This is an interesting book. I write this summary two days after the death of Steve Job. Here is a man who epitomized innovation. This is what struck me with this book. Everyone thinks of innovation being delivered from the top down. This is true in some cases, but it is not true if you want to solidify your value to the organization you work for.

Why is this important to me?
I’m not going to waste your time. Let’s face it: most people work for someone else and this is where this book can really help you in your career. I’ll flip the ideas and share with you how I act when my teammates display these traits. I can tell you that they are rewarded even if we disagree. I need unique thoughts, innovations, and opinions to keep our organization winning the game.

The number of people sleepwalking through their jobs is heartbreaking. I wouldn’t wish that on my worst enemy because it’s a waste of time and energy. A Towers Perrin study shows that only 21% of employees are engaged in the work they do and 38% are totally disengaged. This equates to below average results, poor customer service, and no profit.

The cornerstone of innovation is a pretty simple idea and that is Eliminate. If you consider the design of the IPOD, you’ll see removal at work. Compare it to a standard Casio MP3 player and note the differences in packaging, buttons, ruggedness, and ease of use. The IPOD has much less and is worth much more.

Robert’s book is divided into 7 different Innovation or I-Skills. For the sake of time, I’m going to highlight three main points and give you my take on why they’re important from a business owner’s perspective.

1. Hassles: Hassles provide limitless opportunities for innovation. Keep in mind that every time your customer calls with a complaint, there is an opportunity to think about the complaint and fix it so it doesn’t happen again. This is an iterative process that produces results. The key is to put a solution in place and get it going.

2. Eliminate: People buy for two reasons, either to eliminate pain or to gain pleasure. To have more pleasure than to eliminate the non-essential becomes critical. Creating value and focusing on value-oriented work is the basic element of a successful organization. Therefore, meaningless work needs to be identified and eliminated. The key is to schedule time and take note of what you are doing. Consider these statistics: the average manager receives 150 emails per day, knowledge workers are interrupted on average every three minutes, and 25% of workers say their meetings, emails, and voicemails are unmanageable. How much of this busy work actually adds value? Answer that question and you can help make a great organization.

3. Action – Innovation is a mindset that simply requires you to take action. Assuming that no one cares or that nothing will ever change is an excuse and an excuse to stay out of touch. I can tell you that if you show potential as an innovator, there is one person in the organization who will care and that is the one who signs your checks.

For your review, below are the seven I-skills. I won’t go into detail about them in the summary, but I want to share them so you get a feel for the book.
Adopt the opportunity mindset
Become an assailant of assumption
Cultivate passion for the end customer
Think ahead of the curve
Become an idea factory
Become a Featured Contributor
Create acceptance of new ideas

Innovation is truly everyone’s business. Get involved in what most people don’t want and watch your career blossom. Henry Ford said: “Thinking is the hardest job there is, which is probably why so few engage in it. I hope you have found this brief summary helpful. The key to any new idea is to work it into your daily routine.” until it becomes a habit. Habits are formed in as little as 21 days. One thing you can take away from this book is Eliminate. Take an inventory of the things you do each day for a week and see where your time goes. Are you spending it or investing it?Focus on the investing side and your career and life will change.