4-Books-for-Innovative-Thinking Entrepreneurial-Success

Plenty of attributes can make or break your success as an entrepreneur — from simply being persistent to unlocking the power of empathy. But no matter how hard you work or which tech tools you use to boost your sales, few things can impact your success more than your ability to become an innovative thinker.

You might not think of yourself as an innovative thinker, but the good news is that this is a skill you can develop and improve. These books offer some excellent resources to help you get started.

The Innovator’s Dilemma: When New Technologies Cause Great Firms to Fail, by Clayton M. Christensen

The Innovator’s Dilemma is one of the most well-known books on leadership and success and should be on your list. Cited as one of the favorite books of Steve Jobs, Jeff Bezos, and Malcolm Gladwell, Christensen’s book is still extremely relevant today despite being first published in 1997.

One of the biggest takeaways from Christensen’s work is how even the most successful companies tend to get pushed aside and fail when their managers fail to recognize opportunities for innovation. When companies fail to abandon their traditional practices, especially as new, disruptive technology is introduced, they risk losing their role as a market leader. It’s a must-read for understanding how to adapt and respond to new technology.

Going On Offense: A Leaders’ Playbook for Perpetual Innovation, by Behnam Tabrizi

Innovative and agile companies don’t just have innovative leadership — they strive to make this mindset an intrinsic part of their entire organization. That’s the core takeaway of Behnam Tabrizi’s book, which takes an in-depth look at the success stories and cultures of leaders in innovation like Microsoft, Tesla, and Apple — as well as what has caused big brands like Google and Facebook to lose their innovative streak.

The book looks at multiple cultures of innovation while also providing practical tips on how to implement the practices that connect with you in your workplace — no matter how big or small your company is.

Drawing on real-world interviews and surveys of executives, employees and consumers, the real-life examples and takeaways are sure to inspire you with new, practical ways to make innovation a core part of your business. Apply this book’s toolkit, and you will significantly improve your “innovator’s dilemma” challenge.

Making Ideas Happen: Overcoming the Obstacles Between Vision and Reality, by Scott Belsky

Coming up with an innovative idea is one thing. Actually turning that idea into an actionable result for your business is another. In Making Ideas Happen, Scott Belsky goes beyond helping entrepreneurs find ways to generate great ideas. Instead, he focuses on how you can learn to develop ideas into real actions that deliver long-term results for your business. 

Belsky’s book has been praised for its in-depth approach to the strategy and tactics behind the execution of creative ideas. With practical guidelines for turning an innovative idea into a workable plan that actually gets accomplished, this book can help you get past the “brainstorming” point of innovative thinking and find the right approach to full implementation.

Running Lean: Iterate From Plan A to a Plan That Works, by Ash Maurya

“Running Lean” is another excellent resource for ensuring that your efforts at innovative thinking are going in the right direction. As Maurya argues, the vast majority of new products fail because business leaders waste their time and money building the wrong product. The focus of this book is helping you develop a process for vetting your innovative ideas so you can direct your energy to something that will generate real results.

Using his own business experiences, Maurya helps identify practical ways to find problems worth solving, iterate quickly during product testing, know how to measure customer response, learn when to pivot, and even identify when to seek funding. It’s an especially valuable resource for entrepreneurs using the “lean startup” approach.

Start reading.

It may sound cliche, but knowledge is power. You may not connect with every takeaway in each of the four books mentioned here, but chances are, you’ll find something that you can directly apply to how you run your business (and your brain). As you focus your efforts on becoming a more innovative thinker, you’ll be able to unlock the ideas that help you reach your full potential.Like this column? Sign up to subscribe to email alerts and you’ll never miss a post.The opinions expressed here by Inc.com columnists are their own, not those of Inc.com.

Source: Incafrica.com