Need, Speed, and Greed: How Innovation Rules Transform Businesses & Nations - Vijay Vaitheeswaran | Business Strategy Book for Entrepreneurs & Leaders (2012)

We all know that innovation is important; without it, raising standards of living would be a zero-sum game. But how much do we know about the actual mechanisms of innovation, the ways we might encourage it, and the risks it could entail? These are the pivotal topics of Vaitheeswaran's excellent new book.Innovation is an inescapable byword of the global market for ideas, that great cacophony fueled by Twitter, the blogosphere, and endlessly proliferating conferences such as TED, SXSW, Pop Tech, and The Economist's "Ideas Economy" series, which Vaitheeswaran has led. And Vaitheeswaran dutifully touches on dozens of the theories and stories of innovation that have made the rounds in these circles. Importantly, however, his book is not just a summary. Rather, it is a critical appraisal that does not take the merits of these ideas, no matter how famous their proponents, for granted. In this, the book may be the first of its kind, and much overdue at that.Vaitheeswaran writes in bite-size passages, each with vivid examples and a clear point. He takes apart a basket of myths about innovation, some more believable than others, and leaves the reader with realistic strategies for pursuing a more innovative future. For those hoping not just to stay abreast of the TED set but also to see where its fads have gone wrong, this is an engaging and practical reference.