The Most Important Question

Best of: How To Innovate


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How does innovation actually work?

That's today's big question, and my guest is Christopher Mims. Chris is a journalist for the Wall Street Journal, and I had him on the show in 2021 to understand how he asks big questions.

Chris is constantly asking questions about the most pressing technological and societal issues we face from robot trains to the future of batteries, brain implants, and whatever happens to land in between. And his thesis is this: every little bit counts. And innovation is more predictable than you think - or is it?

In this conversation, Chris and I explore the team dynamics of innovation, the "great man" question, the invisible force behind Moore's Law, and more.

The bad news: Nobody gets to save the world.

The good news: Everyone gets to save the world a little bit.

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Have feedback or questions? Tweet us, or send a message to [email protected]

New here? Get started with our fan favorite episodes at importantnotimportant.com/podcast.

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INI Book Club:

  • Life as We Made It by Beth Shapiro
  • Arriving Today by Christopher Mims
  • Find all of our guest recommendations at the INI Book Club: https://bookshop.org/lists/important-not-important-book-club

Links:

  • mims.club
  • Twitter: @mims

Follow us:

  • Subscribe to our newsletter at importantnotimportant.com
  • Follow us on Twitter: twitter.com/ImportantNotImp
  • Subscribe to our YouTube channel
  • Follow Quinn: twitter.com/quinnemmett
  • Edited by Anthony Luciani
  • Produced by Willow Beck
  • Intro/outro by Tim Blane: timblane.com

Find our more about our guests here: https://www.importantnotimportant.com/guest-stats

Advertise with us: https://www.importantnotimportant.com/sponsors

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