Where Good Ideas Come From: The Natural History of Innovation

Patterns. At the beginning of Where Good Ideas Come From, author Steven Johnson describes his purpose in writing the book: “The argument of this book is that a series of shared properties and patterns recur again and again in unusually fertile environments. I have distilled them down into seven patterns….” (p.17) Johnson devotes a chapter to each pattern, and peppers the text with ample examples to keep the book lively. I found Johnson’s approach to be intriguing and interesting. I expect that any reader who works in product development, planning, strategy, or any creative pursuit, will find special interest in this book. As a general interest reader, I’m in no position to critique Johnson, but I expect that most readers will come away from this book thinking about innovation in new ways.

Rating: Three-star (Recommended)
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