Edison on Innovation: 102 Lessons in Creativity for Business and Beyond

Axelrod seeks to bring the wizard of Menlo Park" down to earth so that anyone can develop good mental habits for generating new ideas, technologies, and creative breakthroughs. Using the case studies of actual Edison inventions such as the telegraph, typewriter, telephone, and photocopier, Axelrod draws out time-tested principles that can be applied by even the least creative among us. Lessons include: Failure is Fertile; Accumulate a Scrap Heap; Start Small, Scale Up; Do What You Can, Not What You Wish; and much, much more. About The Author: Alan Axelrod is author of numerous business and management books, including two Business Week bestsellers. He is frequently sought after as a speaker on leadership, and has spoken at venues as diverse as Siemens AG in Germany and the Excellence in Government Conference. He has been interviewed by Fortune, Business Week, and Inc., and has appeared on MSNBC, CNN, CNBC, and several Fox affiliates. He received his Ph.D. in English from the University of Iowa and has worked on the staff of several publishers, including VNR, Abbeville, and Turner Publishing. Table Of Contents: Preface Introduction 1. Life Story of a Middle American 2. Getting Your Hands Dirty 3. How to Use Everything 4. Investing 5. Entrepreneurship 6. Creating Your Customers 7. Making Rain 8. Grinding It Out 9. Managing 10. Faking Genius Appendix One: An Edison Chronology Appendix Two: Two Hundred Representative Patents Appendix Three: Suggested Reading The Author Index Special Features: Managers, inventors, entrepreneurs, engineers, designers, product developers and managers, marketers, programmers, history of technology buffs in the areas of business, engineering, technology, science, and entrepreneurship.