Innovation for the Fatigued Book Summary - Innovation for the Fatigued Book explained in key points
Listen to the Intro
00:00

Innovation for the Fatigued summary

Alf Rehn

How to Build a Culture of Deep Creativity

4.3 (100 ratings)
21 mins
Table of Contents

    Innovation for the Fatigued
    summarized in 8 key ideas

    Audio & text in the Blinkist app
    Key idea 1 of 8

    Innovation has become a tired buzzword.

    When author Alf Rehn gave talks to corporate leaders a decade ago, the room would listen attentively and with genuine enthusiasm. Today, as soon as he utters the word “innovation,” people become fidgety, sag in their seats, or sigh in exasperation. They’re tired of even hearing the word. 

    If you listen to entrepreneurial jargon, you’ll hear words like “revolutionary” and “ground-breaking” about products like Kellogg’s Pop Tarts or minor adaptations to certain models of car. The vocabulary of radical change has been co-opted for often uninspiring purposes.

    Just as there is an abundance of “innovation” jargon, there are oceans of books about the trend. In fact, there are around 100 such books published each month. 100! But while there is a lot of talk about innovation – which you might expect to be full of new, exciting ideas – these books can be boring and repetitive.

    This is because the advice has become so standardized that AI could feasibly write a passable innovation book. If it did, it would include the endlessly repeated advice on how to “experiment and test with customers,” “take chances,” and “learn to embrace failure.”

    Rehn demonstrated just how far this innovation talk had gone via an experiment with a leading tech company. Having been invited to give a 20-minute talk on innovation at the company (which Rehn prefers to keep anonymous, for fear of embarrassing them), he got to work right away.

    Wanting to make a good impression on such a massive organization, he decided to plan for many more hours worth of material than he actually had to present. When he arrived at the organization, he met their leadership team for some preliminary discussions. At such a prestigious company, he expected a robust, invigorating back-and-forth of ideas. Instead, he was disappointed to find they had little appetite for a real exchange of ideas.

    Emboldened, Rehn decided that he would compose a nonsensical speech made up entirely of buzzwords for his big presentation. He delivered the speech sincerely, with all the necessary emphasis and gestures. He declared things like: “So, you need to be the box you think outside of!” The audience of tech leaders and innovators listened eagerly. Some even took notes. 

    Want to see all full key ideas from Innovation for the Fatigued?

    Key ideas in Innovation for the Fatigued

    More knowledge in less time
    Read or listen
    Read or listen
    Get the key ideas from nonfiction bestsellers in minutes, not hours.
    Find your next read
    Find your next read
    Get book lists curated by experts and personalized recommendations.
    Shortcasts
    Shortcasts New
    We’ve teamed up with podcast creators to bring you key insights from podcasts.

    What is Innovation for the Fatigued about?

    Innovation for the Fatigued (2019) grapples with a curse of the corporate world: innovation fatigue. Rather than inventing anything useful or new, many organizations are mired in fashionable soundbites about “disruption” and “blue sky thinking.” It peels back the layers of nonsense to look at how companies can establish a deep and purposeful innovation culture.

    Who should read Innovation for the Fatigued?

    • Tech company leaders who’d like to try something different
    • Anyone interested in the business world
    • Changemakers looking to innovate in other fields

    About the Author

    Alf Rehn is a Finnish lecturer and author who holds the Chair of Management and Organization at Åbo Akademi University. Rehn works as a columnist and sits on the board of directors for several companies, including the government-run Finnish betting agency, Veikkaus. Other notable works by him include Dangerous Ideas and Trendspotting, which he co-authored with Magnus Lindkvist.

     

    © Alf Rehn, 2019. This Summary of Innovation for the Fatigued is published by arrangement with Kogan Page.

    Categories with Innovation for the Fatigued

    Books like Innovation for the Fatigued

    People ❤️ Blinkist
    Sven O.

    It's highly addictive to get core insights on personally relevant topics without repetition or triviality. Added to that the apps ability to suggest kindred interests opens up a foundation of knowledge.

    Thi Viet Quynh N.

    Great app. Good selection of book summaries you can read or listen to while commuting. Instead of scrolling through your social media news feed, this is a much better way to spend your spare time in my opinion.

    Jonathan A.

    Life changing. The concept of being able to grasp a book's main point in such a short time truly opens multiple opportunities to grow every area of your life at a faster rate.

    Renee D.

    Great app. Addicting. Perfect for wait times, morning coffee, evening before bed. Extremely well written, thorough, easy to use.

    People also liked

    Start growing with Blinkist now
    26 Million
    Downloads on all platforms
    4.7 Stars
    Average ratings on iOS and Google Play
    91%
    Of Blinkist members create a better reading habit*
    *Based on survey data from Blinkist customers
    Powerful ideas from top nonfiction

    Try Blinkist to get the key ideas from 5,500+ bestselling nonfiction titles and podcasts. Listen or read in just 15 minutes.

    Start your free trial