cover image WEIRD IDEAS THAT WORK: 11 Practices for Promoting, Managing, and Sustaining Innovation

WEIRD IDEAS THAT WORK: 11 Practices for Promoting, Managing, and Sustaining Innovation

Robert I. Sutton, . . Free Press, $26 (240pp) ISBN 978-0-7432-1212-0

Who'd have thought fighting with each other would be good for employees? Or that ignoring superiors would be a wise business practice? Sutton, consultant and professor at the Stanford Engineering School, advocates taking a nontraditional approach to innovation and management in this quirky business manual. He advises taking unorthodox actions, suggesting managers forget the past, especially successes; hire people who make them uncomfortable and hire slow learners. According to Sutton, these unconventional steps are particularly important when companies are dealing with unusual problems or stuck in a rut. Standard management policy may ssuffice for routine work matters, but weird ideas are far more effective when employees are trying to use innovative techniques. Sutton uses many real-life examples, like Tetley's pioneering round teabags, to show readers how his suggestions can work. But he observes that even companies such as IBM, Lucent and GE, which have been praised for their innovation, devote only a small percentage of their annual budgets to testing new products and services. Sutton's writing is clear and persuasive, and his book takes an insightful look at innovation. Unfortunately, there is so much theory here that some readers may find it difficult to access much of Sutton's practical advice. (Nov. 13)