A great deal of value is placed on being recognized or regarded as an innovator. Nearly every company, business or organization lays claim to being an innovative expert or leader. However, the terms "innovating" and "innovation" have become so overused that they have all but lost their meaning. Productive innovation is much more than promotional or marketing slogans. Innovative ideas or acts have little or no value until they are economically implemented or produced in a productive, efficient and timely fashion that meets or exceeds the customer's need and expectation. The innovation process is a proven method of bringing an innovative idea to fruition. The objective of this book is to identify and review the principles, best practices and implementation of the innovation process. The book describes the author's experiences and success in innovating new products, technologies and businesses utilizing the innovation process during his more than 40 year research and development career. The stories and descriptions were selected to illustrate the various aspects and characteristics of innovation and the innovation process. The book is a call to action. The status of innovation in the US, how and why it declined and the critical need for innovators to reestablish the US as the innovation leader in the world is summarized. . The nature if innovation and innovators is also explored. The book analyzes the nature of innovation and the innovation process. It examines the characteristics of innovators, what drives people to innovate and what is required to create and sustain a climate for innovation in the organization. Although the book was initially written for students participating in a course on the innovation process, it is also a useful reference and guide for those striving to productively exercise their initiative, and bring their innovative ideas to fruition.
About the Author: Roger Appeldorn grew up on a farm that shaped his multidisciplinary technical skill and inspired his creativity. He was fascinated with lenses and on his sixth birthday, he was given a small telescope which was just barely powerful enough to view a few craters on the moon. At the age of ten, he constructed his first telescope using lenses and components he obtained through comic book advertisements and salvaged materials from the farm. This developing interest in optics guided him throughout his education, working career and personal life. He is an avid photographer and has his own observatory in the mountains of Colorado. He graduated from Pipestone High School, MN in 1953 and attended Hamline University graduating with a B.S. degree in physics and mathematics in 1957. With the encouragement of his college advisors and mentors, he continued his education by auditing post graduate courses at colleges and universities in the Twin Cities area. In 1955 while attending college, he found a job at the 3M Company that helped finance his education and led to a forty-one year career. His passion with optics proved to be a valuable resource for inventing and innovating new technologies and products. He has 33 patents, developed a new to the world technology known as micro-replication and established several new businesses. Examples are 3M overhead projectors, projection transparencies, optically programmable traffic signals, and products based upon the micro-replication technology He founded Optical Systems, one of 3M's largest and fastest-growing businesses, which manufactures and sells optical films that make electronic displays brighter, more colorful, easier to read and saves energy. In 1971 Roger was elected to the prestigious 3M Carlton Society, the company's highest recognition for scientists who have made extraordinary contributions. He was awarded the Hamline University College of Liberal Arts Outstanding Achievement Award in 1997 and the ASM International Engineering Achievement Award in 1993. He promotes innovation and encourages employees to overcome their inhibitions to innovate and to exercise their initiative. He has traveled extensively giving lectures about the innovation process titled Creating a Climate for Innovation. He is currently working to teach the innovation process to undergraduates at Hamline University. Roger is retired and divides his time at his homes in Minnesota and Colorado and may be contacted by E-mail: rhappeldorn@yahoo.com.