Overview

From historical figures such as Marie Curie to contemporaries such as Steve Jobs, a handful of innovators have changed the world. What made them so spectacularly inventive? Melissa A. Schilling, one of the world's leading experts on innovation, looks at the lives of seven creative geniuses--Albert Einstein, Benjamin Franklin, Elon Musk, Dean Kamen, Nicola Tesla, Curie, and Jobs--to identify the traits and quirks that led them to become breakthrough innovators. Though all innovators possess incredible intellect, intellect alone does not create a serial innovator. There are other very strong commonalities: for instance, nearly all exhibit very high levels of social detachment. They all have extreme, almost maniacal, faith in their ability to overcome obstacles. And they have a passionate idealism that pushes them to work with intensity even in the face of criticism or failure. These individual traits would be unlikely to work in isolation--being unconventional without having high levels of confidence and direction, for example, might result in rebellious behavior that does not lead to meaningful innovation. Schilling reveals the science behind the convergence of traits that increases the likelihood of success, and shows us how to nurture and facilitate breakthrough innovation in our own lives.

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9781541758025

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Reviews

"""Quirky is both brilliant biography and useful leadership guide. It is an easy to read but deep exploration of the lives of individual innovators and their qualities make for great history that also provides informative instruction for how we can foster these qualities today in ourselves and our organizations.""--800 CEO READ ""[A]n entertaining and enlightening romp through the lives of eight 'breakthrough innovators, ' exploring their remarkable abilities, personalities and motives."" --Financial Times ""A captivating read with inspirational biographies and valuable lessons to help light that innovative flame.""--Daniel Levinthal, TheWharton School, University of Pennsylvania ""A real page-turner ... a fascinating mixture of the life stories of radical innovators, such as Elon Musk and Marie Curie, expertly deconstructing them to reveal their underlying commonalities. What transpires is both wonderfully insightful and inspiring.""--Freek Vermeulen, London Business School ""An exceptionally rewarding marriage of biography and social science that will change the way you think about winners and winning.""--Ron Adner, TuckSchool of Business, Dartmouth College, author of The Wide Lens ""An inspiring journey of discovery. You'll finish the book understanding something of true genius.""--RitaMcGrath, Columbia University ""An interesting and well-crafted journey through the lives of those 'quirky' women and men who transformed the world through innovation.""--David Brin, NASA advisor, astrophysicist, and award-winning author of ThePostman, The Transparent Society, and Existence ""I love this book because it makes me think about thinking. Schilling very strongly makes the point that in a society where broad statistical approaches in education and science seem to point us toward some mediocre median, that the big innovations-the industry and civilization-changing innovations-still generally come from cranky individuals who are determined that their way is the better way. How do you make another Tesla, Curie, Jobs, or Musk? Schilling tells us how.""--Robert Cringely, author of Accidental Empires, Triumph of the Nerds, and Nerds 2.0.1. ""The real paradox of Schilling's work is that even though it looks at completely extraordinary people, it may be most valuable for what it tells us about how organizations can harness the innovative power of ordinary people.""--Strategy+ Business"

Author Information

Melissa A. Schilling is a professor at New York University's Stern School of Business and the author of the number one innovation strategy textbook in the world, Strategic Management of Technological Innovation. As one of the world's leading experts on innovation, she has appeared on numerous media outlets including Bloomberg BusinessWeek, Huffington Post, CNBC, The Brian Lehrer Show, Scientific American, USA Today, South China Morning Post, Energy Biz Insider, Clean Technica, and New Energy

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