Neil C. Hughes - Great TED talks: Innovation: Unofficial Guide with Words of Wisdom from 100 TED Speakers

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Disclaimer: TED TALKS is a trademark of Ted Conferences LLC and is used herein solely for identification purposes, to identify the subject matter of this book. This book is a publication of Quarto PLC and it has not been prepared, approved, endorsed or licensed by Ted Talks LLC or any other person or entity.

INNOVATION HAPPENS WHEN PEOPLE ARE GIVEN THE FREEDOM TO ASK QUESTIONS AND THE RESOURCES AND POWER TO FIND THE ANSWERS.

RICHARD BRANSON

What is innovation? And how do you become more innovative? A quick search online delivers hundreds of definitions that may leave you feeling confused. Spend too long soul-searching, and you could run the risk of falling into the analysis paralysis trap.

The reality is that we are all trying to keep our heads above water in an era of unprecedented change. More than five years have passed since IBM&s Bridget van Kralingen said, The last best experience that anyone has anywhere, becomes the minimum expectation for the experience they want everywhere.

Welcome to the age of the experience economy. This is now a digital world in which businesses must adapt and evolve in order to meet the rising expectations of their customers. Measures that delivered success in the past could be responsible for your downfall in the future. But innovation can enable you to turn an idea, or even a friction point, into a solution that brings additional value to the world.

Looking for innovation blind spots and helping your team members find their creative sparks is a notoriously bumpy roller-coaster ride. Before trying to navigate uncharted territory alone, however, you can follow in the footsteps of other innovators and learn from their successes and failures.

TED Talks influence, teach, and inspire through the medium of storytelling. The stories we share unite people and ideas. They enable us to explore new approaches. In this book, you will learn from more than 100 TED speakers, who share their experiences with innovation.

Rule breakers who listen to their customers have an uncanny ability to see the world from multiple perspectives. By embracing a diversity of thought and failing fast, such people have already fueled innovation in their industry. But remember, innovation is a journey, not a destination. Embark on this journey through each stage of the innovation process and learn how some of the greatest innovative minds of our time achieved their successes. After reading this book, you will be ready to follow your own path in creating a story of your own.

This book of tips is designed to be quick and easy to peruse. You can read it from front to back or back to front, or dip in and out whenever you need inspirationits completely up to you. And if you want to refer back to a tip later but cant remember where it is, thats no problem. At the back of the book are two indexesone for topics, and one for the speakers quotedso its always easy to find what youre looking for.

Crucially, you dont need to have seen a single TED talk to enjoy this book. But maybe youd like to deepen your learning and watch one of the talks now? Again, thats no problem, as at the time of publication, all of the talks are available to watch free online.

You will find the links to the talks included in this book as part of the speaker index. Or you can simply go to ), youd type How to Find a Wonderful Idea.

Occasionally, though, a talk might not be there. During the production of this book, a few of them hadnt yet made it onto the TED website. Dont worry: theyre all available to view on YouTube too. In other words, if a talk doesnt come up when you type it into ted.com, go to YouTube.com and search there instead. In this case, be sure to put the title in quote marks ( ) so that YouTube knows exactly what its looking for (there are a few billion other videos on the site, so it pays to be specific).

Alternatively, you might prefer to type the title into Google (again, surrounded by quote marks). In that case, the talk should appear in Googles listings under the Videos heading.

Whether you choose simply to read the book or use it as a stepping-stone to the wider universe of watching TED talks, its time to open your mind and be inspired. Prepare to get a whole new perspective on your profession and where it can take you!