The Success System of America’s Greatest Inventor, Michael Gelb and Sarah Miller Caldicott

“Innovate Like Edison” presents Edison’s essential approach to innovation success. His approach is based on what the authors call the Five Competencies of Innovation. The five competencies are comprised of a total of twenty-five elements – or building blocks – that support them. The five competencies and twenty-five elements represent a core curriculum for you to achieve innovation literacy. The competencies will enable you to innovate like Edison, whatever your current level of innovation experience. If you are expected, as part of your job, to be innovative everyday, the authors are confident you will find that Edison’s inspiration and approach will complement and enliven your endeavor. “Innovate Like Edison” is a guidebook enabling you to thrive in a world that increasingly rewards innovation.

Edison was the original master of the rigorous, disciplined innovation process, but he also was a wizard when it came to promoting and maintaining a culture of innovation. The cultural side of innovation often provides the missing link to real implementation.

For Edison, innovation existed both at the level of the individual and as a force of science, learning, strategy, and culture that engages our humanity and our entrepreneurial spirit. This book is designed to guide you in how to do innovation, and how to be it.

The five competencies of innovation constitute the heart of the book. The term “competency” refers to skills that must be mastered to achieve success in a particular area of endeavor. It draws on the notion of “core competence” introduced by leading strategist Gary Hamel.

Edison’s five competencies of innovation are:

  1. Solution-centered Mindset – your mindset reflects your sense of purpose, and your sense of purpose organizes your perceptions. An unwavering focus on solutions allows you to embrace complex challenges and overcome setbacks
  2. Kaleidoscopic Thinking – the ability to consider many problems at the same time, looking at each from different angles, leads to practical creativity
  3. Full-spectrum Engagement – the ability to move freely, efficiently, passionately, and creatively through a day’s many activities and roles is a critical aspect of success
  4. Master-mind Collaboration – creating and leveraging a “higher-group intelligence” through coordination of knowledge and effort multiplies individual brainpower in an expanding framework of positive, creative energy
  5. Super-value Creation – understanding, measuring, and fulfilling the needs of the target audience leads to the ability to create value for others and help them

“Innovate Like Edison” is divided into 3 parts. Part One contains biographical and historical background of Edison. Part Two delves into the five competencies, exploring the twenty-five elements with practical exercises, suggestions, advice, and references that help the reader translate Edison’s approach into action. Part Three is about continuing to improve your innovation process as it grows to incorporate others. The Edison Innovation Literacy Blueprint is introduced. This tool allows you to quantify the level of innovation literacy you possess, within each competency and overall. A one-page visual schematic of the Blueprint is provided to help you integrate everything you will learn and to set goals for your continuing progress.

A companion website (http://innovatelikeedison.com) provides additional tools.

Thanks to Bob Adams for this content.