Where Good Ideas Come From

Where Good Ideas Come From

The Natural History of Innovation

by Steven Johnson

  • Why read?

    The printing press, the pencil, the flush toilet, the battery–these are all great ideas. But where do they come from? What kind of environment breeds them? What sparks the flash of brilliance? How do we generate the breakthrough technologies that push forward our lives, our society, our culture? Steven Johnson’s answers are revelatory as he identifies the seven key patterns behind genuine innovation, and traces them across time and disciplines. From Darwin and Freud to the halls of Google and Apple, Johnson investigates the innovation hubs throughout modern time and pulls out the approaches and commonalities that seem to appear at moments of originality.

    336 pages, 2011

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    Product Management Design Startup

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  • About us
    Reading is a fantastic way to learn. Books can take you into areas and places you’ve never been before, they can teach you from failures and successes, and they can tell you thrilling stories about people, products, and teams. With the PM Library, we help you explore new books and topics around tech, business and design because we believe reading is essential to building better products and growing in our careers.
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