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Non-Bullshit Innovation

Non-Bullshit Innovation

Radical Ideas from the World’s Smartest Minds

Summary

*updated with new material*

'Digital transformation' and 'disruptive innovation' used to be empty buzzwords serving to justify pointless box-ticking and absurd corporate posturing. And then a global pandemic suddenly forced every kind of organization to embrace genuine, urgent innovation as a matter of survival. But how can we ensure that the non-bullshit version of innovation delivers economic recovery at this crucial moment? Are there strategies we can all adapt from the world's most creative leaders to innovate effectively in our own lives?

David Rowan, founding editor-in-chief of WIRED UK, embarked on a twenty country quest to find out. Packed full of tips for anyone looking for radical ways to adapt and thrive in the digital age, this carefully curated selection of stories will prepare you for whatever the future may bring - because the world will never move this slowly again.
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'In this remarkable book, David Rowan tells a story of transformation: how an organisation has found a new way of doing things through innovation driven by ruthless entrepreneurial imagination. What is especially useful is that he does not just stick with small startups, let alone dreamy "inventors". He finds innovation in big companies and even within governments.' - Matt Ridley, The Times

Reviews

  • Wired UK seems to have provided Rowan, who was its founding editor, with an enviable launch pad from which he blasts off to talk to the world’s most innovative people and companies. He does not squander the opportunity... Rowan’s quest for “non-bullshit strategies that can really deliver” takes him from Tallinn to Hangzhou. It is an entertaining quest, well told, and illustrated with plenty of fresh examples from beyond the usual well-worn Silicon Valley legends.
    FT Business Books of the Month

About the author

David Rowan

David Rowan was founding Editor-in-chief of WIRED’s UK edition and technology columnist for The Times, GQ, Condé Nast Traveller and The Sunday Times. He travels excessively to meet crazy-driven startup entrepreneurs who are reinventing every industry in fascinating ways. Fortune 100 companies regularly hire him to explain how these startups plan to kill their businesses, and he invests these speaking fees holistically in startups that plan to kill the corporates’ businesses. David founded Voyagers.io to build meaningful community through magical travel adventures. And he’s still searching for the future.
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