Innovation is everywhere. Levi wants you to use your clothes to control your music. Manufacturers are competing to capture the market of autonomous cars. You may even be able to roll up your TV and carry it in one hand. With an ever-changing society, how do you keep up with innovation? How do you encourage an innovative culture at work for the future? Here is a list of my “go-to” books that I would recommend…just in time for summer reading:
Abundance (2012)
By Peter Diamandis & Steven Kotler
According to the 2014 Deloitte Millennial Survey, millennials believe that businesses can do more to address society's biggest challenges. Deloitte’s alliance with the X-Prize Foundation aims to achieve this belief. To learn more about exponential technologies and how to solve grand challenges, I looked to Abundance. Peter Diamandis, founder of the X-Prize Foundation, offers his perspective on the use of incentive prize competitions and application of exponential technologies in order to drive innovation, solve the seemingly impossible, and substantially improve lives across the world. Already read Abundance? Try Bold (also by Diamandis and Kotler), which provides a guide on using exponential technologies. Short on time? Watch his TED talk on Abundance.
Future Crimes (2015)
By Marc Goodman
The benefits stemming from technological advances are immeasurable; technology advances have furthered the greater population of the world, but criminals and terrorists also have access to this technology. From a business perspective, Deloitte recognizes that as more businesses continue to upgrade their technologies, they unintentionally create more risks of cyber threats. As a former-law-enforcer, Goodman provides an interesting perspective on the dangers of technology and how it can be used against us. Criminals can hack not only into your computer, but also your TV, your car, and even the plane you’re flying on. Short on time? Watch Marc’s vision on Future Crimes here.
Creativity, Inc. (2014)
By Ed Catmull
Ever wondered how Pixar got its name? What made Toy Story 2 significantly more popular than other movie sequels? Or how to encourage a creative culture in a work environment? Ed Catmull, president of Pixar Animation Studios, answers these questions in Creativity, Inc. Catmull takes you through the story of Pixar – how it started, how it succeeded, and how it drove innovation – by reaching back to his experiences and offering tangible advice on how to enable a creative and innovative culture. As I inspire to promote creative thinking and innovation among my teams at Deloitte, I reference Catmull’s advice.
10 Types of Innovation (2013)
By Brian Quinn, Helen Walters, Larry Keeley, and Ryan Pikkel
Innovative. Ground-breaking. Radical. Pioneering. These are buzzwords we often see in today’s news coverage on advancements the world is making, but what does that mean? How do you define innovation? This book, by leaders in Monitor Deloitte’s Doblin, provides insights on how the 10 Types of Innovation can be used to identify innovation opportunities and more importantly, execute on these opportunities. In the Federal space, we’ve been able to apply the 10 Types Framework to help agencies transform their solutions and perceptions about innovation in the Federal Government. Explore the 10 types here.
Change by Design (2009)
By Tim Brown
The increasing emphasis on services and customer experiences requires a change in the traditional problem-solving process. As a result, companies are integrating the concept of “design-thinking,” which focuses on the users that companies would like to create value for. At Deloitte, we tried to encourage these techniques by reaching out to IDEO to develop a design-thinking environment for our employees. In Change by Design, IDEO’s CEO introduces design thinking techniques and advice on how leaders can integrate design thinking within their solutions for quality of customer experiences. Check out Brown’s IDEO blog about design thinking here.
Exponential Organizations (2014)
By Salim Ismail
According to Ismail, an exponential organization is one whose output/impact is disproportionally large compared to its peers because of the use of new organizational techniques that leverage accelerating technologies. In Exponential Organizations, I enjoyed learning about the revolution of business performance, accelerated through exponential technologies. His advice on organizing an exponential organization is particularly interesting, since Deloitte has recently been driving efforts with exponentials.
Digital Gold (2015)
By Nathaniel Popper
In Blockchain 101, I discussed the potential impact and application of Blockchain technology at different organizations. Interested in learning more about the history of Blockchain and who was involved? I highly suggest Digital Gold, which provides a detailed account of Blockchain through a series of stories. If you’re interested in learning more from Deloitte’s perspective, check out our Blockchain report.
The Rise of the Robots (2015)
By Martin Ford
Although the concept of robots has existed since the 1400s when Leonardo da Vinci sketched his plans for a humanoid robot, the first true robot was not produced until five centuries later in Japan. Since then, our society has made incredible progress within technology and robotics; for example, researchers are now attempting to design robots that can feel pain. If you want to learn more about the potential impact of robots and possible future if the trajectory of robotics innovation continues, I highly recommend the Rise of the Robots.