Innovating with Impact: The Economist Edge Series

by Ted Ladd, Alessandro Lanteri

We're all innovators now. Thinkers and entrepreneurs Ted Ladd and Alessandro Lanteri show us how to make the most of our ideas.

It is a myth to consider innovation the domain of the special few who are inspired by "eureka!" moments that always result in brilliant new products. In reality, anyone with the right tools, traits, and methods has the potential to innovate with impact, generating profits and even changing the world.

In this engaging guide, top thinkers and entrepreneurs Ted Ladd and Alessandro Lanteri show how to create innovations that deliver customer value. Their Innovation Pyramid outlines a strategic process that is rooted in the right cultures and mindsets and uses a range of methods, techniques and themes to reach the pinnacle of maximum impact.

Throughout the book, stories and examples from different organisations and contexts bring the text to life. This book is essential reading for anyone who wants to create, innovate, improve performance, and ultimately, make a difference.

Genres: Business, Nonfiction

240 pages, Hardcover

Published March 7, 2023

About the author

Teach and research innovation at Hult, Harvard and Stanford. Seven start-ups. Most recent acquired by Google to start WearOS for smartwatches. PhD from Case, MBA from Wharton, MA in economics from Johns Hopkins, BA from Cornell, farrier’s certificate from Oklahoma School of Horseshoeing. Ted, wife Laura, and dog The Project live in Jackson Hole, Wyoming.

Reviews

[Gutly Yegendurdyyev · Rating 2 out of 5]

The book initially reeled me in with its engaging stories. The real-world examples effectively demonstrated that innovation isn't just about revolutionary breakthroughs. It can also involve small, incremental improvements. This core message is valuable.

However, my initial excitement sputtered as I delved deeper. The captivating stories gave way to generic content that felt indistinguishable from forgettable internet articles. Better to ask AI chatbots to summarize the book and keep your valuable time to better books out there.

[Sergio Estrella · Rating 1 out of 5]

Genuinely a horrible book. Hard to get through and it’s filled with too many buzzwords. Usual corporate jargon such as “pivots” “customers” “profit” etc. It is written like something a corporate soul-less shell would write using scripts of team meetings to increase shareholder value and company efficiency. Reading it was like nails on a chalkboard and it doesn’t really help expand my knowledge as a college business major. There was no flow or interesting stories/concepts in the book. As I mentioned, it contains far too many buzzwords and reading through the chapters made me feel like I was in a groggy Monday morning 8:00AM meeting at the office that never gets to the point and just wastes your time and they turned the entire transcription of the meeting into this book.

[Anna · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is one of those books that makes me wish there were two rating systems: one that is my opinion, and one that is more critical/objectional.

It’s a 2.75 star for me because I didn’t think there was that much depth or thoroughly dissected case studies that were valuable, but would rate it higher if I had read this ten years ago and still had a lot of basics to understand.

I don’t think you are going to learn how to innovate from this book, but I think it does serve as an introduction for students and people early in their careers on how you can begin to *think and look* at innovation…if that makes sense.

[Harold · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book to get an overview of the many ways to innovate. It’s good go to guide for ideas and thoughts on innovation.