In this second volume of Breakthrough: From Innovation to Impact, The Owls Foundation offers a new series of case studies and interviews, including how Paul Polman reshaped Unilever, FW de Klerk's involvement in the Global Leadership Foundation and Jan Peter Balkenende put innovation at the heart of his programme as Prime Minister of The Netherlands. We also examine the idea of the circular economy, reveal how a family firm can survive and prosper in the era of multinational giants, and show how innovative projects have transformed healthcare in the United States and The Netherlands. Innovation is the lifeblood of modern society. We offer a wide range of examples of how innovation has shaped our world, from technology to science to politics. In all these case studies we apply The Owls' unique formulae to analyse the root causes of successful innovation and explain how they can work for anyone.

The pressure to generate big ideas can feel overwhelming. We know that bold innovations are critical in these disruptive and competitive times, but when it comes to breakthrough thinking, we often freeze up. Instead of shooting for a $10-billion payday or a Nobel Prize, the most prolific innovators focus on Big Little Breakthroughs—small creative acts that unlock massive rewards over time. By cultivating daily micro-innovations, individuals and organizations are better equipped to tackle tough challenges and seize transformational opportunities. How did a convicted drug dealer launch and scale a massively successful fitness company? What core mindset drove LEGO to become the largest toy company in the world? How did a Pakistani couple challenge the global athletic shoe industry? What simple habits led Lady Gaga, Banksy, and Lin-Manuel Miranda to their remarkable success? Big Little Breakthroughs isn’t just for propeller-head inventors, fancy-pants CEOs, or hoodie-donning tech billionaires. Rather, it’s a surpassingly simple system to help everyday people become everyday innovators.

Dispelling the myth that innovation is invention & revolution, this text argues that innovators past & present have employed a strategy of technology brokering to source, develop & exploit new ideas. It provides a clear set of recommendations for managing the innovation process in organizations.

For years, Jonathan Cagan’s and Craig M. Vogel’s Creating Breakthrough Products has offered an indispensable roadmap for uncovering new opportunities, identifying what customers really value, and building products and services that redefine markets — or create entirely new markets. Now, the authors have thoroughly updated their classic book, adding new chapters on service design and global innovation, plus new insights, best practices, and case studies from both U.S. and global companies. Their new Second Edition compares revolutionary (Apple-style) and evolutionary (Disney-style) approaches to innovation, helping decision-makers choose between them, and make either one work. Cagan and Vogel provide more coverage of Value Opportunity Analysis and ethnography, as well as new case studies ranging from Navistar’s latest long-haul truck to P&G’s reinvention of Herbal Essence. Throughout, readers will find up-to-date insights into identifying Product Opportunity Gaps that can lead to enormous success; navigating the "Fuzzy Front End" of product development; and leveraging contributions from diverse product teams — while staying relentlessly focused on customers’ values and lifestyles, from strategy through execution. Using additional visual maps and illustrations, they’ve made their best-selling book even more intuitive and accessible to both industry and academic audiences.

How to implement an innovation engine in any organization Innovation is often sought and is in high demand today. At the same time it is often misunderstood and lacks committed sponsorship. Today, most teams at the top need an innovation capability in a manner that works in tandem with their performance/operations management. Packed with actionable ideas, references, links, and resources, Innovation Engine meets that need. Reveals how to develop strategy, road maps, and processes for innovation execution Provides high level implementation guidance on executing innovation, something companies are struggling with globally Explores how today's companies can create a long-term sustainable corporate culture by also using an innovation engine Explains how to use innovation to keep employees engaged and motivated Written for executives, business leaders, CFOs, and CIOs Showing readers how to create a business case for innovation and a supporting innovation linked to business vision and goals, Innovation Engine clearly reveals how to reduce time-to-market, while expanding the "idea landscape" and building a pipeline of corporate innovators.

#1 NEW YORK TIMES BEST SELLER • In this urgent, authoritative book, Bill Gates sets out a wide-ranging, practical—and accessible—plan for how the world can get to zero greenhouse gas emissions in time to avoid a climate catastrophe. Bill Gates has spent a decade investigating the causes and effects of climate change. With the help of experts in the fields of physics, chemistry, biology, engineering, political science, and finance, he has focused on what must be done in order to stop the planet's slide to certain environmental disaster. In this book, he not only explains why we need to work toward net-zero emissions of greenhouse gases, but also details what we need to do to achieve this profoundly important goal. He gives us a clear-eyed description of the challenges we face. Drawing on his understanding of innovation and what it takes to get new ideas into the market, he describes the areas in which technology is already helping to reduce emissions, where and how the current technology can be made to function more effectively, where breakthrough technologies are needed, and who is working on these essential innovations. Finally, he lays out a concrete, practical plan for achieving the goal of zero emissions—suggesting not only policies that governments should adopt, but what we as individuals can do to keep our government, our employers, and ourselves accountable in this crucial enterprise. As Bill Gates makes clear, achieving zero emissions will not be simple or easy to do, but if we follow the plan he sets out here, it is a goal firmly within our reach.

"Jugaad Innovation is the most comprehensive book yet to appear on the subject [of frugal innovation]." —The Economist A frugal and flexible approach to innovation for the 21st century Innovation is a key directive at companies worldwide. But in these tough times, we can't rely on the old formula that has sustained innovation efforts for decades—expensive R&D projects and highly-structured innovation processes. Jugaad Innovation argues the West must look to places like India, Brazil, and China for a new approach to frugal and flexible innovation. The authors show how in these emerging markets, jugaad (a Hindi word meaning an improvised solution born from ingenuity and cleverness) is leading to dramatic growth and how Western companies can adopt jugaad innovation to succeed in our hypercompetitive world. Outlines the six principles of jugaad innovation: Seek opportunity in adversity, do more with less, think and act flexibly, keep it simple, include the margin, and follow your heart Features twenty case studies on large corporations from around the world—Google, Facebook, 3M, Apple, Best Buy, GE, IBM, Nokia, Procter & Gamble, PepsiCo, Tata Group, and more—that are actively practicing jugaad innovation The authors blog regularly at Harvard Business Review; their work has been profiled in BusinessWeek, MIT Sloan Management Review, The Financial Times, The Economist, and more Filled with previously untold and engaging stories of resourceful jugaad innovators and entrepreneurs in emerging markets and the United States This groundbreaking book shows leaders everywhere why the time is right for jugaad to emerge as a powerful business tool in the West—and how to bring jugaad practices to their organizations.