Innovation Book Review

I recently picked up a new book on innovation. It proposes four laws. Law 1: Costs and Prices Always Decline. OK, let’s see, what’s an important input?…Ah, yes, OIL!! Law 2: Competitive Position Determines Your Options. OK, let’s think a minute, what was Apple’s competitive position in the mobile phone market before the Iphone? Oh yes. IT HAD NO COMPETITIVE POSITION!
The book is written by experts (in something or other) who work for an otherwise insightful organization. Now I have to admit, that I did not plow through the entire 350 pages after bending the plow blade on these two big boulders of Law 1 and Law 2 right at the start. At some point you have to say, there is too much good stuff out there to invest a lot of time in something which seems wrong-headed to start with. Speaking of good stuff, A. Lafley’s book Game Changer is terrific.