The Innovator's Advantage: Revealing the Hidden Connection Between People and Process

Who needs to innovate?

In today's constantly changing business environment, the only way to prosper or even survive--whether you are part of a business, healthcare organization, educational institution, government entity, or nonprofit--is to innovate.

Successful innovation requires three primary components:

-An innovation framework
-An understanding of the innovation continuum
-A gauge of your people's innovation fitness

Despite investment in understanding the frameworks and stages of innovation, many innovations still fail. This is because the most critical element of innovation success is understanding people. This book brings together two essential components--the innovation framework and the science of skills and talent assessments--and shows you how to apply them to each stage of the innovation continuum to create The Innovator's Advantage.


The San Francisco Book Review of The Innovator's Advantage:

4 out of 5 stars Heads up, employers. Want to transform low employee morale for an energized staff? According to Baiya and Price, success may not require replacing everyone but simply learning the secrets of motivation.

This little book is not written in cheerleader fashion but rather with a methodical progression of steps that, if followed, will build positive results in most any type of company, whether service industry or manufacturing. Certainly for a fee these authors will present their catered advice to suit individual situations. Contact TheInnovatorsAdvantage.com. Baiya's expertise stems from a background as a research chemist, process development engineer, executive portfolio manager of intellectual property for a global company, and a policy advisor for research and commercialization. Price handles more of the speaking engagements with his early history as a coach and recently as an executive of a multinational company. The combination of the two offers realistic solutions to complex problems.

Each chapter tackles a single stage of the progression toward grassroots change in the morale of the employee base by first discovering the natural talents they already possess, then positioning them in relation to corporate innovations to optimize their potential. At the end of each chapter a recap reminds the reader of the key factors developed within.

Probably one of the most original concepts developed by these authors can be found in "The Innovator's Advantage Blueprint" series, which highlights six different aspects of the process and breaks them down into understandable terms. By the end of the book, a manager or employer possesses the basic tools necessary to generate a positive turn from within the current employee base of virtually any company. The goal to simply produce more at an efficient cost will be met not by a thin incentive but by creating an environment where individuals from across the board become active participants in problem-solving. In other words, this book teaches you how to overcome the attitude so prevalent in corporations of us against them and replaces it with a workforce that thinks in terms of "our company, our project."

If this book has a flaw, it is this: at the onset, the steps appear deceptively easy. They are simple, and in some cases relatively common sense. However, in practical application, transforming a negative environment into one of natural synergy takes a committed effort.

REVIEWED BY: C.D. QUYN

Evans Baiya is a scientist, consultant, author, and speaker. He has tackled innovation from all angles as a research chemist, process development engineer, executive in multiple startups, global leader of research and development efforts in multiple countries, intellectual property portfolio manager at a global corporation, and policy advisor on research and commercialization. He works with a number of startups, large companies, academic institutions, and governments on strategy and planning, new product development, process improvements, R&D/innovation programs, technology transfer, and commercialization.

Ron Price is an internationally recognized business advisor, executive coach, speaker, and author. Known for his creative and systematic thinking, business versatility, and practical optimism, Ron has served in almost every level of executive management over the past 45 years. As the former president of a multimillion-dollar multinational company, Ron understands the challenges and risks of running a business and building a dynamic team. He works shoulder-to-shoulder with executive leadership teams to bring strategic clarity and transformational results to organizations especially those dealing with turmoil and transition.