The Innovation Master Plan: A New Book

I've just released a new book (shown above on the left), The Innovation Master Plan.Here's a short passage from the introduction:

"Some executives look at the innovations that come from companies like Apple or P&G, and they think to themselves, 'Well, we don’t have people or the resources like theirs.  We can’t do that kind of magic.'

But the truth is that Apple’s success, or P&G’s, or Toyota’s, or the innovation successes of any company that you admire, isn’t due to their proficiency with magic; it’s because they follow a disciplined innovation process.

So if you want to compete with companies like that, and you want to be admired as their peer, then the best way to get better at innovation is by developing and applying methods that will improve the results by improving the process:  adopt a systematic approach that makes use of the best tools, and also goes beyond tools to address the bigger patterns and issues to help you manage the large scale risks and opportunities that your organization faces.  This system elevates innovation to what it really should be, a strategic asset to your organization.

When you have a good plan and you implement it well, the results will be evident and powerful:  dramatic improvement to your innovation practice, all the way from the strategic perspective at the beginning, to the heart of the innovation process in the creative endeavor, and then to the marketing and sales processes at the end when you reap the rewards for your efforts in the form of competitive advantage, brand enhancement, revenue, and profits.

Results will also show up as a culture of innovative thinking and innovative results that pervade your entire organization, leading to a virtuous cycle in which you get better at innovation, and your results in the market improve, which then gives you more resources to get better still.

This is what a well crafted and well executed master plan ought to do.  Defining that system is the intent behind this book."

This is the Table of Contents:

introduction

 1.       why innovate:   the link between strategy  and innovation

2.       the driving forces of change

3.      what to innovate:  the innovation portfolio

4.       the ideal innovation portfolio

5.       how to innovate:  the innovation process

6.       innovation metrics

7.       who innovates:  the innovation culture

8.      the creative process

9.       where we innovate:  the innovation infrastructure

conclusion

bibliography

index

acknowledgments

 The Innovation Master Plan, the CEO's Guide to Innovation is a companion volume to my previous book, Permanent Innovation.  A revised annotated bibliography and edition of Permanent Innovation has also been released, which incorporates changes and improvements that came about in the course of writing about the master plan.The Innovation Master Plan book is currently being excerpted at Innovation Management Magazine.  If you'd like to read the full Introduction, you can download it there for free right now.  A new chapter will be there each week for the next 11 weeks (because the book has 11 chapters), from now through October. Some readers of the early versions of the book have already made some very kind comments about the book, and we hope that you find it interesting and helpful as well:“A fantastic piece of work."  (Solvay)"Passionate and inspiring." (L’Oréal)"Simple and powerful models." (Creatrix, Inc.)"A comprehensive handbook." (Stanford University)“I love this book a lot." (Chaoyung University of Technology)"Incisive and convincing." (RathBeau Technologies Limited) The Innovation Master Plan is available at Amazon.com.The revised version of Permanent Innovation is available there as well.And if you are interested in the Chinese version of Permanent Innovation, it has just been published by the Economic Science Press in Beijing.