"The Art of Innovation" - 50% complete.

I asked Jim to recommend a book to me a few weeks ago, and I finally got around to it during Thanksgiving break. I'm halfway through it. The writer is from IDEO, a huge industrial design firm. Their process has always inspired me. I'll be sharing some of my notes in a later post. I'm hoping to get through the rest of it this week. It's definitely a gem.

So far the three points that I've taken away from the book:
1. Create cheap prototypes every opportunity you get.
2. Brainstorming with a team is a skill, and there are real techniques.
3. See how people are really using products. Go out there and observe.

The chapter about brainstorming was really interesting because it reminded me of my former co-worker Marty Baker. He's a really innovative guy, and has an awesome resumé. I'm hoping to pick up some brainstorming tips and techniques from him soon, since he's becoming a leading figure sculputing the innovation space.

More on this soon.