The myths
of
innovation
Web Directions South
Sydney, Australia
Friday AM Keynote
Scott Berkun

Book goals:
1) What do we believe about
innovation that isn’t true?
2) Why is the myth popular?
3) What is the truth and how
can we apply it now?

The myths of innovation
1: The myth of epiphany
2: We understand innovation history
3: The sole inventor
4: People like it when you innovate
5: There is a secret method (shhh)
6: Good ideas are hard to find
7: The best idea wins
8: Solutions matter more than problems
9: Your manager knows more than you do
10: Innovation is good

The myths of innovation
1: The myth of epiphany
2: We understand innovation history
3: People like it when you innovate

What people
focus on
The work that
makes eureka
possible
The work of
innovation

The myths of innovation
1: The myth of epiphany
2: We understand innovation history
3: People like it when you innovate

Business
Politics
Luck / Randomness
Timing
What friends think is cool
Charisma
International Economics
Wars & Disasters
Time

Something
is
happening!
Time

SORRY.
Something
is
NOTHING HAPPENS.
happening
Time

SORRY.
NOTHING HAPPENS.
Flying cars
Something
Virtual Reality everything
is
happening
Supersonic commuter travel
Personal nuclear power
Anything on the cover of Wired magazine
Voice recognition, AI…
Time

Something
is
happening
Time

Something
happened
Time

The myths of innovation
1: The myth of epiphany
2: We understand innovation history
3: People like it when you innovate

The diffusion of
innovation is a
social process,
based more on
psychology and
sociology than
technology.

Innovation distilled
1. Delegate
2. Take risks / make mistakes
3. Reward initiative

\"As our business grows, it becomes increasingly necessary to
delegate responsibility and to encourage men and women to
exercise their initiative. This requires considerable tolerance.
Those men and women, to whom we delegate authority and
responsibility, if they are good people, are going to want to do
their jobs in their own way.
\"Mistakes will be made. But if a person is essentially right, the
mistakes he or she makes are not as serious in the long run as
the mistakes management will make if it undertakes to tell
those in authority exactly how they must do their jobs.
\"Management that is destructively critical when mistakes are
made kills initiative. And it's essential that we have many
people with initiative if we are to continue to grow.“
-William McKnight, 3M Chairman, 1948

The myths
of
innovation
Web Directions South
Sydney, Australia
Scott Berkun
www.scottberkun.com

Photo Credits
• http://www.sxc.hu/photo/127397
• http://www.sxc.hu/photo/653541
• Rome:
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/53/Colosseum_in_Rome%2C_Italy_-
_April_2007.jpg
• http://solarsystem.nasa.gov/multimedia/gallery
• http://www.learnhistory.org.uk/cpp/luddites.htm
• http://www.sxc.hu/photo/456847
• http://www.sxc.hu/photo/618860
• http://www.sxc.hu/photo/780429 (Phone)
• http://interactivetools.com/staff/dave/damons_office/