Long-time TamsPalm readers will know Scott Berkun as the guy behind one of the best project management books ever(ugly review; but great book). Scott’s latest oeuvre looks at all kinds of urban myths surrounding innovation – read on to find out if it’s a real zinger!
The first chapters of the book looks at various theories surrounding the creation of innovative ideas – for example, do innovative ideas really come in a single moment(e.g. Newton’s apple); or aren’t these moments just the result of long and hard work. Scott Berkun explains why history always centers around “the lone inventor”; and uncovers a few stunning inaccuracies in common history.
After having identified the sources where ideas come from, the reader is confronted with various reasons why innovative ideas can fail(even if they are insanely innovative). For example, why are most devices still shipping with QWERTY keyboards, even though Dvorak ones are much more efficient? Or, what could be done to make the USA use metric units and avoid space disasters like the one of the Mars Orbiter? The book then ends with a nice list of related books recommended for everyone interested in creating innovative things.
As usual for Scott Berkun and O’Reilly, the book is very easy to read. Impressive and/or amusing photographs appear all over the book – cutting a long story short, The Myths of Innovation feels like a novel rather than a classic tech book.
In the end, Scott managed to deliver yet another well-written and generally well-done book – but the subject matter is not something that every developer needs to know about. If the lines above managed to stir your interest, the price of 15$ makes this an impulse purchase that you will not regret. Last but not least, it also makes a great gift(great, easily available, cheap) – even for people who are not really into tech.
Related posts:
