I have to admit upfront that I am not a big fan of books that proclaim to transform your business in (fill in the blank) easy steps.
If it were true, the Dow Jones would be at 30,000 and the authors of such books billionaires who don't need to work. However, in fairness to the authors (and David Rockefeller, esteemed writer of the foreword - who wants to argue with a Rockefeller?) this book actually delivers reasonably upon its subtitle of "How to transform your ideas into tomorrow's innovations".
There are no ground-breaking formulas put forward by Rivkin and Seitel.
In fact, the introduction clearly states the search for a new idea isn't about reinventing the wheel.
The book relies heavily upon case studies that are, for the most part, so well-known that I assume most readers don't even need the one paragraph review dedicated to each. So, is it a first-year MBA primer? No.
What the authors offer is a well-organised process to idea creation.
In fact, as I read the book, it actually prompted me to think from a slightly different perspective on a few challenges in my own business.
We've all heard those great stories of innovative products that stemmed from practical need (my favourite being post-it notes and the engineer who couldn't follow along in his hymn book) or marketing campaign ideas that resulted from shower epiphanies (I'm still waiting for one).
The problem is that business cannot succeed with "chance alone. The challenge is developing a systematic process.
The first pages are dedicated to assuring readers that innovation is not solely the purvey of the fashion industry, Hollywood (or Bollywood as a nod to Asia), consultants (in fact they nicely skewer this particular form of "value-creation"), or anyone who mainly wears black clothing.
The main body of the book, and its core value, is focused upon seven key chapters presenting different approaches to idea creation. The approaches are all common sense and in some ways I would assume intuitive to the great marketers out there.
However, for us mortals, the reason for plunking down cash and purchasing the book is for the seven methods put forward by Rivkin and Seitel that in essence detail how to develop those refinements of existing ideas that bring in the bucks.
The conclusion (including the obligatory section on risk-taking) is a bit too rah-rah for my taste but doesn't detract from the overall message of the book that innovation does not have to be intimidating and in fact, can be pretty straightforward.
I recommend Idea Wise to anyone dogged by a market challenge they just can't seem to creatively address. And, in salute to those off-site planning sessions we all love, I think the book would be a useful tool to structure a meeting with numerous attendees charged with developing a new idea.
