What is the main message of How Innovation Works?

The main message of How Innovation Works is that innovation is driven by trial and error, and it is a gradual and collective process.

How long does it take to read How Innovation Works?

The reading time for How Innovation Works varies depending on the reader, but it typically takes several hours. The Blinkist summary can be read in just 15 minutes.

Is How Innovation Works a good book? Is it worth reading?

How Innovation Works is a worthwhile read for anyone interested in understanding innovation. It provides insights and examples that shed light on the process of innovation.

Who is the author of How Innovation Works?

The author of How Innovation Works is Matt Ridley.

How Innovation Works Summary of Key Ideas and Review

Name: How Innovation Works
Rating: 4.2 (125 reviews)
Author: Matt Ridley

Introduction

What’s in it for me? A compelling overview of innovation history.

The radio, jet engines, vaccination, and even the humble rolling suitcase: all these products make our lives more comfortable, convenient, and connected. But how did they come to be? Through innovation, of course. Yet, that leaves the question: what creates innovation?

Unfortunately, most people simply don’t know. While innovation is the driving force behind technological advancement and the success of civilization, it remains a poorly understood phenomenon. But if we examine ingenuity throughout human history, we can begin to understand the conditions that let creativity thrive.

This book-in-blinks delves into the details behind some of humanity's most astounding innovative leaps. It also argues that innovation is a messy, incremental, bottom-up process that relies on collaboration and the free exchange of ideas.

In these blinks, you’ll learn

why margarine was briefly illegal;
how a little pus can prevent smallpox; and
what your frying pan shares with an atomic bomb.

Key idea 1 of 9

Innovation is a complex, messy, and collective process.

The Industrial Revolution – the giant leap in productivity that kicked off the modern era – began when humans first harnessed the power of steam to automate work. To do this, they used a new machine called the atmospheric steam engine. So, who do we thank for this astounding achievement? A man named Denis Papin.

Or, wait, maybe we should thank Thomas Savery. Or, hold on, maybe a fellow called Thomas Newcomen deserves our praise? The truth is, all three men deserve some credit, but none of them can claim all of it.

That’s because, around 1700, Papin, Savery, and Newcomen all produced their own working models of the atmospheric engine. To this day, it’s unclear who was truly first or how much each inventor influenced the others.

The key message here is: Innovation is a complex, messy, and collective process.

We often associate a new invention with a single creator. However, that’s an oversimplification of how innovation operates. Even the most creative people don’t work in a vacuum. They’re always influenced by the tools, technologies, ideas, and social structures that surround them. This often means multiple forces contribute to an innovation, even when one person takes the credit.

Let’s consider the case of the atmospheric steam engine. This relatively simple device heats and cools water in a metal cylinder. The changing pressure caused by steam creates movement that can be used for work, like pumping water out of mines. Could Papin, Savery, or Newcomen have invented this completely on their own?

Not really. The basic ideas behind the device were already hot topics of discussion in scientific circles at the time. Papin and Savery, both educated men, refined their thinking by exchanging letters and papers with other inventors. Moreover, Newcomen, who built the most successful version of the engine, relied on previous advances in blacksmithing technology to complete his machine. Thus, each man’s invention was also a product of their backgrounds and influences.

This principle applies to all innovation. While Thomas Edison gets credit for inventing the light bulb in 1879, the truth is, more than 20 other creators patented similar contraptions in earlier decades. All these thinkers were responding to ideas and technologies circulating at the time. Of course, some of these attempts were better than others, but none of these innovations happened in complete isolation.

Key idea 2 of 9

Medical innovations offer high risks and even higher rewards.

While the atmospheric steam engine kicked off the Industrial Revolution, medicine evolved with its own innovative procedures, like the following:

Step one: Find someone recovering from smallpox. Carefully scrape some pus off one of the many open lesions caused by the disease.

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Key idea 3 of 9

Travel innovation is all about incremental improvements.

The Salamanca, the Puffing Billy, the Sans Pareil. These names sound silly now, but in the early 1800s, each represented a small step toward improving the way we move.

You see, at the dawn of the nineteenth century, the horse was the king of transportation. However, inventors believed a machine, the steam-powered locomotive, could take its place. The tricky part was figuring out how to build one. So, engineers tried a great deal of different designs, giving each new prototype a bold new name.

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Key idea 4 of 9

Some innovations aren’t solid things but simply good ideas.

Let’s hear it for the humble potato. This tasty tuber is the basis for so many popular snacks and dishes we love today, but this wasn’t always the case. At least, it wasn’t in Europe. That took some innovation.

First cultivated more than 8,000 years ago in the Andes Mountains of South America, the potato didn’t arrive in the Old World until the mid-1500s. However, for decades, Europeans regarded potatoes with suspicion. The church in England banned them. People in France believed they caused leprosy.

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Key idea 5 of 9

Our desire to communicate drives rapid innovation.

Baltimore, Maryland, 1843. The Whig Party holds a convention and nominates Henry Clay for president. It’s big news, and usually, it would take a train more than an hour to deliver the results to Washington, DC. But, this year, the message arrives in seconds.

How? Thanks to the telegraph, a brand-new invention installed by Samuel Morse. It transmits information by sending electrical signals through a suspended wire. It’s the first practical innovation in the emerging field of electrified communication technology. The telephone arrives a few years later, in 1876. The wireless radio soon follows in the 1890s.

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Key idea 6 of 9

Innovation relies on chance, collaboration, and recombination.

The non-stick pans in your kitchen, the Gore-Tex coats worn in extreme environments, the fluorine gas chambers in the first atomic bombs. What do these all have in common? They’re all innovations based on polytetrafluoroethylene or PTFE.

PTFE was first synthesized in 1938 – by accident. A scientist researching refrigerants stored tetrafluoroethylene gas at sub-zero temperatures. The chemical solidified into a hard substance that was unusually stable and heat-resistant. It didn’t work as a refrigerant, but other scientists found that in other contexts, it could be used for so much more.

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Key idea 7 of 9

Innovation doesn’t always come from the top down.

In 1924, the British government wanted to build a civilian airship capable of traveling across oceans. This raised the question: should the task be handled by the government or by private industry? They decided to try both approaches. Parliament contracted a government lab and a private firm, Vickers, to build two ships.

How did this experiment play out? Well, by 1930, Vickers had designed the R100, a light, fast, and efficient aircraft. It traveled to Canada and back with no problems. Meanwhile, the government lab built the R101, a heavier, more costly ship. On its maiden voyage to Karachi, Pakistan, it only made it to France before crashing, killing 48 passengers.

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Key idea 8 of 9

Innovation will always face resistance.

Take a stroll through your grocery store’s dairy aisle. Here, you’ll see a wide selection of both butters and margarines sitting side-by-side in perfect harmony. The choice of spread is up to you. This wasn’t always the case.

When margarine was first invented in 1869, it caused an uproar. The oily spread was both cheaper and more stable than butter. The dairy industry, fearing the competition, launched a vicious campaign against it. The National Dairy Council even faked studies showing it was dangerous. By the 1940s, two-thirds of American states had banned this innocuous staple.

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Key idea 9 of 9

Innovation is lacking in the West but booming elsewhere.

Imagine the world in 2050. What wonders do you see?

Perhaps you see a medical system where gene-therapy and stem-cell treatments have eliminated most allergies, cancers, and other afflictions? Or maybe a transportation network where artificial intelligence pilots cars quickly and safely? Or, a green energy revolution where nuclear fusion provides us with unlimited power?

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