One of the hottest books of the year is The Innovators: How a Group of Hackers, Geniuses, and Geeks Created the Digital Revolution
It’s a touch of brilliant marketing. Take the hottest field of our era (technology), combine with many of the richest people in the world (Gates etc.), look at a topic of great interest (innovation), and then draft a historical narrative trying to explain why great ideas happen. Oh, and follow it on the heels of one of the most successful books of the decade by one of the most admired non-fiction writers alive who oversees one of the most influential institutes in the world.
Yeah, it’s going to sell a LOT of books. Especially in Silicon Valley.
But it deserves to. Isaacson might be a bit narrow in his choice of who to profile, but he does a good job of weaving themes together. Each of the profiled innovators had common ways of thinking about innovation, had smart people around them, worked in teams, built upon others success, and were at the right place at the right time. Isaacson successfully argues that innovation is collaborative. The “lightbulb” moment is rare if it ever truly existed.
I liked this book, but I think Isaacson is an even better writer when he focuses on just one person. His previous biographies of Einstein, Jobs, Franklin, etc., were classics and invaluable to any library of great historical figures. This book is good, but it’s not great, and I’m not convinced it tells us anything we didn’t already know.
Still, everybody will be talking about it. And it is a good book. If the topic interests you, you’ll enjoy it immensely. Just remember to buy it here so a portion goes to PathLight’s Fueling Ambition program. Buy a book, feed a kid. Thanks!
