The Many Roles and Phases of InnovationMore than a new idea
by Donald M. Bishop & Brandon Valeriano
February 2021Ideas & Issues (InnovatIon/Future ForcedesIgn)
When theorizing about in-novation and creativity, it is common to think first of a few exemplars: men and women like Thomas Edison, Steve Jobs, Marie Curie, George Wash-ington Carver, Norman Borlaug, Ross Perot, Grace Hopper, Thomas Watson, or Bill Gates. The Marine Corps has exemplars of its own; Victor “Brute†Krulak and Earl “Pete†Ellis are the most noted. Yet, exemplars are just the tip of the spear of innovation.
Looking at even this short list re-veals that there is more to innovation than a new idea, a light bulb in the mind, a vision, or an invention. Indi-viduals who also proved themselves to be strong organizers, natural planners, and vigorous entrepreneurs were those that built strong organizations capable of producing real innovation over a long duration.
1Compare the success of Mark Zuckerberg, for instance, with the failure of other innovators. It was Edmund Drake who drilled the first oil well in Titus-ville, PA, in 1859, but he died in pov-erty while others became rich. Drake, unlike John D. Rockefeller, lacked the business acumen to form and lead the corporations that enriched Rockefeller and his principal division chiefs, which gave livelihoods to thousands of em-ployees and enabled a widespread rise in the American standard of living when Standard Oil steadily reduced the price of petroleum products like kerosene and gasoline.
http://www.brandonvaleriano.com/uploads/8/1/7/3/81735138/many_roles_innovation_bishop_and_valeriano_gazette.pdf
