PDF Quirky The Remarkable Story of the Traits Foibles and Genius of Breakthrough Innovators Who Changed the World Melissa A Schilling 9781541724532 Books

Product details Paperback 336 pages Publisher PublicAffairs; Reprint edition (September 10, 2019) Language English ISBN-10 1541724534

Quirky The Remarkable Story of the Traits Foibles and Genius of Breakthrough Innovators Who Changed the World Melissa A Schilling 9781541724532 Books Reviews

• Quirky is a truly great book. There is surprisingly little research on what makes people like Elon Musk, Marie Curie, Nikolas Tesla, Albert Einstein, or Steve Jobs extraordinarily innovative. Melissa Schilling, a world leading authority on innovation and a chaired professor at New York University, addresses that gap. In this book we learn what makes an Elon Musk an Elon Musk.
  
  The book combines substance with originality. It includes fascinating stories that are supported by the enormous amount of research that clearly went into the writing of this book. At the same time, the book is not just re-telling old tales. I had always been interested in Elon Musk, Nikolas Tesla, Steve Jobs and the like and had read other books and articles on them before. As such, I was truly surprised by how many new and original ideas on these famous personalities the book contains. “Quirky” allows the reader to view these great innovators in a new light.
  
  The one aspect of the book that surprised me most, however, is how helpful I found the book as a parent. “Quirky” really got me to think about how I can nurture my son to be more innovative and more creative. Thus, while I can recommend the book as an appealing read to anyone who is interesting in innovation or entrepreneurship, I believe it should be read by a much broader audience. All people who who educate or coach - be it children, pupils, students, or employees - benefit from a close reading of this book.
• Seriously, this book is so fascinating. I learned so much from it, and am even putting up Ben Franklin's 13 Virtues which Schilling discusses on my wall. The whole book was a great introduction to some of the best scientific/innovative minds and what they (mostly) shared in common, but I especially enjoyed learning about Marie Curie. The obstacles she faced due to circumstance (gender, death of her husband, and more) were enormous, yet she still won two Nobel Prizes, and in different fields no less. Highly recommend this book for anyone interested in learning about the people who helped shape our world today and what made them so uniquely influential and successful.
• This book does several things extremely well at the same time. First, the author, a business school professor and academic, grounds the arguments in research, so that we can be confident that the observations have solid evidence behind them. Second, the book brings out some really interesting observations about these amazingly innovative and pioneering people. I learned a lot by diving into the various observations and insights. Third, the narrative on the page is so well written, I just kept going and didn't want to stop going through the book. This is a rare combination academically grounded (by an academic innovation expert), deep insights, and a great read about how these remarkable and historic figures invented and discovered science, technologies, products and services that we all benefit from today. If you are looking to read about innovation, history, high-tech, science, and such topics, look no further. Highly recommended.
• In Quirky, Melissa Schilling brings eight famous innovators into your hands so you can know them and how they broke through "impossible" barriers. She exposes insights into their gifted genius, often with self education, fascinating families ("My mother was the making of me", Edison), work ethics (the "flow" or "pleasure of work"), and circumstances they overcame (through self-efficacy) to break through barriers. Quirky contains connections that are both intriguing and useful for the reader to ponder and apply. For example, Elon Musk read all the books in his public library by age 12, a tremendous fact. From this, it seem logical that his appetite for self-education would allow him to design reusable rockets, making space travel economical, as a total outsider of the space industry that told him "you can't do that." Ben Franklin, Nickola Tesla, Marie Curie, and Dean Kamen sought to improve people's lives with their inventions and innovations, and were not motivated by a love of money -- wow did they achieve a lot pursuing noble goals, (e.g., Ben Franklin's bifocals are still common today, and Curie's mobile X-Ray may have saved 1 Million soldiers in WWI). Overall, you will be glad you've read this book! I am.
• This book is a comparative case study of several of the most famous and impactful innovators in recent human history (e.g., Benjamin Franklin, Steve Jobs). Synthesizing original source material, academic research on creativity and innovation, and the many in-depth biographies that exist of these famous innovators in science and commerce, Schilling isolates the commonalities in personality and circumstance that lead someone to become a breakthrough innovator. The result is a deeply-engaging and entertaining journey across time and place that will leave you wondering whether Schilling truly has found the secret sauce to making a breakthrough innovator.
  
  Importantly, the author does not oversell her thesis. Although she identifies several common threads in the lives of those she profiles, she also notes exceptions where they arise. The book is written in a style that invites readers to form their own conclusions about how and why some rare people create so much that is new and wonderful for humanity.
  
  On a more personal level, you will likely see much of yourself and, if you are a parent, of your children in the stories of those profiled herein. Thus, reading the book is also a journey of self-discovery.
  
  All told, this is a book for readers who like to think for themselves and discuss what they’ve read with others who share a passion for discovering how the world around us works.