I got a digital review copy of this book via NetGalley and loved the book so much that i read the entire book back to back in one sitting and came back to it multiple times already.

I am passionate about innovation and write a lot about it on my blog and talk about it in my podcast and so I get excited when I get to read a book about innovation that hits all the right notes and results in a sublime symphony.

What i liked about the book:

1} The premise that innovation depends more on the kind of questions we are able to ask is such a no-brainer but not many organisations are able to put this in practice. Maybe, it is not easy being asked some of these questions and it is even harder to ask them yourself and not know where they will lead you and your team. The illusion of control is lost early in the process.
2} The 25 frames that he offers to change perspectives and ask more interesting questions are all great. I have used some of them in my work but a few are completely new to me.
3} The short stories about how the frames could be put to use - the questions that we could potentially ask to reframe makes using these reframes much simpler and easier.

What would I have done differently:

1} The only thing that i could have done differently than what Stephen has already done is to have spent a bit more content on the innovation framework than he has done. Such a brilliant framework deserves a separate book of its own.

All in all, if you are a business leader and want to foster innovation within your organisation, get everyone on the team to read this book :-)

I loved reading the insights on innovation in this book, my favorite chapter covered the "don't think outside the box, find a better box" that provided a fresh outlook to idea generation, problem solving and innovation.
In my view, this book would be ideal for anyone who wants to solve a problem or have a different perspective on a matter- be it in their personal development, a project or at work. You may not use all 25 lenses, but you could surely be in need of a couple of them.
Thanks Netgalley for the eARC.

I found the book an interesting lenses in reality and a different approach to innovation. The approach is practical and useful.

I was given a copy of this book to read by net galley in return for a review, but it’s the sort of book I would have purchased and read anyway.

The book centres primarily on the concept that our general approach to solving problems or should I say find solutions is flawed.

For example, the book starts by stating that leadership teams using the phrase ‘don’t bring me problems, bring me solutions’ are looking at things the wrong way. Finding problems is exactly what you should be doing.

Thereafter it’s about framing the right sort of question or questions to work the problem to identify the specific challenge / challenges and how these can be overcome.

The examples used are primarily business centric, but concepts are transferable to day to day life.

To use the concepts in the book would require you to revisit the chapters and practice their implementation. The author does thoughtfully set that expectation.

My criticism is that there is a lot of overlap between the ‘lenses’, I have no doubt the concepts could be further simplified so that the ideas could to adopted more quickly.

The ideas about reframing problems - how to adjust so that you're asking the right questions and not wasting time and energy - are well laid out in this book, and are useful in a wide range of situations. The acronyms and jargon are business-ce tric and profit oriented, however, which begins to grate on one's nerves, if you are, for instance, looking at things from a public policy or societal point of view. Good information, so-so execution.