How Innovation Works: And Why It Flourishes in Freedom
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- Author：Matt Ridley
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Summary
Building on his national bestseller The Rational Optimist， Matt Ridley chronicles the history of innovation， and how we need to change our thinking on the subject。
Innovation is the main event of the modern age， the reason we experience both dramatic improvements in our living standards and unsettling changes in our society。 Forget short-term symptoms like Donald Trump and Brexit， it is innovation that will shape the twenty-first century。 Yet innovation remains a mysterious process， poorly understood by policy makers and businessmen alike。
Matt Ridley argues that we need to see innovation as an incremental， bottom-up， fortuitous process that happens as a direct result of the human habit of exchange， rather than an orderly， top-down process developing according to a plan。 Innovation is crucially different from invention， because it is the turning of inventions into things of practical and affordable use to people。 It speeds up in some sectors and slows down in others。 It is always a collective， collaborative phenomenon， involving trial and error， not a matter of lonely genius。 It happens mainly in just a few parts of the world at any one time。 It still cannot be modeled properly by economists， but it can easily be discouraged by politicians。 Far from there being too much innovation， we may be on the brink of an innovation famine。
Ridley derives these and other lessons from the lively stories of scores of innovations， how they started and why they succeeded or failed。 Some of the innovation stories he tells are about steam engines， jet engines， search engines， airships， coffee， potatoes， vaping， vaccines， cuisine， antibiotics， mosquito nets， turbines， propellers， fertilizer， zero， computers， dogs， farming， fire， genetic engineering， gene editing， container shipping， railways， cars， safety rules， wheeled suitcases， mobile phones， corrugated iron， powered flight， chlorinated water， toilets， vacuum cleaners， shale gas， the telegraph， radio， social media， block chain， the sharing economy， artificial intelligence， fake bomb detectors， phantom games consoles， fraudulent blood tests， hyperloop tubes， herbicides， copyright， and even life itself。
Innovation is the main event of the modern age， the reason we experience both dramatic improvements in our living standards and unsettling changes in our society。 Forget short-term symptoms like Donald Trump and Brexit， it is innovation that will shape the twenty-first century。 Yet innovation remains a mysterious process， poorly understood by policy makers and businessmen alike。
Matt Ridley argues that we need to see innovation as an incremental， bottom-up， fortuitous process that happens as a direct result of the human habit of exchange， rather than an orderly， top-down process developing according to a plan。 Innovation is crucially different from invention， because it is the turning of inventions into things of practical and affordable use to people。 It speeds up in some sectors and slows down in others。 It is always a collective， collaborative phenomenon， involving trial and error， not a matter of lonely genius。 It happens mainly in just a few parts of the world at any one time。 It still cannot be modeled properly by economists， but it can easily be discouraged by politicians。 Far from there being too much innovation， we may be on the brink of an innovation famine。
Ridley derives these and other lessons from the lively stories of scores of innovations， how they started and why they succeeded or failed。 Some of the innovation stories he tells are about steam engines， jet engines， search engines， airships， coffee， potatoes， vaping， vaccines， cuisine， antibiotics， mosquito nets， turbines， propellers， fertilizer， zero， computers， dogs， farming， fire， genetic engineering， gene editing， container shipping， railways， cars， safety rules， wheeled suitcases， mobile phones， corrugated iron， powered flight， chlorinated water， toilets， vacuum cleaners， shale gas， the telegraph， radio， social media， block chain， the sharing economy， artificial intelligence， fake bomb detectors， phantom games consoles， fraudulent blood tests， hyperloop tubes， herbicides， copyright， and even life itself。
Reviews
Jack
，
Ridley tells a great story。 His account of how innovations happened in the past and the forces that affect invention and innovation is interesting and informative。 He’s also a really positive optimistic guy。 He makes me believe that humanity has done it before and will do it again。 I think his assessment of the activist forces who block innovation is spot on。 His view on how the patent system actually can impede innovation was an eye opener。 Most of us forget how Edison， Bell， the Wright Brother Ridley tells a great story。 His account of how innovations happened in the past and the forces that affect invention and innovation is interesting and informative。 He’s also a really positive optimistic guy。 He makes me believe that humanity has done it before and will do it again。 I think his assessment of the activist forces who block innovation is spot on。 His view on how the patent system actually can impede innovation was an eye opener。 Most of us forget how Edison， Bell， the Wright Brothers and contemporary innovators were dragged down by patent fights and resistance from people who want the status quo。 Good book。 I used whispersync so I split the read between kindle and audible。 The reader was really good。 。。。more
Mohammad Al-ubaydli
，
If you like innovation you will love this bookRidley is an enjoyable story teller and a backer of innovators。 As someone who struggles every day with people who reject change， it is soothing to read his Just So stories。
Piotr Opyd
，
Matt Ridley in his book explains brilliantly how innovation is driving our world。 He also clarifies that innovation is team work and how much we underestimate trial and error methods by overestimating ideas themselves。 The ideas are born in environment where they can be freely exchanged， people are not over regulated and they have freedom to try， but most importantly - freedom to fail。 Innovation is built on spectacular （or not so） failures， which we have seemed to forget lately。Overall， I reall Matt Ridley in his book explains brilliantly how innovation is driving our world。 He also clarifies that innovation is team work and how much we underestimate trial and error methods by overestimating ideas themselves。 The ideas are born in environment where they can be freely exchanged， people are not over regulated and they have freedom to try， but most importantly - freedom to fail。 Innovation is built on spectacular （or not so） failures， which we have seemed to forget lately。Overall， I really enjoyed reading that book， it gives us great historical lessons， but also warns about current stagnation， overregulation and discouragement to try。 Especially in Europe and US。 Lately， innovation hub has migrated to China， and sadly， it does not seem to bother people in Europe at all。 。。。more
Syon Bhanot
，
It was OK。 The first half is basically just like a laundry list of innovations in history， which was a bit dry and disjointed at times。 The second half gets more into the argument surrounding “freedom” and innovation， but that gets a little bit “free market-y” for my taste。 There’s a lot of interesting factiods in here and in general the writing is good， but I can’t say I loved it。
Aliaksei Mukhachou
，
Exceptional book detailing past and present of integration of new solutions into our everyday life。 I loved the story flow and the key messages。 To the point that I am no longer seeing Brexit as all that bad - and that's saying something for a person who has been impacted severely negatively on the surface。 Wide-reaching conclusions for policymakers， for entrepreneurs and for the career- mobile。 Exceptional book detailing past and present of integration of new solutions into our everyday life。 I loved the story flow and the key messages。 To the point that I am no longer seeing Brexit as all that bad - and that's saying something for a person who has been impacted severely negatively on the surface。 Wide-reaching conclusions for policymakers， for entrepreneurs and for the career- mobile。 。。。more
DigitalThor
，
A collection of innovation examples from throughout history。 In general， quite interesting， but at times， more detail than expected。 Author makes a case against governments' capabilities to innovate which doesn't always seem accurate。 A collection of innovation examples from throughout history。 In general， quite interesting， but at times， more detail than expected。 Author makes a case against governments' capabilities to innovate which doesn't always seem accurate。 。。。more
Paweł Skorupiński
，
Probably the most interesting piece of knowledge I read in my life。On top of that， I already see that an insight into how innovation works presented on hundreds of examples proves very practical in professional life as in daily analysis of reality。
Venu
，
The usual fiddle-faddle on innovation is either an encomium dedicated to a single genius or rich management consultant'ish prose on the innovation process。 What I like about this book is the chronicling of finalists in the race to major innovations who lie in unmarked graves， while the winner basks in the memorialized glory of an Olympic gold medal winner。 After the initial fascination with this new storytelling format， its repetition does make it a bit dry。 And the thesis that most innovation i The usual fiddle-faddle on innovation is either an encomium dedicated to a single genius or rich management consultant'ish prose on the innovation process。 What I like about this book is the chronicling of finalists in the race to major innovations who lie in unmarked graves， while the winner basks in the memorialized glory of an Olympic gold medal winner。 After the initial fascination with this new storytelling format， its repetition does make it a bit dry。 And the thesis that most innovation is likely slowly ripening fruit where the early （more likely more obsessed and sociopathic） inventor gets disproportionate credit vs either serendipity or a thunderclap style insight， is both encouraging and somewhat downbeat。 Further， if you look at today's titans of innovation （Jobs， Musk， Page） this theory has an element of truth and a sizeable dollop of misguidedness。 The smart phone wouldn't have happened without Jobs even because the specific proportionality of features was needed （all the previous inventors were trying to paint a Mona Lisa in the style of Modigliani）。 All that said， this is one of the more thought provoking books I've read on innovation in a while。 Up there with 'The Geography of Genius' and well worth a read。 。。。more
Alexej Gerstmaier
，
Innovation happens by creative tinkering - >trying stuff outinnovation>>inventionInnovation =/= inventionThe state is bad at fostering/funding innovationEurope/EU is innovation-phobicChinese are starting to innovate。 Propensity to work 9/9/6 （9am to 9pm， 6 days a week） helps。 They don't have political freedom （which isn't necessary for innovation） but have regulatory freedomModern Humans are displaying features similar to domesticated animals （wtf？！） Innovation happens by creative tinkering - >trying stuff outinnovation>>inventionInnovation =/= inventionThe state is bad at fostering/funding innovationEurope/EU is innovation-phobicChinese are starting to innovate。 Propensity to work 9/9/6 （9am to 9pm， 6 days a week） helps。 They don't have political freedom （which isn't necessary for innovation） but have regulatory freedomModern Humans are displaying features similar to domesticated animals （wtf？！） 。。。more
Rajiv Jamkhedkar
，
Great book for readers of business and innovation related buffs。Ridley talks about several characteristics of Innovation that are not often well understood。He writes engagingly using stories and real life case-studies。
L。 Gary
，
Excellent examples of innovation and why it is a team sport。 The author provides a clear distinction between inventor and innovation。 He also clearly outlines the culture required to be an innovative company or organization。 Great read！
Andrew Ning
，
Very broad （some details not quite right） but lots of interesting tidbits and some good general trends as related to innovation。
Kåre
，
Han undersøger empirisk， hvordan innovationer er blevet skabt og udbredt。 Til slut drager han nogle konklusioner。Innovationer defineres ikke som opfindelser， men som opfindelser， der bliver udbredt til en bred masse af mennesker。 Altså noget der har praktisk betydning for mange。 Kapitlerne fokuserer på forskellige områder， som trafik， sundhed， energi， modstand mod innovationer。 De generelle konklusioner er， at stat skal blande sig udenom， at innovationerne kommer uanset om det er den ene eller d Han undersøger empirisk， hvordan innovationer er blevet skabt og udbredt。 Til slut drager han nogle konklusioner。Innovationer defineres ikke som opfindelser， men som opfindelser， der bliver udbredt til en bred masse af mennesker。 Altså noget der har praktisk betydning for mange。 Kapitlerne fokuserer på forskellige områder， som trafik， sundhed， energi， modstand mod innovationer。 De generelle konklusioner er， at stat skal blande sig udenom， at innovationerne kommer uanset om det er den ene eller den anden， der er til stede， at innovationer er gradvise， at de kommer gennem trial and error， at der ofte er stærk modstand mod innovationer bl。a。 andet fra stat og fag。Historier om， at innovative mennesker spilder meget tid på at overkomme bureakrati。 Fx udvikles akraft næsten ikke， fordi det er blevet syltet ind i bureaukrati。 Det samme gør EU i højere grad end andre steder。 。。。more
Tamizhmarai
，
The book essentially consists of two halves: the first half deals with stories of how innovation came about in fields such as energy， health， technology etc。 and the second half， based on the stories， tries to come up with theories for how innovation works。 It is a decent conceit -- to grip the reader with rousing tales of scientific and technological breakthroughs and then， using these stories， tease out the mechanism through which innovation works。 The problem is， the conceit fails on both cou The book essentially consists of two halves: the first half deals with stories of how innovation came about in fields such as energy， health， technology etc。 and the second half， based on the stories， tries to come up with theories for how innovation works。 It is a decent conceit -- to grip the reader with rousing tales of scientific and technological breakthroughs and then， using these stories， tease out the mechanism through which innovation works。 The problem is， the conceit fails on both counts。Let's start with the second half， the punchline of the book。 Almost none of the points Ridley makes about innovation are particularly insightful。 They come across as fairly obvious。 Does innovation happen in a society that is open to trade and communication or one that is closed？ Does innovation happen when there is less regulation or more？ Does innovation happen by teams working together or by individuals working alone？ I am sure most people would pick the former in each case， and unsurprisingly， Ridley too reaches the same conclusion， but makes us work hard to get there。 To be fair， there are some instances where his conclusions are somewhat novel （e。g。 patents don't really help innovations） but the payoff for slogging through the stories is low。 Which brings us to another point: the stories。 The problem with relying on stories to make your point is that you leave yourself open to the charge of cherry-picking anecdotes to suit your narrative。 There is very little systematic study of innovation across time or countries or a data-driven analysis of innovations within an industry or across industries。 Ridley is almost entirely reliant on secondary sources -- it is not a problem in itself （Sapiens is a good example of a book that despite being based wholly on secondary research had something new to say）， but it fundamentally limits how insightful one can be especially if the primary research in the area is lacking。 By using mainly stories to back up his assertions， Ridley often ends up contradicting himself， as for every story there is probably a counter-story。 On the one hand， he says innovation thrives in a society with fragmented governance （such as Federal vs。 State in the US） but on the other hand China， with its single authoritarian government setup， he concedes， is a mega innovator。 He ends up having to making exceptions and creating loopholes to explain why certain stories don't jibe with the other stories。 At one point in the book， Ridley asserts that the invention of the radio led to mass propaganda which led to polarisation of society but the invention of TV united people。 Er， what？ One merely has to flip to a couple of news channels to see the level of polarisation TV has engendered today， something which Ridley too mentions later on in the book， contradicting his statement from before。And the first half of the book， the stories， are narrated in a surprisingly dull manner。 Some stories， which would have been putty in the hands of a better raconteur， come across almost like an uninterested journalist's news report。 The tales of innovation are rushed， with dates and names jumping at you on every page but lack a human interest。 （Contrast this with the stories of medical discovery in Bill Bryson's The Body。） This is a shame， as the examples Ridley picks out， one suspects， would have made for great reading if handled by a better writer。 A pet peeve: I dislike a writer butting in in the middle of a story and Ridley does it a few times。 Once he notes that he is typing out the chapter at the same railway station mentioned in the story he is narrating， which brought to mind an image of the writer half-attentively flinging words onto the page， trying to rush though a chapter before he reached his destination and had better stuff to do。 The stories have this glib， hurried quality to them that sometimes undermine the points he wants to makes。 Also， about 30% of the book is EU-bashing （big， bureaucratic， slow， regulation-heavy）， which becomes tiresome after a point。 All in all， it was an OK read。 You learn a few fun things on the way but the journey in general is not much fun。 。。。more
Miroslav
，
Great anecdotal accounts of major innovations This is a great book for learning about the history of major innovations and common themes in innovation。 Four not five stars because the author is more surface anecdote than deep science when it comes to discussing innovation drivers; so while I find the arguments he makes interesting， and the stories fascinating， I can’t help but finish the book feeling cautious about the veracity and （libertarian） political bent of the ideas shared。
Pooja
，
Matt Ridley is very economical with his words。 Each sentence is worth reading and the book is a light and easy read。 It traces the paths of many advances that have shaped our world， and explains how they are almost never a single ‘invention’ attributable to one individual but an incremental process of innovation。 Success inevitably depends not on the cleverness of the original idea but on how well it can be applied in the context of the age， or how well it can be adapted to the mass market The a Matt Ridley is very economical with his words。 Each sentence is worth reading and the book is a light and easy read。 It traces the paths of many advances that have shaped our world， and explains how they are almost never a single ‘invention’ attributable to one individual but an incremental process of innovation。 Success inevitably depends not on the cleverness of the original idea but on how well it can be applied in the context of the age， or how well it can be adapted to the mass market The author also explains interesting ideas in the last few chapters。 For example， chapter 7 traces the roots of innovation through the prehistoric ages and making the point that innovation “flourishes in wealthy， growing and well-connected places at a time of peace and relative prosperity”， and that “Innovation is a collective phenomenon that happens between， not within， brains”。 There are some parts of the book where Ridley’s explanations feel contrived， such as where he goes out of his way to dispute and deliberately misunderstand Mariana Mazucato’s thesis of the government’s contribution to innovation - the examples and explanations in this chapter seem selectively chosen to support his political viewpoints。 Overall， well worth the time spent。 。。。more
Rahul Dua
，
An insightful read on history of innovation and how it has shaped the history of humankind。 "Innovation is the child of Freedom and parent of Perspiration"。 Key theme from the book is that every Innovation takes time and it is almost never a light bulb moment。 An insightful read on history of innovation and how it has shaped the history of humankind。 "Innovation is the child of Freedom and parent of Perspiration"。 Key theme from the book is that every Innovation takes time and it is almost never a light bulb moment。 。。。more
Alex Deakin
，
How Innovation Works is a book that I believe will provide me with the framework necessary to live in our evolving world。 I've read Ridley before （Origins of Virtue） and there's a clear jump in quality of his work but that is to be expected as they are 25 years apart。 While Origins of Virtue was loaded with extremely insightful tidbits of knowledge it was not presented as cleanly and as readable as the same bits of information are in this book。 The way Ridley so simply explains the innovation of How Innovation Works is a book that I believe will provide me with the framework necessary to live in our evolving world。 I've read Ridley before （Origins of Virtue） and there's a clear jump in quality of his work but that is to be expected as they are 25 years apart。 While Origins of Virtue was loaded with extremely insightful tidbits of knowledge it was not presented as cleanly and as readable as the same bits of information are in this book。 The way Ridley so simply explains the innovation of whole sectors such as energy， transport， and farming never ceased to amaze me。 He's so good at synthesizing information and presenting it to the reader。 It may sound like a strong 5 at this point but this book wasn't without faults， it did at times drag and failed to captivate my full attention， although when you are talking about the topics Ridley is talking about that might be case more often not。 Ridley also fails to highlight some of downsides to innovation making it sound very good all the time。 I think the world we live in would tell us this that this is not exactly the case。 Also I would've appreciated better citations。 Ridley makes claims and pulls up statistics constantly but fails to do in-text citation or even footnote them。 This makes it very hard to go into the notes section and find what you're looking for。 Just like Ridley argues for in the book， I too appreciate transparency。 Although mine is in the form of making sure what I'm reading is actually legit。Overall I'd very much recommend this book to any who's every asked the question "How？"。 If you've wondered why things turned out the way they did or why it started here and not there you'll find all of that inside this book。 I truly believe that I'm going to come back to this at some point in my life and re-read it with a different mindset。 Lastly， I love that someone like Ridley is going out of his way to make predictions even though he knows that they'll most likely be wrong。 I feel better knowing that someone out there is willing to put his neck out。 。。。more
Aniruddh Mohan
，
Enjoyed it。 Some very interesting stories of the origins of different innovations， from shipping containers to high yield wheat to modern computing。
Lou
，
Innovation is the main event of the modern age， the reason we experience both dramatic improvements in our living standards and unsettling changes in our society。 Forget short-term symptoms like Donald Trump and Brexit， it is innovation itself that explains them and that will itself shape the 21st century for good and ill。 Yet innovation remains a mysterious process， poorly understood by policy makers and businessmen， hard to summon into existence to order， yet inevitable and inexorable when it Innovation is the main event of the modern age， the reason we experience both dramatic improvements in our living standards and unsettling changes in our society。 Forget short-term symptoms like Donald Trump and Brexit， it is innovation itself that explains them and that will itself shape the 21st century for good and ill。 Yet innovation remains a mysterious process， poorly understood by policy makers and businessmen， hard to summon into existence to order， yet inevitable and inexorable when it does happen。 Matt Ridley argues in this book that we need to change the way we think about innovation， to see it as an incremental， bottom-up， fortuitous process that happens to society as a direct result of the human habit of exchange， rather than an orderly， top-down process developing according to a plan。 Innovation is crucially different from invention， because it is the turning of inventions into things of practical and affordable use to people。 It speeds up in some sectors and slows down in others。 It is always a collective， collaborative phenomenon， not a matter of lonely genius。 It is gradual， serendipitous， recombinant， inexorable， contagious， experimental and unpredictable。 It happens mainly in just a few parts of the world at any one time。 It still cannot be modelled properly by economists， but it can easily be discouraged by politicians。 Far from there being too much innovation， we may be on the brink of an innovation famine。Ridley derives these and other lessons， not with abstract argument， but from telling the lively stories of scores of innovations， how they started and why they succeeded or in some cases failed。 He goes back millions of years and leaps forward into the near future。 Some of the innovation stories he tells are about steam engines， jet engines， search engines， airships， coffee， potatoes， vaping， vaccines， cuisine， antibiotics， mosquito nets， turbines， propellers， fertiliser， zero， computers， dogs， farming， fire， genetic engineering， gene editing， container shipping， railways， cars， safety rules， wheeled suitcases， mobile phones， corrugated iron， powered flight， chlorinated water， toilets， vacuum cleaners， shale gas， the telegraph， radio， social media， block chain， the sharing economy， artificial intelligence， fake bomb detectors， phantom games consoles， fraudulent blood tests， faddish diets， hyperloop tubes， herbicides， copyright and even – a biological innovation -- life itself。 This is a fascinating， information-rich and thought-provoking read with plenty of inspirational stories to help fuel your fire and a tonne of statistics and interesting anecdotes throughout。 Encompassing and addressing a wide range of instances in which innovation takes place， how it takes place and how important it is for human advancement and modernity， Ridley has penned an insightful， eye-opening read。 Highly recommended。 。。。more
Avnish Anand
，
This is a very good book about innovation。 It’s not a great book but still very good。 It’s essentially divided in two parts。 The first part tells stories of innovation。 From the steam engine to computers to fertilisers to farming and a whole bunch of other things。 This part is hugely informative。 A lot of facts get corrected。 In the course of these stories， we can see some common themes about innovation。 There are some important stories about dis-innovation also。 Like the failure of nuclear ener This is a very good book about innovation。 It’s not a great book but still very good。 It’s essentially divided in two parts。 The first part tells stories of innovation。 From the steam engine to computers to fertilisers to farming and a whole bunch of other things。 This part is hugely informative。 A lot of facts get corrected。 In the course of these stories， we can see some common themes about innovation。 There are some important stories about dis-innovation also。 Like the failure of nuclear energy and the failure of vaping and bio-engineered crops in Europe。 In the second part， Ridley draws out the common themes from the stores and poses and answers a lot of questions around innovation。 What are it’s essential traits？ What prevents innovation ？ The role of innovation in economic theory。 How innovation works ？ Innovation and its relationship with science ， freedom and prosperity。 Some of the key things that I learned in this book。 The difference between invention and innovation。 Invention is the discovery of a new thing。 Innovation is the process making it faster， affordable and easier to use。 How innovation is a slow， gradual and unplanned process。 It’s also often inevitable as the necessary dependencies fall in place and underlying technologies get developed。 Which is why many people come up with similar innovations at the same time。 The relationship between science， technology and innovation。 Often innovation happens first and then the scientific theories are studied and discovered。 The role of freedom in innovation。 Innovation is all about free thinking and creative solutions to address the freely expressed desires of humanity。 How regulations， patents， litigation， rent-seeking and lobbying by incumbents Is killing innovation in Europe and countries like China， Brazil and India are making a comeback。 The only thing missing in this book is advice on how to be innovative。 。。。more
Evan Micheals
，
I have found Matt Ridley influential to me since reading The Red Queen。 This book reinforced the themes developed in The Rationale Optimist and The Evolution of Everything。 There were not a lot of ideas that were new to me contained in this book。 A brief synopsis of Ridley’s thesis is that things interact and become new things （and often better， because overtime we keep the best ideas and discard the bad） One of the best things we can do is set up our societies so ideas and technology can intera I have found Matt Ridley influential to me since reading The Red Queen。 This book reinforced the themes developed in The Rationale Optimist and The Evolution of Everything。 There were not a lot of ideas that were new to me contained in this book。 A brief synopsis of Ridley’s thesis is that things interact and become new things （and often better， because overtime we keep the best ideas and discard the bad） One of the best things we can do is set up our societies so ideas and technology can interact （and evolve）。 Change always threatens the status quo， so those who sit at the top of hierarchies work to stifle change （even subconsciously to maintain their position at the top of the status quo）。 Innovation is often small and incremental， but compounds overtime into big changes。 The more things are allowed to interact， the more rapidly we experience innovation。It style reminds me of a Bill Bryson book written well。 It is a whimsical journey of example after example that supports his thesis。 Ridley rejects the ‘Great Man’ theory showing how so many inventions were co-invented around the same time around the world。 Technology and knowledge got to a point where it was able to be combined to become new technology。 It was inevitable and to borrow from Nassim Talib ‘someone had to become Warren Buffet’。 Getting there first bestows some advantages to those who got there first。 Just because they got there first does not mean no one else was going to get there。 If it was not the Wright Brothers， someone else would have been first （and may have been first） around the same time。 He believes that modern patent laws are being used to stifle innovation by the status quo。Matt Ridley is pro-libertarian and freedom and fits well into my a priori held beliefs in this regard。 I had to ask myself if I liked this book because it fits so well into my existing beliefs， thus reading this was an exercise in personal confirmation bias。 It did not challenge me， but sang to what I was already converted too。 I respond to the world ‘as if’ what is contained in this book is correct。 I cannot know the truth， but have faith in what Ridley is writing。 Channeling Richard Feynman ‘I am the easiest person I can fool”。 I thought this book is brilliant， but I am sceptical of my own judgement due to the ease in which I internalised the ideas。 It is worth the 5-6 hours of your life required to read this。 。。。more
Janne
，
Informative book about innovation， and how it actually a messy and rather inevitable process。 I really enjoyed listening to this audiobook and as an entrepreneur I found ideas both inspirational and useful。 I recommend it to anyone who wants to learn how innovation works。Innovation is the driver of all value and progress in human societies。
Clay
，
Innovation is incremental， gradual， serendipitous and inexorable。 There are few sudden breakthroughs or crucial， bright ideas from innovators。 It's different from invention: inventors come up with devices that seem promising; innovators put them to work in ways that serve consumers' needs， and same them time and money。 Runs through the gamet of recent innovations in energy， health， transport， food， low tech （like corrugated metal）， communications， and computing。 Looks at prehistoric innovation: Innovation is incremental， gradual， serendipitous and inexorable。 There are few sudden breakthroughs or crucial， bright ideas from innovators。 It's different from invention: inventors come up with devices that seem promising; innovators put them to work in ways that serve consumers' needs， and same them time and money。 Runs through the gamet of recent innovations in energy， health， transport， food， low tech （like corrugated metal）， communications， and computing。 Looks at prehistoric innovation: growing food， breeding dogs from wolves， making better spears and arrows。 Criticizes economists for underplaying the key role of innovation in economic growth。 What's not to like？ Lord Matt （he's a member of the house of lords） argues that governments muck up more on innovation than they help。 Examples include wasteful R and D， IP law that mainly helps incumbents and slows down innovation。 He particularly focuses on EU bureaucratic actions on gen mod food， digital privacy， and such。 He gives British Parliament an example that governments themselves don't innovate。 Innovation needs freedom to thrive， yet ill-suited regulation in cahoots with lazy， rent-seeking large businesses is creating innovation famine in the west， with China lurking to take over。Wait a minute: China？ But how about freedom？ He finesses that by saying Chinese entrepreneurs are free as long as they don't criticize the government and Party。 Hmmm。 How about the social credit system？ Are Tibetan or Uighur or Hong Kong innovators free？ I'd say China's government has been highly innovative in recent decades， but not often on the side of freedom。 He holds the USA up as a beacon of freedom for innovators， yet aren't regulators getting ready to take on the tech titans？ And government and university R&D a waste: how about Katalin Kariko's decades of work on mRNA， the building block for COVID vaccines， at Temple University， largely funded by the US government？ He says patents slow down innovation， yet cites rapid increases in patents in countries as a sign of heightened innovation。I have other questions on the "innovation famine"， which Matt pins on overregulation。 This is closely related to the debate over whether and why global productivity has slowed down since the 1970s， as economists like Gordan point out。 One reason could be how we measure statistics。 Recent work in the UK suggests that if we measure productivity in telecoms based on the cost of data transfer rather than the cost of voice calls， the dropping cost of telecoms services over the last 20 years goes from 50 to 90 percent。 Another factor could be one that Matt cites: we tend to overestimate the short-term impact of innovations and underestimate the long-term impact。 In the case of recent advances in communications and IT， the initial impact was less than expected， as shown by low global productivity。 But the pandemic has now kickstarted many related applications， so the longer-term impact may be huge。Overall， it's worth reading this for the history and good storytelling。 But more work is needed on the real reasons for the slowdown in innovation， and what can be realistically done to speed it up in the world as it is。 。。。more
kushal
，
Highly interesting abs worth a read。
Ann
，
really interesting， but the author's bias interferes with the stories。 really interesting， but the author's bias interferes with the stories。 。。。more
Scott
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The first 8 chapters are both fascinating and challenging。 Each story of innovation across a variety of fields was interesting but keeping track of all the names and details proved impossible for me。 That said， the real point emerges- the patterns the author draws out in all innovations。 The last part of the book then summarizes and analyzes those patterns。 Nicely done。 Will regulation and bureaucracy kill innovation in the US？ How will lack of freedom impact innovation in China in the longer te The first 8 chapters are both fascinating and challenging。 Each story of innovation across a variety of fields was interesting but keeping track of all the names and details proved impossible for me。 That said， the real point emerges- the patterns the author draws out in all innovations。 The last part of the book then summarizes and analyzes those patterns。 Nicely done。 Will regulation and bureaucracy kill innovation in the US？ How will lack of freedom impact innovation in China in the longer term？ 。。。more
Simon Eskildsen
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I've read quite a few books about how innovation works over the past few years， and this is one of the better ones。 If it's a topic that interests you， pick it up。 Unfortunately， I'd forgotten to mark it as read。。 it's been a while， so I forget exactly what I got from this and not others。。。 but when reviewing the highlights， they are all very familiar。 That's a really good sign。 I've read quite a few books about how innovation works over the past few years， and this is one of the better ones。 If it's a topic that interests you， pick it up。 Unfortunately， I'd forgotten to mark it as read。。 it's been a while， so I forget exactly what I got from this and not others。。。 but when reviewing the highlights， they are all very familiar。 That's a really good sign。 。。。more
Anna Asenova
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Интересна， но на моменти леко скучна книга。 Все пак я препоръчвам。
Denis Vasilev
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