Inventing a Better Mousetrap


Book Description

Learn about the role that patent models played in American history--and even learn to build your own replica! Patent models, working models required for US patent filings from 1790 to 1880, offer insight into--and inspiration from--a period of intense technological advancement, the Industrial Revolution. The Rothschild Patent Model Collection consists of thousands of patent models, many from the 19th century. This book features the most outstanding of these patent models, and offers deep insight into the cultural, economic, and political history of the United States. This book not only catalogs hundreds of the most compelling models from the collection, but shows you how to build your own replicas of several selected models using Lego, 3D printing, and other materials and techniques.




The Myths of Creativity


Book Description

How to get past the most common myths about creativity to design truly innovative strategies We tend to think of creativity in terms reminiscent of the ancient muses: divinely-inspired, unpredictable, and bestowed upon a lucky few. But when our jobs challenge us to be creative on demand, we must develop novel, useful ideas that will keep our organizations competitive. The Myths of Creativity demystifies the processes that drive innovation. Based on the latest research into how creative individuals and firms succeed, David Burkus highlights the mistaken ideas that hold us back and shows us how anyone can embrace a practical approach, grounded in reality, to finding the best new ideas, projects, processes, and programs. Answers questions such as: What causes us to be creative in one moment and void in the next? What makes someone more or less creative than his or her peers? Where do our flashes of creative insight come from, and how can we generate more of them? Debunks 10 common myths, including: the Eureka Myth; the Lone Creator Myth; the Incentive Myth; and The Brainstorming Myth Written by David Burkus, founder of popular leadership blog LDRLB For anyone who struggles with creativity, or who makes excuses for delaying the work of innovation, The Myths of Creativity will help you overcome your obstacles to finding new ideas.




Build a Better Mousetrap


Book Description

Discover the secrets behind some amazing inventions! Through observation, experimentation, and perseverance, humansthrough the ages have managed to solve a whole array of perplexingproblems. These solutions have included such incredible inventionsas the parachute, the periscope, the solar water heater, thesuspension bridge, the stethoscope, and many more. Now, with Builda Better Mousetrap in hand, you too can experience your own Eureka!moments of inspiration and sharpen your problem-solving skills aswell, while you explore the history and science behind some of theworld's most exciting inventions. With this collection of fascinating, hands-on projects you'lldiscover the answers to such intriguing questions as: Who inventedthe hovercraft? Why is there a hole in the top of a parachute? Whatis an Aerobie and why does it fly so well? And you'll be encouragedto come up with your own awesome inventions. With easy-to-followinstructions on how to make everything from a rocket, to akaleidoscope, to a bottle organ, Build a Better Mousetrap is filledwith enough exciting projects and challenges to get you started ona lifetime of invention.




The Better Mousetrap


Book Description

Simon Pont, Chief Strategy Officer at Vizeum, sets out to decode brand charisma, taking readers on a provocative and insightful journey through the brand and advertising strategies behind some of the world's leading companies.




Every Book Is a Startup


Book Description

The publishing industry has responded to the emergence of digital technologies with many useful and innovative products, but the business of publishing has not yet reinvented itself for this new era—old, outdated models prevail, limiting both vision and opportunity. Every Book Is a Startup provides a roadmap for publishing professionals interested in bringing a fresh, entrepreneurial approach to the business of book publishing, based on techniques proven effective in the world of tech startups. This book shows you how to apply tech industry concepts such as customer development, validated learning, and pivots to create publishing business practices that are agile, flexible, and highly profitable. Here at O'Reilly Media, we've incorporated many of these techniques into our own publishing business, including "release early, release often." With that in mind, the initial release of this project discusses two core ideas for how this new way of thinking can be applied to book publishing, and solicits your ideas about what we might include in future releases of this book. What do you want to know more about? Would a variety of case studies be helpful? Let us know! The current ebook release of Every Book Is a Startup is priced at $7.99; subsequent releases will be priced higher. Buy the current release now and you'll receive all updates at no additional cost. A print edition will be available for purchase when the book is complete.




Mousetrap, Inc.


Book Description

New college graduate Nick Adano doesn’t realize it, but he’s about to move from the frustration of unemployment into the despair of being a vital cog in a morally dubious invention-marketing company. And when Nick and his boss find themselves with a problem on their hands—a client with a good idea who’s being railroaded—will Nick have the courage to confront himself? Set against the backdrop of the early nineties’ recession, Mousetrap, Inc. explores a world before email and social media, when people relied on newspapers as a pivotal way to get information. To buoy the spirits of his equally despairing coworkers, Nick pens tales featuring an antihero named Chapel Fox, by day a respected divorce attorney, but by night a madman bringing his version of justice to his beloved hometown. Nick’s coworkers take pleasure—and maybe derive a hint of self-recognition—from these morally ambiguous stories. Capturing the essence of the awkward early twenties, when we’re adults . . . but not quite, this work speaks to anyone who’s endured a less-than-ideal work situation.




Cultural Strategy


Book Description

How do we explain the breakthrough market success of businesses like Nike, Starbucks, Ben & Jerry's, and Jack Daniel's? Conventional models of strategy and innovation simply don't work. The most influential ideas on innovation are shaped by the worldview of engineers and economists - build a better mousetrap and the world will take notice. Holt and Cameron challenge this conventional wisdom and take an entirely different approach: champion a better ideology and the world will take notice as well. Holt and Cameron build a powerful new theory of cultural innovation. Brands in mature categories get locked into a form of cultural mimicry, what the authors call a cultural orthodoxy. Historical changes in society create demand for new culture - ideological opportunities that upend this orthodoxy. Cultural innovations repurpose cultural content lurking in subcultures to respond to this emerging demand, leapfrogging entrenched incumbents. Cultural Strategy guides managers and entrepreneurs on how to leverage ideological opportunities: - How managers can use culture to out-innovate their competitors - How entrepreneurs can identify new market opportunities that big companies miss - How underfunded challengers can win against category Goliaths - How technology businesses can avoid commoditization - How social entrepreneurs can develop businesses that appeal to more than just fellow activists - How subcultural brands can break out of the 'cultural chasm' to mass market success - How global brands can pursue cross-cultural strategies to succeed in local markets - How organizations can maximize their innovation capabilities by avoiding the brand bureaucracy trap Written by leading authorities on branding in the world today, along with one of the advertising industry's leading visionaries, Cultural Strategy transforms what has always been treated as the "intuitive" side of market innovation into a systematic strategic discipline.




The Mousetrap


Book Description

Melodrama; 5 male roles, 3 female roles.




The Very Best Bad Idea


Book Description

Do you like to be wrong? Shouldn’t you? Why do you think “wrong” is “bad”? In The Very Best Bad Idea, Kirk Westwood steamrolls the long-held premise that right is good and wrong is bad. He paves the way to give anyone who sees situations differently the permission to be proud of their brilliantly unbridled “bad ideas.” In this book, you'll learn about: -- The History of Thinking, and how we might be wired incorrectly for the society we live in today. -- An in depth analysis of popular cliches like “don’t reinvent the wheel” and “build a better mousetrap” and why we might need to “make friends with the mouse”. -- Why people should start embracing their unique views of the world as they are the true genesis of innovation and creativity. And so much more! This book speaks to the entrepreneurs, the creatives, the innovators, and the outcasts as they seek out the secret to conquering innovation. It’s an unconventional look at a conventional problem. If you’re ready to release the “Kreative” and embrace your individual perspective, get ready for the The Very Best Bad Idea.




The Myths of Innovation


Book Description

In this new paperback edition of the classic bestseller, you'll be taken on a hilarious, fast-paced ride through the history of ideas. Author Scott Berkun will show you how to transcend the false stories that many business experts, scientists, and much of pop culture foolishly use to guide their thinking about how ideas change the world. With four new chapters on putting the ideas in the book to work, updated references and over 50 corrections and improvements, now is the time to get past the myths, and change the world. You'll have fun while you learn: Where ideas come from The true history of history Why most people don't like ideas How great managers make ideas thrive The importance of problem finding The simple plan (new for paperback) Since its initial publication, this classic bestseller has been discussed on NPR, MSNBC, CNBC, and at Yale University, MIT, Carnegie Mellon University, Microsoft, Apple, Intel, Google, Amazon.com, and other major media, corporations, and universities around the world. It has changed the way thousands of leaders and creators understand the world. Now in an updated and expanded paperback edition, it's a fantastic time to explore or rediscover this powerful view of the world of ideas. "Sets us free to try and change the world."--Guy Kawasaki, Author of Art of The Start "Small, simple, powerful: an innovative book about innovation."--Don Norman, author of Design of Everyday Things "Insightful, inspiring, evocative, and just plain fun to read. It's totally great."--John Seely Brown, Former Director, Xerox Palo Alto Research Center (PARC) "Methodically and entertainingly dismantling the cliches that surround the process of innovation."--Scott Rosenberg, author of Dreaming in Code; cofounder of Salon.com "Will inspire you to come up with breakthrough ideas of your own."--Alan Cooper, Father of Visual Basic and author of The Inmates are Running the Asylum "Brimming with insights and historical examples, Berkun's book not only debunks widely held myths about innovation, it also points the ways toward making your new ideas stick."--Tom Kelley, GM, IDEO; author of The Ten Faces of Innovation