The myths of innovation
by Scott Berkun · first published 2007
9mentions
5recommended by
8HN commenters
2007–2025first – last mentioned
63% recommend38% neutral
Why HN recommends it
Argues that great innovations come from collaboration, iteration and persistence rather than lone genius moments; useful for engineers and students who want a grounded view of how new ideas succeed.
Summarised by Claude from recommending comments
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…create something great alone and in a short timeframe then "unveil" it and bask in praise from peers. Unfortunately for self-approved geniuses and hackers, great things are built incrementally. "The Myths of Innovation" by Scott Berkun has something to say along these lines but in general terms rather than in terms of programming. Check it out: http://www.amazon.com/Myths-Innovation-Scott-Berkun/dp/05965...
on “Programmer Insecurity” ↗100$ startup: Reinvent the way you make a living, Myths of Innovation - Scott Berkun
on “Ask HN: What's on your reading list? Recommendations? ” ↗myths of innovation - Scott Berkun ,$100 startup , business model of you , built to love , wtp.
on “Ask HN: What are your favorite non-technical books?” ↗…Shows how Orville and Wilbur surpassed the leading researchers of the day to be the first to achieve controlled, powered flight. Does a great job of describing their work ethic and research process. "The Myths of Innovation" by Scott Berkun - Not exactly about how hard things got done, but it discusses some of the misconceptions and assumptions we make about current technology and the process of inventing new tech.
on “Ask HN: Books about people who did hard things” ↗Have a look at "The Myths of Innovation" by Scott Berkun
on “How do you brainstorm for ideas for products?” ↗"Making kids think things are easier than they are" Probably the most important lie I've unraveled in my mind over the last couple years reading experiences from real people (pg, etc) and things like "Myths of Innovation", etc. This is ESPECIALLY dangerous if you (or your kids) are smart. If you're fairly smart, then school is easy. It's easy, so you never fail, so you never understand that many things (including most…
on “Lies We Tell Kids” ↗From the book titled "The Myths of Innovation" by Scott Berkun- "The talent for taking two unrelated concepts and finding connections between them is called associative ability. Persons with low associative barriers may think to connect ideas or…
on “Just Manic Enough, Seeking Perfect Entrepreneurs” ↗Scott Berkun's a great public speaker. Has anyone read his new book "Myths of Innovation"? I'd be interested to see what you guys think of it before buying it myself.
on “Attention and sex” ↗…this trend, but can you clarify what you meant when you said "In 2012 it almost defies belief." 2. I like the take on attributing inventions to a single inventor - this was brought up in the book "The Myths of Innovation" by Scott Berkun which he talks about in a lecture at Carnegie Mellon: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=amt3ag2BaKc and the premise for my website http://brownieinmotion.ca (read the essay on 3M) where…
on “Invention” ↗