Principled Innovation LLC

P.I. Podcast: Interview with Hitendra Patel

September 26th, 2007

Today, I did a podcast interview with Dr. Hitendra Patel, a senior leader in Monitor Group’s innovation practice, and co-author/co-editor of the great new book, 101 Innovation Breakthroughs. I recently purchased the book, and I found it to be quite a valuable resource for anyone trying to understand how innovation happens in different ways in different organizational contexts. Among the breakthrough innovations included in the book are 3M privacy filters, the iPod and iTunes, the Gillette Mach 3 razor and Red Bull energy drink. The innovations cover the full spectrum of industries and come from around the world, although more than 50% of them originate with North American companies, most of which are in the U.S.

The key takeaway from the book and the podcast for association leaders should be not only a clear reminder of the necessity of innovation for long-term success, but also important insights into how our organizations can most effectively pursue innovation. The fundamental forces of freedom and discipline are both required to make innovation real in any enterprise, and associations are no exception. As organizations perennially concerned about resource limitations, associations can benefit from understanding how to build networks and partnerships to advance, extend and share the risks of any innovation effort. One of the key principles of ungovernance is the need to distribute responsibility for innovation in our organizations, including both internal and external contributors.

You can buy the book online for $50. It’s a little bit pricey to be sure, but well worth the investment. Once you get it and see its very clean, colorful and visually pleasing design, you’ll want to keep paging through it to see everything the author/editors include. It is both a substantive and attractive print resource, which is a rare combination these days.

Please enjoy the podcast with Dr. Patel. It last about 29 minutes and, as always, your feedback, questions and ideas for future podcasts are welcome. Please post them as comments below.

If you're new here, I hope you will consider subscribing to the P.I. Blog. Just click on this link to add it to your RSS reader. You can also receive e-mail updates by subscribing via the box located on the blog itself. Thanks for visiting!

Entry Filed under: Principled Innovation Blog, What's New?, Social Media, Audioblogs & Podcasts, Innovation, Associations, Extreme Makeover, The Association Innovator, Simplicity, We Have Always Done It That Way, Governing Simply