A Summary of Why Innovation Fails by Carl Franklin

· This book demonstrates the obstacles to successful innovation and, using real-life examples, shows how determined minds overcame them. Insights from history illustrate how taking ill-considered risks can also lead to calamity.

· The lesson of this book is to prepare thoroughly and listen to feedback before you act.

· None of us as individuals has all the skills we need to bring a product or an idea to the marketplace. We need to collaborate and we need to listen.

· One needs to be tempered with market awareness and realism.

· Convention is an enemy to progress.

Introduction

· Franklin is a technology journalist.

· Innovation is anything that somebody thinks is a great idea.

· Most innovations fair because when you look closely they really aren't good ideas; what is wrong is the thinking behind them.

· The book is about the thinking behind innovation and the questions that innovators should be asking along the way. It won't tell you how to develop products, secure finance or file for patents.

· Book will equip you with a few more ideas and insights and a few more questions.

· History of failure can be learned from.

· Throughout book are questions you should ask and useful tools to reduce risk and improve chances of success.

Chapter 1 - Why the Metric Systems isn't rocket science

The main idea of this chapter is that something is not an innovation unless the adopter believes it to be. It's brilliance does not ensure it's success. There are many barriers to adoption including culture, funding, etc. that are taken into account when and person decides to adopt an innovation.

· Better, faster, cheaper - choose two

· NASA satellite - using imperial units not metric, a confusing system dating back more than a thousand years

· 1585 - metric system created - another 85 years before foundation laid

· NASA fails to adopt metric system because of: switching costs, perceived risks, corporate vested interests, industry standards, user psychology, and shortage of widgets.