The other side of innovation by Vijay Govindarajan and Chris Trimble, published by HBR

I decided to review this book after it was mentioned recently in the Schumpeter column in the Economist; the article suggested that this book contained some new thinking on innovation so it seemed worth pursuing. It also has the stamp of Harvard through its publishing division, though the authors are from the less prestigious Tuck School of Business.

Though the book makes a few interesting points, it is difficult to see it as breakthrough thinking. There is none of the challenge and original ideas of ‘Fast Second’ by Markides and Geroski which challenged the conventional view that there is always merit in first mover advantage. The central assumption of the book – that there is a fundamental difference between creativity and innovation – is hardly new and the book makes heavy weather of the fact that innovation is a journey that requires very different qualities, in particular discipline and persistence.

The authors’ view is that innovation requires a well selected team with a balance of qualities and that this team must operate apart from the ‘Performance Engine’ that drives day to day activities. The team has to have its own model and culture which stops it getting sucked into the ongoing routine, while still being able to work in partnership with the mainstream.

The book starts well and has good examples, though these are all big American companies which makes one doubt whether these principles would extend elsewhere; isn’t the book just telling you what has to be done to break down the resistance to change of US Corporations? The book also gets bogged down in too much jargon and theory in the middle when it talks at great length about ‘observations and recommendations’ of the team.

I did like the emphasis towards the end on the ‘search for truth’ - the removal of self-serving bias in innovation teams - because I have seen many examples of such bias causing projects to go on far longer than they should. I also liked the style - if not all the content - of the easy to read conclusion; ‘ten myths and truths about innovation’.

The last two of the ‘truths’ rather give away the bias that the authors are showing; ‘innovation must be closely and carefully managed’ and ‘many of the world’s biggest problems can be solved only by large, established corporations’. This is so out of step with the views of many other writers and so poorly justified by the research presented, that I ended up totally unconvinced.

Click here to buy the book.