Non-Bullshit Innovation

Reviews

Wired UK seems to have provided Rowan, who was its founding editor, with an enviable launch pad from which he blasts off to talk to the world’s most innovative people and companies. He does not squander the opportunity... Rowan’s quest for “non-bullshit strategies that can really deliver” takes him from Tallinn to Hangzhou. It is an entertaining quest, well told, and illustrated with plenty of fresh examples from beyond the usual well-worn Silicon Valley legends. In Non-Bullshit Innovation, Rowan combines the deeply researched narrative of a great investigative journalist with the practical punch of a top keynote speaker and delivers a book that is both a deeply engrossing read and a hugely valuable guide. No bullshit. In this remarkable book, David Rowan has gone all around the world chronicling what is happening inside businesses as they invent the future. In each case he tells a story of transformation: how an organisation has found a new way of doing things through innovation driven by ruthless entrepreneurial imagination. What is especially useful about Rowan’s journey is that he sticks to real examples of things that are actually happening, eschewing the vague abstractions so popular with innovation gurus — hence “non-bullshit” in the title. He does not just stick with small startups, let alone dreamy “inventors”. He finds innovation in big companies and even within governments. And he focuses on the creation of markets, not just the invention of machines and gadgets: that is to say, innovation rather than invention. Perfectly observed, painfully funny and brutally honest, David Rowan has written a book which goes where no one dared to go. Its wisdom will save you a decade of heartache, confusion and self deception. It is the front line in the fight back towards sanity and the Innovation conversation can never be the same again. Massively recommend 'David Rowan's new book 'Non-Bullshit Innovation' - it does exactly what the title promises, showing the best examples of real business innovation, with no guff at all. Expand reviews