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Category: Innovation

Do you teach with my book? Get in touch for a custom video

Posted on January 28, 2021March 5, 2021 in Design Makes The World, Innovationby Scott Berkun

Over the years it’s been rewarding to see how many courses use one of my books. I write to…

Lessons from the Xerox-914: the first copy machine

Posted on September 16, 2020February 3, 2021 in Innovation, Myths of Innovationby Scott Berkun

A great innovation in business tech was announced on Sept. 16th in 1959 – The Xerox 914. It is…

iPhone vs. Light Switch: which invention is more impressive?

Posted on January 20, 2016April 7, 2016 in history, Innovationby Scott Berkun

If you could only pick one, would you rather have power in your home or a working iPhone? We…

The Many Mothers of Invention

Posted on July 8, 2015January 21, 2021 in Creative Thinking, Culture, Innovation, Myths of Innovationby Scott Berkun

[This is an excerpt from chapter 3 of the bestseller, The Myths of Innovation] All the clichés about beginnings…

Why has innovation slowed down? (Or has it?)

Posted on January 26, 2015February 3, 2021 in Culture, Innovationby Scott Berkun

I do not like Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. My reason is that while it seems sensible, it’s largely made…

The Myth of Epiphany

Posted on January 13, 2015April 5, 2021 in Creative Thinking, Innovationby Scott Berkun

One of the most provocative chapters of The Myths of Innovation is The Myth of Epiphany. Do you love…

Why Small Ideas Can Matter More Than Big Ideas

Posted on January 8, 2015March 4, 2021 in Creative Thinking, Innovation, Philosophyby Scott Berkun

[Originally published at Harvard Business as Does Size Matter For Ideas?] Americans are preoccupied by the size of things: big…

How can Obama & Congress foster innovation in 2015?

Posted on December 30, 2014December 30, 2014 in ask berkun, Innovationby Scott Berkun

Each week I take the top voted question from readers and answer it (submit one here). I jumped this one, submitted…

The Myths of Innovation: in 10 crazy acronyms?

Posted on December 26, 2014 in Innovationby Scott Berkun

A reader took their favorite ideas from The Myths of Innovation and made them into fascinating, but rather hard to…

Silicon Valley’s Youth Problem & The Myths of Innovation (NYTimes.com)

Posted on March 13, 2014April 23, 2014 in Business, Innovationby Scott Berkun

This essay in the NYTimes, Silicon Valley’s Youth Problem by Yiren Lu, is a kaleidoscopic essay on culture divide, and the…

The First Time I Saw The Web

Posted on March 12, 2014March 12, 2019 in history, Innovation, Software/Web developmentby Scott Berkun

In honor of the 30th anniversary of the web, here’s my story. I was a senior at CMU in…

Why Do Some Innovations Spread Slowly?

Posted on July 23, 2013October 4, 2019 in Innovationby Scott Berkun

I’m a fan of Atul Gawande’s books  (here’s my review of Checklist Manifesto). His essay in the New Yorker,…

The Meaninglessness of Google Glass

Posted on June 13, 2013January 16, 2015 in Innovationby Scott Berkun

“The more we elaborate our means of communication, the less we communicate.” – J. B. Priestley [Update 1/16/15: Google…

Truths, myths and lies

Posted on April 18, 2013August 5, 2014 in Innovation, Philosophyby Scott Berkun

There are two different uses of the word myth: A falsehood, as in “the weight loss myth” A story with…

The Best Definition of Innovation

Posted on April 3, 2013April 24, 2018 in Innovationby Scott Berkun

For years I’ve studied use and abuse of the word innovation. In the business world, it’s often used as…

The 177 truths of innovation

Posted on April 1, 2013April 1, 2013 in Innovation, Myths of Innovationby Scott Berkun

In making the mega list of 177 innovation myths, I hoped the hours it took to research would pay…

The 177 Myths of Innovation & Creativity: Mega summary

Posted on March 28, 2013October 26, 2019 in Innovation, Myths of Innovationby Scott Berkun

The term Myths of Innovation has become popular on the web, but few articles on the subject link to…

The Top Women Innovators of All Time

Posted on March 8, 2013March 8, 2021 in Innovationby Scott Berkun

Historical note: a disturbing element of history is its unfairness to women. The majority of our most famous inventors…

A class full of The Myths of Innovation

Posted on March 7, 2013March 8, 2013 in Innovation, Myths of Innovationby Scott Berkun

Many universities use The Myths of Innovation in courses on entrepreneurship or creativity, but David Burkus lined up his…

How to learn from a nuclear missile

Posted on February 5, 2013March 23, 2017 in Innovation, Managementby Scott Berkun

One great way to learn is to study a field you know little about. By becoming a tourist, a…

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Scott Berkun is the author of eight popular books on creativity, design, leadership and public speaking. You can hire him to speak, ask him a question or follow him on Twitter and Facebook.

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About Scott

Scott Berkun is the author of eight popular books on creativity, leadership, philosophy and speaking (more about Scott's background).

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