The Science of Serendipity: How to Unlock the Promise of Innovation

Sources

Introduction: The Real Heroes of Innovation

• The Viagra story is based on interviews with Dr David Brown. For more detail see his lecture at the Centre for Entrepreneurial Learning, The Judge Business School, University of Cambridge. http://www.cfel.jbs.cam.ac.uk/programmes/enterprisetuesday/videos.html
• The Julius Comroe quote is from Retrospectroscope: Insights into Medical Discovery by Julius H. Comroe. Von Gehr Publisher, 1977.
• If you're interested in the role luck plays in business try Great by Choice: Uncertainty, Chaos, and Luck – Why Some Thrive Despite Them All, by Jim Collins and Morten T. Hansen. 2011. Harper Collins. Another excellent book on the subject is Get Lucky: How to Put Planned Serendipity to Work for You and Your Business by Thor Muller and Lane Becker. Jossey Bass. 2012.

Chapter 1 The Protagonist

• The Axe/Lynx story is based on interviews with Unilever executives and Neil Munn who was Axe/Lynx brand director between 2002 and 2006.
• Victoria Beckham's quote from Learning to Fly: The Autobiography. Penguin Global, 2005.
• For more on emotionally compelling and stretching goals there is still no better than Built to Last by James Collins and Jerry Porras. Random House Business Books. 2005. BHAGs (Big Hairy Audacious Goals) must be one of the best business terms ever coined.
• The ASOS and the Harvard Bioscience stories are based on interviews with senior executives.
• The final quote from Nick Robertson is taken from ‘An Interview with Nick Robertson – CEO ...