In previous posts (here and here) I’ve delved into Steven Johnson’s insights on innovation in his book, Where Good Ideas Come From: The Natural History of Innovation. I’m again returning to Johnson’s outstanding book, briefly, because I was struck by an idea—“cooperative advantage”—that he addresses in his chapter on creating online platforms, specifically APIs, or application programming interfaces. […]
Steven Johnson
Standing on the Shoulders…
Previously I posted on Stephen Johnson’s work about how innovations that are built on slow hunches, serendipity and having an attitude that embraces sliding doors that open new pathways is conducive to driving innovation. These posts brought to mind the evolution of the Vested business model itself and how it relates to a powerful quote […]
Parallel Tracks to Innovation
Lately I’ve been thinking about the paths taken and not taken in business and life, the choices made, and how that impacts a company’s success. Last night I was watching Sliding Doors, a 1998 movie starring Gwyneth Paltrow and John Hannah. It is light romantic comedy/fantasy fare, but there’s a cleverly conceived message inside the fluffy story. […]
Leave Space for Serendipity
In a recent post I wrote about Steven Johnson’s insights on innovation in his book, Where Good Ideas Come From: The Natural History of Innovation. I want to narrow in on his chapter on “Serendipity.” In it, Johnson says hunches and dreams have a place in the canon of great ideas and innovation. For example, Johnson […]
