Discover millions of ebooks, audiobooks, and so much more with a free trial

Only $11.99/month after trial. Cancel anytime.

The Medici Effect: What Elephants and Epidemics Can Teach Us About Innovation
The Medici Effect: What Elephants and Epidemics Can Teach Us About Innovation
The Medici Effect: What Elephants and Epidemics Can Teach Us About Innovation
Audiobook6 hours

The Medici Effect: What Elephants and Epidemics Can Teach Us About Innovation

Written by Frans Johansson

Narrated by Frans Johansson

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

4/5

()

About this audiobook

Why do so many world-changing insights come from people with little or no related experience? Charles Darwin was a geologist when he proposed the theory of evolution. And it was an astronomer who finally explained what happened to the dinosaurs.

Frans Johansson's The Medici Effect shows how breakthrough ideas most often occur when we bring concepts from one field into a new, unfamiliar territory, and offers examples on how we can turn the ideas we discover into path-breaking innovations.
LanguageEnglish
Release dateMar 14, 2017
ISBN9781515979340
The Medici Effect: What Elephants and Epidemics Can Teach Us About Innovation

Related to The Medici Effect

Related audiobooks

Business For You

View More

Related articles

Reviews for The Medici Effect

Rating: 3.8478260637681156 out of 5 stars
4/5

69 ratings5 reviews

What did you think?

Tap to rate

Review must be at least 10 words

  • Rating: 1 out of 5 stars
    1/5
    Even though it bears a name of one of the most important families in the world, the book falls flat on its promises - it's one of those books where nothing new has been said or proposed, but for some reason the writer has convinced himself that he discovered something groundbreaking just because he named it.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Enterprises of every kind need creative thinking to power innovation and drive the business forward. Where do ground-breaking ideas come from? Do they arise by sheer happenstance? Are they the province of a special few who have a certain kind of mind? Or can you and I learn where to look for the kinds of insights that open up new territory and generate fresh solutions to real-world problems?Maybe we can’t simply decide to wake up tomorrow as a new Leonardo da Vinci or Charles Darwin or Steve Jobs. But we can take steps to situate ourselves where new ideas happen, says Frans Johansson, author of The Medici Effect: Breakthrough Insights at the Intersection of Ideas, Concepts, and Cultures (Harvard Business School Press, 2004). What’s more, we can master the knack of opening our minds to them—and then work to turn some of them into practical reality.Those three aspects of creativity—forming new connections, cultivating a receptive mind, and following through to realization—constitute the basic divisions of Johansson’s book. His analysis, liberally illustrated with historical and present-day examples, sparkles with revelations to inspire entrepreneurs at the frontiers of invention. It also offers solid practical tips for everyday problem-solvers.Read the entire review in Peer to Peer, the magazine of the International Legal Technology Association.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    The Intersection, Frans Johansson writes in "The Medici Effect: Breakthrough Insights at the Intersection of Ideas, Concepts, & Cultures," is that wonderful place where people from different fields of study or walks of life meet, share ideas, and walk away with far more than they could ever create alone. It’s where a Swedish chef who was born in Ethiopia combines ingredients in ways none have ever done before and puts a New York restaurant (Aquavit)—and himself—on the map. It’s where a young Ph.D math student creates a revolutionary card game (Magic), which earns $40 million for the company which buys and produces it.“When you step into an intersection of fields, disciplines, or cultures, you can combine existing concepts into a large number of extraordinary ideas,” Johansson writes (p. 2). “The name I have given the phenomenon, the Medici Effect, comes from a remarkable burst of creativity in fifteenth-century Italy.”And for those of us who work in the field of staff training, it is where we learn just as much from students as we can offer them, with the result that all of us are teacher-trainers as well as student-learners and what we find is spread to others we will soon encounter.Johansson might suggest that we are constantly dancing at the edge of the Intersection if not completely immersed in it. Many of us travel and, therefore, are constantly exposed to a wide range of stimulating settings, challenges, and people. Our students—even if they are all from a particular field such as libraries—themselves interact routinely with people from incredibly diverse backgrounds and with tremendously varied interests. We are, more and more, expanding our definition of community through the contacts we make with the resources available to us in a Web 2.0 world. And some of us plant and nurture seeds through what we teach and learn in every session which we lead, thereby adding to what grows within Johansson’s Intersection.We are also constantly exposed to seemingly disparate elements—Skype, reference services, and those who use library services without actually entering a brick and mortar library, for example. The beauty of the Intersection is that it really does not require very much effort—just a commitment to remain inquisitive. We need to be able to question what we learn and know and teach. Break down the barriers. And be open to a constant stimulating change of our perspective. Most of all, we need to listen: to ourselves, to those around us, and to those we meet in books and magazines, online, in classrooms, and even in our dreamsThe rest falls into place.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    A motivating challenge to seek innovation. The intersection of disciplines and ways of thinking produce value. Several interviews and case studies add interest.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Frans Johansson presents within the pages of The Medici Effect concepts which form the foundation of a theory for both innovation and invention. Johansson illustrates these concepts by cleverly using several examples ranging from a diverse menu at a Swedish restaurant to using methods employed by ants in a telecommunication technology. Within this range Johansson dissects the root of creativity and true innovation; the author refers to it as the intersection. The intersection represents the crossroad where different disciplines come together to exchange and create ideas together. Within interdisciplinary teams of professionals rises true innovative ideas. A great read for those who are looking to be more creative at work, home, or anywhere.