The Innovator's Spirit: Discover the Mindset to Pursue the Impossible
2021 Axiom Business Book Award Winner in Business Intelligence/Innovation
Innovation isn't optional—it's imperative

Everyone wants to create new products and services, find new customers and markets, stay ahead of the competition, and work smarter instead of harder. Yet with all the focus and attention on innovation, the term has become an overused buzzword rather than a real, tangible concept. If you want to seriously pursue innovation—you need to strip away the hype.

Real innovators need to transcend the existing ideas, rules, and patterns to discover exciting new outcomes. They must step outside the best practice box and get their hands dirty. The spirit of a true innovator is rooted in wanting to do something that has never been done before, to solve problems that have never been solved, and to run through walls and leap over tall buildings to get there.

In The Innovator’s Spirit, author Chuck Swoboda—retired chairman and CEO of Cree, a company that fundamentally changed the way people experience light and drove the obsolescence of the Edison light bulb—explains that innovation is fundamentally about people and shows his readers how to develop a mindset of  creativity, risk-taking, and hard work. He also instills in them a belief that there is always a better way.

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The Innovator's Spirit: Discover the Mindset to Pursue the Impossible
2021 Axiom Business Book Award Winner in Business Intelligence/Innovation
Innovation isn't optional—it's imperative

Everyone wants to create new products and services, find new customers and markets, stay ahead of the competition, and work smarter instead of harder. Yet with all the focus and attention on innovation, the term has become an overused buzzword rather than a real, tangible concept. If you want to seriously pursue innovation—you need to strip away the hype.

Real innovators need to transcend the existing ideas, rules, and patterns to discover exciting new outcomes. They must step outside the best practice box and get their hands dirty. The spirit of a true innovator is rooted in wanting to do something that has never been done before, to solve problems that have never been solved, and to run through walls and leap over tall buildings to get there.

In The Innovator’s Spirit, author Chuck Swoboda—retired chairman and CEO of Cree, a company that fundamentally changed the way people experience light and drove the obsolescence of the Edison light bulb—explains that innovation is fundamentally about people and shows his readers how to develop a mindset of  creativity, risk-taking, and hard work. He also instills in them a belief that there is always a better way.

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The Innovator's Spirit: Discover the Mindset to Pursue the Impossible

The Innovator's Spirit: Discover the Mindset to Pursue the Impossible

by Chuck Swoboda
The Innovator's Spirit: Discover the Mindset to Pursue the Impossible

The Innovator's Spirit: Discover the Mindset to Pursue the Impossible

by Chuck Swoboda

Hardcover

$24.95 
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Overview

2021 Axiom Business Book Award Winner in Business Intelligence/Innovation
Innovation isn't optional—it's imperative

Everyone wants to create new products and services, find new customers and markets, stay ahead of the competition, and work smarter instead of harder. Yet with all the focus and attention on innovation, the term has become an overused buzzword rather than a real, tangible concept. If you want to seriously pursue innovation—you need to strip away the hype.

Real innovators need to transcend the existing ideas, rules, and patterns to discover exciting new outcomes. They must step outside the best practice box and get their hands dirty. The spirit of a true innovator is rooted in wanting to do something that has never been done before, to solve problems that have never been solved, and to run through walls and leap over tall buildings to get there.

In The Innovator’s Spirit, author Chuck Swoboda—retired chairman and CEO of Cree, a company that fundamentally changed the way people experience light and drove the obsolescence of the Edison light bulb—explains that innovation is fundamentally about people and shows his readers how to develop a mindset of  creativity, risk-taking, and hard work. He also instills in them a belief that there is always a better way.


Product Details

ISBN-13: 9781732439160
Publisher: Fast Company Press
Publication date: 05/05/2020
Pages: 288
Product dimensions: 6.10(w) x 9.10(h) x 1.00(d)

About the Author

Chuck Swoboda is the Innovator-in-Residence at Marquette University, President of Cape Point Advisors, and the retired Chairman and CEO of Cree, Inc. During his time with Cree, the company led the LED Lighting Revolution that drove the obsolescence of the Edison light bulb. He is an author, speaker, and host of the Innovators on Tap podcast and has over thirty years of experience in the technology business.

In 2010, Chuck was named Ernst & Young’s Entrepreneur of the Year for the Carolinas. During his time as CEO, Cree was recognized as MIT Technology Review’s 50 Smartest Companies for 2014 and as one of Fast Companies World’s 50 Most Innovative Companies in 2015. 

Chuck holds an electrical engineering degree from Marquette University (1989), where he served on the Board of Trustees for 12 years. He and his wife live in Cary, North Carolina. When he’s not writing or working, you will likely find him fishing on Bald Head Island.

Table of Contents

Preface xi

Introduction: It's Personal 1

Chapter 1 Solve Problems That Create Value 11

Chapter 2 Lead, Don't Manage 25

Chapter 3 Embrace the Brutal Truths 45

Chapter 4 Find a Way to Win 67

Chapter 5 Get Your Hands Dirty 85

Chapter 6 You Create the Future 103

Chapter 7 Solve the Customer's Problem 123

Chapter 8 Do What They Say You Can't 141

Chapter 9 Be Unafraid of Failure 157

Chapter 10 Go Beyond Best Practice 177

Chapter 11 Don't Wait for Perfection 197

Chapter 12 Focus the Mind 217

Conclusion: The Journey Continues 237

Author's Note 241

Acknowledgments 245

Index 249

Notes 259

About the Author 269

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