Summary: Innovate Like Edison - Michael Gelb and Sarah Caldicott

This work offers a summary of the book “INNOVATE LIKE EDISON: The Success
System of America’s Greatest Inventor” by Michael Gelb and Sarah Caldicott.
Thomas Edison is the greatest innovator in American history: he generated a
record-breaking 1,093 US patents and 1,293 international patents over 62
successive years. He founded the world’s first research lab and General
Electric. These have formed the basis of some of today’s billion dollar
industries.
Gelb and Caldicott have researched Edison’s competencies and strategies. They
suggest that his exceptional innovations skills are based on five competencies
and twenty-five best practices. They recommend such strategies as developing a
solution-centered mindset, harnessing mastermind collaboration and focusing
intensively on creating value. These general suggestions are broken down into
practical measures: they explain how to create the best multi-disciplinary
teams, and why you should recruit the best possible people. They believe in
rewarding collaborators generously, and discuss the best ways to network.
Innovate like Edison also includes tactical, long-term advice, such as when to
consider up-scaling.
In summary, the authors suggest that “Edison was, of course, an exceptional
genius, but the greatest product of his genius was the establishment of a
systematic approach to success that he believed anyone could emulate”. Gelb
and Caldicott describe this systemic approach, and suggest how to implement
it.