Do you ever wonder where new ideas came from? Do they just spring into the innovator's head? Is there a Eureka moment in which an individual or a small group has an epiphany and there is something new in the world?
According to Scott Berkun, the epiphany moment is a myth. Most eureka moments come about, like everything else in life, with 90% perspiration and 10% inspiration. Taking Isaac Newton for example, whether an apple fell from a tree to inspire him on his essays on gravity or not, it was the prior 20 years of study that allowed that "epiphany" to take hold.
The Myths Of Innovation is book that tries to put into perspective the history of the development of innovation. For example, most people think that history is a straight line that runs from point A to point B to point C. It would also appear that what has evolved to be on top throughout history, is what's "best." Berkin says no: what has come to the top of the pile has done so through favorable conditions, and those conditions can change at any time. Just ask the dinosaurs.
The Myths Of Innovation is a small book, 192 pages, with some very powerful ideas. It is divided into 10 chapters and an appendix. The goal of this book is to use the myths of innovation to understand how innovation works. Each chapter discusses one myth, explores why it is popular, and then uses the history of innovations — recent and ancient — to explain the truth.
The real goal is to describe how innovation happens. While the author debunks and demystifies the myths, he is trying to help the reader understand how the world works with regard to history and innovation.
While I won't go in to each chapter, some of the myths addressed are the aforementioned "The Myth of Epiphany," where something just pops into the creator's head and a new idea is born. "There is a Method for Innovation," which is the belief that there is a play-book for innovation and that once you know the rules anyone can do it.
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