Quirky: The Remarkable Story of the Traits, Foibles, and Genius of Breakthrough Innovators Who Changed the World
336Quirky: The Remarkable Story of the Traits, Foibles, and Genius of Breakthrough Innovators Who Changed the World
336Paperback(Reprint)
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Overview
What really distinguishes the people who literally change the world those creative geniuses who give us one breakthrough after another? What differentiates Marie Curie or Elon Musk from the merely creative, the many one-hit wonders among us?
Melissa Schilling, one of the world's leading experts on innovation, invites us into the lives of eight people Albert Einstein, Benjamin Franklin, Elon Musk, Dean Kamen, Nikola Tesla, Marie Curie, Thomas Edison, and Steve Jobs to identify the traits and experiences that drove them to make spectacular breakthroughs, over and over again. While all innovators possess incredible intellect, intellect alone, she shows, does not create a breakthrough innovator. It was their personal, social, and emotional quirkiness that enabled true genius to break throughnot just once but again and again.
Nearly all of the innovators, for example, exhibited high levels of social detachment that enabled them to break with norms, an almost maniacal faith in their ability to overcome obstacles, and a passionate idealism that pushed them to work with intensity even in the face of criticism or failure. While these individual traits would be unlikely to work in isolation being unconventional without having high levels of confidence, effort, and goal directedness might, for example, result in rebellious behavior that does not lead to meaningful outcomes together they can fuel both the ability and drive to pursue what others deem impossible.
Schilling shares the science behind the convergence of traits that increases the likelihood of success. And, as Schilling also reveals, there is much to learn about nurturing breakthrough innovation in our own lives in, for example, the way we run organizations, manage people, and even how we raise our children.
Product Details
ISBN-13: | 9781541724532 |
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Publisher: | PublicAffairs |
Publication date: | 09/10/2019 |
Edition description: | Reprint |
Pages: | 336 |
Sales rank: | 1,077,264 |
Product dimensions: | 8.45(w) x 5.70(h) x 1.10(d) |
About the Author
Professor Schilling's doctorate in strategic management is from the University of Washington where her dissertation research analyzed technology standards battles in high technology industries. She sought answers to questions such as "How and why are dominant technologies chosen in 'winner-take-all' industries?" and "How do managers make the difficult choice between protecting their technologies with patents or copyrights, versus rapidly disseminating them to build support for their technologies?" This work positioned her on the forefront of research on innovation strategy, with expertise on industries such as smartphones, computers, software, and video games.
Dr. Schilling subsequently expanded her research to include other high technology industries such as biotech, renewable energy, and electric vehicles. Her articles on innovation, creativity, alliances, and modularity have appeared in leading journals such Academy of Management Journal, Academy of Management Review, Management Science, Organization Science, Strategic Management Journal, Journal of Economics and Management Strategy, Research Policy, and Harvard Business Review.
Table of Contents
Introduction "Don't tell me it's impossible. Tell me you can't do it." 1
What Makes Some People Spectacularly Innovative?
1 "I gang my own gait….": A Sense of "Separateness" 21
2 "He's like a walking moonshot.": Extreme Confidence 63
3 "Ideas came in an uninterrupted stream….": The Creative Mind 87
4 "Once she had recognized a certain way as a right one, she pursued it without compromise….": A Higher Purpose 123
5 "Work made the Earth a paradise for me.": Driven to Work 157
6 "The sixties produced an anarchic mind-set….": Opportunities and Challenges of an Era 187
7 "It's not about the money. It's about the people you have, how you're led, and how much you get it….": Access to Resources 211
8 "You get creative people, you bet big on them, you give them enormous leeway and support….": Nurturing the Potential That Lies Within 245
Acknowledgments 263
Notes 265
Selected References 289
Index 299
Photo section between pages 156-157