Need, Speed, and Greed: How the New Rules of Innovation Can Transform Businesses, Propel Nations to Greatness, and Tame the World's Most Wicked Problems

by Vijay V. Vaitheeswaran

World-renowned economist Vijay V. Vaitheeswaran provides a deeply insightful, brilliantly informed guide to the innovation revolution now transforming the world. With echoes of Clayton Christensen’s The Innovator’s Dilemma , Tim Brown’s Change by Design , and Jared Diamond’s Guns, Germs, and Steel , Vaitheeswaran’s Need, Speed, and Greed introduces readers to the go-getters, imagineers, and visionaries now reshaping the global economy. Along the way, Vaitheeswaran teaches readers the skills they must develop to unleash their own inner innovator and reveals why America and other wealthy, privileged societies must embrace a path of inclusive growth and sustainability—or risk being left behind by history.

Genres: Business, Economics, Nonfiction

304 pages, Hardcover

First published February 28, 2012

Reviews

[Kressel Housman · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is another economics book that I learned about through NPR, and I read it immediately after another such book, A Capitalism for the People by Luigi Zingales. If you recall from my review of the Zingales book, I thought it was very well done, but I was disappointed that it didn't tell me what I as an individual can do to improve the economy - on my own personal scale and for the world at large. Unfortunately, I can say exactly the same for this book. Well done, but it didn't answer my most important question, though for a completely different reason. Whereas Zingales' recommendations were all on the level of policy, which I have no control over, this book emphasized the power of innovative technology, and since I'm just a bookkeeper/secretary, it still felt beyond my reach.

The book is divided into three sections that correspond to the title. The first, Need, was my favorite section. It argues that the best innovations solve some pressing need, as opposed to being some new-fangled widget. It also argues that need is what's driving the emerging economies of China and India. They're developing better and cheaper technologies because they have to. They're on lower budgets.

Speed was my least favorite section because it was the most technological. The main theme there was that in this Internet age when communication is so fast, competition is fiercer than ever. So if you want to win the innovation game, you'd better be the first at the finish line.

And finally, there was Greed, good old-fashioned self-interest. This section included a chapter called "Greed for Good," which was all about social entrepreneurship. That was my favorite of the whole section, but I think it's a semantic stretch to call the charitable impulse "greed," even if it is "greed for good."

And last came the conclusion: optimistic and therefore worth reading. As to the book overall, though - well done, but not what I was hoping for.

[Azri Razak · Rating 4 out of 5]

Awesome book for established business owners to have a read or for those aspiring entrepreneurs seeking to understand the current trends of setting up your own business.

Some of my favorite quotes from the book:

"The key lies in cultivating a culture that embraces change, experimentation, failure, and rapid learning."

"In the age of disruptive innovation, the competitive edge may well go not to the smartest or wealthiest but to those who best learn how to keep on learning throughout their lifetime."

[Sandesh Nayak · Rating 5 out of 5]

Brings ideas of innovation and many case studies. Worth to read.

[Mario Polytaridis · Rating 3 out of 5]

A very well written book about innovation that ultimately taught me nothing I didn't already know. I am probably biased from my prior reading on the subject and fact I work in an international company that's consistently been voted 1 innovator in their field for the last 10 years, but still this book could have been so much more ambitious given the breadth and value of the premise. Quite an easy and useful read for the un-initiated and someone just starting to explore the topic, so I give it a median rating rather than 2 stars.

[Alisha · Rating 3 out of 5]

good overview of some of the critical problems facing the world and what business can do about it. Like many business books it provides lots of good case studies and very general points on what needs to change so that people, companies, and governments can innovate. The points at the end are nothing new, but the examples given are very useful if you are looking at innovation in a number of different spheres.

[Iamreddave · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book is a collection of other books I have read. I can't say it is bad but it quotes Ridley, Cowen, Shirkey, Tapscott, Sobel at such length that if you've read these there is not much new here.