more like a team sport than a lonely marathon.
  • There is nothing better for the creative  process than people actually coming together in person in a space that promotes real conversation and idea sharing.
  • Ideas have to be followed up and executed – Isaacson says that “vision without execution is hallucination.”

For those of you interested in finding out more about how to make innovation happen, it should be an interesting read. It’s also just been added to my list of books to buy!