14. Imaginative Application

Previous chapters have focused on releasing the imagination to see what is possible. But once something is imagined, discovered, and acted upon through prototyping and development, the big questions arise: Are we now better off? Is this actually progress? And what is progress, anyway? In this chapter, my former colleague at the Beal Institute, Chris Matthews, discusses other ingredients that contribute to truly worthwhile innovation—and the role of organizations in making it happen.

Finding a New Enemy

Colin Powell once recalled an early interaction with Mikhail Gorbachev, during the days when Powell was U.S. Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs and Gorbachev was trying to end the Cold War and restructure ...

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