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Title: The Innovation Code

Subtitle: The Creative Power of Constructive Conflict

Author: Jeff DeGraff, Staney DeGraff

Narrator: Tom Dheere

Format: Unabridged

Length: 3 hrs and 10 mins

Language: English

Release date: 06-22-17

Publisher: Berrett-Koehler Publishers

Ratings: 4 of 5 out of 4 votes

Genres: Business, Management

Publisher's Summary:

From years of research and practical experience as a consultant, Jeff DeGraff has learned that when it comes to any innovation initiative, disharmony is crucial. We innovate when we disrupt, and we first have to disrupt each other.

DeGraff identifies four contrasting types of innovators. There's the wild experimentation of The Artist, the pragmatic caution of The Engineer, the urgent competitiveness of The Athlete, and the patient community-building of The Sage. He includes exercises so listeners can find where they fit into this framework, and shows how to build, manage, and embrace the dynamic discord of a team that contains all four types. When you combine the visionary thinking of The Artist and the practical thinking of The Engineer, you get innovation that's both revolutionary and manageable, highly ambitious without high risk. When you combine the results-oriented attitude of The Athlete with the values-oriented attitude of The Sage, you get innovation that's both a good investment and good for the world. This is a profound but highly accessible guide for achieving breakthrough solutions by utilizing the full - and seemingly contradictory - spectrum of innovative thinking.

Members Reviews:

Read This and Learn a Lot About How to Innovate

My job is to bring innovation into peacebuilding. So, when I see a book with a title like The Innovation Code, I immediately read it. This was well worth it for at least four reasons in this case.

First is a statement they make toward the end of the book. "Collaboration has recently emerged as the defining characteristic of creativity and growth in nearly all sectors and industries." I think they're right except for the sectors and industries I work in that all include social and political policy making. Second, they start the book by suggesting that we encourage conflict if we want to be innovative. Thus, the first paragraph of the preface includes this line. "It's best that we innovate not with people we agree with but with people who challenge us." Rather than surround ourselves with people like ourselves, they suggest working with your polar opposite if you want to do something other than business as usual.

Third, they don't encourage conflict for conflict's sake. Rather, they stress the importance of bringing together diverse teams that share at least some kind of "shared investment in the project." Finally, they help us figure out ways of working with people whose modus vivendi is different from our own which always involves heightening our understanding of or empathy

A Must Read. Engaging, Brief, and Useful on Innovation Theory

Organizations who don't understand the value of different type of behaviors will learn to appreciate and unleash their people by reading and reflecting on this book. The book borrows from the big five personalities, and define four archetypes: artist, engineer, atheletes, and sage. Dr Degraff also reminds us of his prior work on the Competing Value Framework 4Cs: creative, control, collaborate, compete and how to put it work in an organization with interesting story and character. I read the book on a flight from Minneapolis to Boston plus another hour. It's a short read with many gold nuggets to apply to your team.