Honest and in-depth advice for reaching your full potential. This advice is presented in easy to follow language that can be broken up and applied in pieces at a time.

Many books innovation focus on how to generate more ideas. However, there is a dearth of literature when it comes to the human side of innovation. How does an innovative idea live to its fruition? What are the attributes of those who can sell innovative ideas and let it come to witness the light of day.

This book proposes to answer those questions and much more.

In this book you will be introduced to three kinds of capitals, namely: human capital, social capital, and reputation capital. The combination of these three along with “impression amplifiers” helps to create the so-called innovative capital.

You will learn in this book the absence of any of these three capitals is one of the reasons why we have too many ideas but too few results.

Good narrative of the various experiences, competencies and skills that can help foster, commercialize and fund innovation. An interesting perspective on these topics supported by ample examples and thoughtful, yet easy to read commentary.

The authors break it down very well, what innovation Capital consists of - Human Capital. Social Capital and Reputation Capital.
Each chapter takes it time and definitely makes the point clear. Impression Amplifier will stick as a message. Many examples to show all of these concepts in action.

INNOVATION CAPITAL

There’s a truism in business that “revenue solves all problems.” While not entirely accurate, it’s accurate enough owing to how important it is for businesses to have appropriate means to fund their operations.

This is just to make the simple point that finance is the lifeblood of any business; and where finance is concerned, businesses always begin with capital. The amount of money that is put into a business at the onset largely dictates the extent to which a venture will survive, ceteris paribus, and thereby determines the amount of time a team has for a project to become self-sustaining. This is why, at that critical stage when a startup might just graduate into the ranks of viable companies, whether or not its backers have deep pockets can spell the difference between falling by the wayside and making it.

What might seem obvious in the context of business applies analogously in the context of innovation: that is, a lot of resources are also required in order for innovative ideas to be realized. This very topic—the resources required to enable a culture of innovation—is the subject of Innovation Capital: How to Compete—and Win—Like the World’s Most Innovative Companies from authors Jeff Dyer, Nathan Furr, and Curtis Lefrandt.

The core message that Dyer, Furr, and Lefrandt seek to impart is that innovation also requires substantial capital if it is to thrive, especially in a business context. However, the “capital” required for innovation goes beyond mere funding (which is necessary, but insufficient). Such “innovation capital” instead represents several personal and organizational skills or characteristics that help enable innovative ideas to take root. Or to put it another way, innovation capital is what affords innovators “the ability to compete for—and win—the resources needed for innovation to flourish.”

The authors explain it thus:

“Innovation capital isn’t tangible like money or equipment. It is an intangible force, like political capital, that helps you assemble the means to implement your ideas. It comes from who you are (innovation-specific human capital), who you know (innovation-specific social capital), and what you are known for (innovation-specific reputation capital). It gets multiplied by what we call impression amplifiers—actions that get attention and credibility for you and your ideas.”

What’s particularly interesting about Innovation Capital is how its authors highlight the fundamentally social nature of innovation. Innovation certainly cannot exist in a vacuum, but to give innovation a chance to flourish entails winning enough people over to one’s way of thinking and getting them to back that idea. In some cases, there needs to be a critical mass of people to support an idea before it can take off. On the other hand, sometimes all that’s required is for the right people to get behind a specific innovation in order for it to take off.

The image that often comes to mind with innovation is that of the lone eccentric genius. He sees what others don’t, and if he’s lucky makes a fortune for himself in the process. What isn’t obvious is everything that happens in between, of what it took to get people to support that brilliant idea before it became mainstream. Innovation Capital is a book about all those things in between: what it takes for individuals and organizations to allow innovation to thrive.

Fantastic content from this great publisher. Great interviews and a lot of ideas pop up while reading. Do read with a pen and notebook, make your bookmarks because you will return to this book again after digesting all the information. Thanks a lot for this ARC!

It was a fascinating, engaging and entertaining read, full of food for thought and interesting ideas.
I liked the interviews, how it analyze what it's needed to succeed and the ideas even if I didn't always agreed.
Highly recommended!
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine.