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Edison on Innovation: 102 Lessons in Creativity for Business and Beyond
book

Edison on Innovation: 102 Lessons in Creativity for Business and Beyond

by Alan Axelrod
February 2008
Intermediate to advanced content levelIntermediate to advanced
192 pages
4h 1m
English
Jossey-Bass
Content preview from Edison on Innovation: 102 Lessons in Creativity for Business and Beyond

3.3. Lesson 15: Be Exhaustive

Who has not heard Edison's most-often quoted maxim, the one about inspiration and perspiration just mentioned in Lesson 14?

The process by which Thomas Edison invented and innovated was characteristically exhaustive, productive indeed of much sweat. The most familiar case in point was the inventor's worldwide search for the ideal filament material to use in his incandescent lamp. He commissioned the collection and testing of thousands of substances, eliminating those that failed just as enthusiastically as he selected those that showed promise. For Edison, any trial, any experiment that yielded data was a success, even if it did not produce the result that had been anticipated or hoped for.

The exhaustive approach ...

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Publisher Resources

ISBN: 9780787994594Purchase book