Drucker on Marketing: Lessons from the World's Most Influential Business Thinker

Chapter 6Where the Best Innovations Come From: The Seven Mothers of Invention

It seems like a thousand years ago that as a young man (really young) I was appointed director of research and development for a medium-sized company that developed most of the oxygen breathing masks for the aircrews of the U.S. armed forces, many foreign air forces, and the airlines. It also developed protective helmets used in military aircraft and tanks.

I did have some experience in leading small research and development projects in the Air Force and with large aircraft development projects abroad. However, it remained to be seen whether this experience plus my flying background would give me an advantage in selecting bright, new, innovative ideas having to do with ...