Business of Innovation

CHAPTER SEVEN

CRAFTING THE INNOVATING ORGANIZATION

“WHERE SHOULD I PUT THIS? How am I to make sense of all these things? There’s no rhyme or reason to all these listings!” As a naturalist, he had been collecting information on flora and fauna for many years. His existing method of categorizing and retaining his specimens and other materials were less than efficient. He frequently was misplacing important items, causing considerable frustration. He needed a better method.

Aristotle had worked out a classification methodology 2,000 years ago, but that system was pretty rudimentary. Too many items lacked a logical “place.” Carl von Linné wanted a better, more encompassing approach to classifying organisms. He was convinced he could do better; and ...