The Innovator's Path: How Individuals, Teams, and Organizations Can Make Innovation Business-as-Usual

Preface

I speak to audiences all over the world about a subject I am most passionate about: innovation. Sometimes I look out at auditoriums full of senior executives, and other times I find myself speaking to young professionals or students. But no matter who is in the audience, I am always happy to see that my message has been accepted when I see a line of people forming at the front of the room to speak with me. Some of these people just want to shake my hand and tell me that they've enjoyed my talk. Others have questions or comments, and given the number of speeches I make, it is not unusual for some to tell me this is not the first time they've heard me. Those who have heard me speak before often want to tell me how they've put my recommendations to use, and they are eager to share their stories. Oftentimes at least one person in line tells me: “You should write a book, Madge. There are so many people and companies out there who could use your advice.”

Well, I finally took that advice, and this book is the result. I call it The Innovator's Path—not because I believe we must all follow the exact same route to innovation; we don't. Quite the contrary: Each of us must create our own way forward. Yet it is also true that, no matter what path we take, most of us will encounter similar challenges as we try to innovate, including the beliefs, attitudes, and behaviors of our colleagues and our managers.

I am happy to say that over the years I have found certain fundamental ways of ...