BooksDesign Thinking

The Art of Innovation: Lessons in Creativity from IDEO

Rating (4/5)

For years people have been wondering ‘how they do it’ . The creative team behind the worlds leading Innovation Firm IDEO seems to come up with one genius idea after another and is now responsible for some of the most adopted product ideas in the world, starting with your computer mouse. In this book IDEO general manager Tom Kelley (brother of founder David Kelley) finally unwraps some of the secrets behind the success of IDEO.

The book talks about the ingredients of successful brainstorming, product launches, prototyping and the general joy of invention and tells it in an inspiring, motivating way without too much technobabble and ‘process flowcharts’. A great look behind the curtain, packed with anecdotes, stories and examples of how Great Ideas come to be.

Loved it because:

• Stories, stories, stories. Everything is beautifully illustrated with a story to tell you exactly what it is that made the idea special, and made it work.
• Proven Cases. IDEO’s trackrecord is impressive, and this book comes streight from the source. The experiences in there are real and invaluable.
• 10 really insightful tips for creating better products

You might not like it because:

• The book is written from a managers perspective. This makes sense given Tom Kelley’s responcibilities within the company as a general manager, but it makes most of his writing observations of best practises (such as ‘hot teams, perfect brainstorms and creating flaw-free products’) more descriptive rather than understanding the true nature of ‘why’ these processes worked so well for IDEO. This could be disappointing for people wanting to learn about the real thinking behind the IDEO innavation eco-system, but does not damage the practical uses of the book.

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