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Summary: Go from 0 to 100 MPH
Review: "Go from 0 to 100 miles an hour and jump to the head of the pack with Debra Amidon's The Innovation Superhighway. Part history, part who's who, part encyclopedia, this fast paced book is packed full of some of the latest thinking and stories of the best thinkers. It is a must read for anyone who wants to take the accelerated route to the future in innovation. Debra Amidon's new book is a keeper."
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Summary: Andre N. Mamprin Director, Leadership Dev. The Banff Centre
Review: A relevant, highly practical work that is thoughtful and visionary. Well worth thye read!
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Summary: Sustainabity: the Mystery Unlocked
Review: A true visionary of the highest calibar, Ms. Amidon has once again blessed the world community with a working masterpiece. This book is a must read for anyone responsible for developing sustainable strategies or policies for countries, organizations or world regions.
In a world that appears to be in chaos and spiraling out of control, this work serves to bring understanding and insight necessary for the development of progressive and sustainable change. In essence, Ms. Amidon not only makes it clear that such changes warranted, but she delivers the hope that they are possible.
The requisite courage and leadership to initiate and execute such change, must be brought to the table by the bold and earnest practicioner. There is after all, only so much a book can do. However, and in that regard, Ms. Amidon has once again truly demonstrated her courage and leadership by producing this original and thought provoking work.
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Summary: Travel the Innovation Superhighway With This Book
Review: Anything Debra Amidon writes could not possibly be out of sync with me and most of the Association of Knowledgework (AOK) network because she is a fundamental cornerstone in my own cache of knowledge savvy and, by association, the 3500 or so in my own network. We go back several years and much of what I know she taught me.Add to that a Forward written by three luminaries including AOK STAR Series Dialogue alumni Leif Edvinsson of Sweden and Hubert Saint-Onge of Canada, and what more recommendation could you need. By the way for those of you who were not with AOK in the beginning, Debra was also one of AOK's first volunteer moderators in the STAR seat. In fact, the subject I asked Debra to focus on back in the March 2001 Dialogue was Knowledge Architecture. Out of that, she produced an Architectural Primer for Knowledge Innovation and now Innovation Architecture enjoys a high profile throughout the new book. However, to avoid the appearance of an Admiration Society here, and to address the contrary views of others, I'll also share some of the occasional criticism I've received of her previous work in order to compare it to the new book. A few AOK members have told me, over the years, that they admire the history and depth of knowledge Debra always brings to the table, but some have found it, well, over their heads. I must admit that Debra's intellect quite often leaves me breathless and wondering what it is I may have missed because my brain works so slowly compared to hers. "The Information Superhighway" isn't like that. The minute I got my hands on the book I rushed to the Table of Contents and then to the chapter titled Knowledge Workers to see if my considerable understanding and limited intellect would appreciate what she had to say. First words: "The knowledge economy has placed our attention on the human being -- where it belongs!" I did not add the exclamation point, although I would have read it that way without the punctuation! She goes on: "But the real architectural issue ... may be a matter of psychology, how they are motivated to innovate." Both of those thoughts fit perfectly into the theme of our own budding book. While others are just now beginning to broaden their vision of the Knowledge Age beyond the narrow scope of Knowledge Management, Debra has always seen the big picture, always thought in terms of INNOVATION -- knowledge in action. So, despite her sometimes aura of academic, she has always been focused on practical outcomes. What particularly struck me about the content of this book was that it isn't all about knowledge innovation according to Debra Amidon. Rather, it is from cover to cover a sharing of all she has learned from others through real-life experiences, practices and knowledge exchange while travelling and teaching throughout the world. And, yes, it is also a sharing of the enormous understanding she has gained by tireless networking, learning and generation of ideas uniquely hers. As savvy as she is, Debra Amidon continues to learn and lead by listening to all of us. Chapter 13 presents the wisdom of several of the members of her select Entovation 100 network, some of them familiar, most of them not. She calls E100 a "diagonal cross section" of the field and somehow she fits me in there (not in the book, but in the 100.) Incidentally, there is a hidden nugget in this book that summarizes the world condition that creates the global innovation highway. Its the cover description: "The world is now our manageable landscape. Connections are made East-to-West, North-to-South with many nodes in between. But The Innovation SuperHighway is not only a physical infrastructure, albeit technical and electronic. It is human - a function of insight, interaction and imagination resident in the minds, hearts and hands of people around the globe." If you plan on travelling this superhighway during the remainder of your career, I strongly urge you to buy and absorb this book. Although it is quite readable, it is not light reading. You may want to give it a once-over first, using the summaries, action steps, endnotes and sometimes architectural considerations at the end of each chapter. But don't stop there. Go back. Read favorite chapters. Read it from cover to cover. But, read it.
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Summary: Essential Reading for Leadership Managers
Review: As a Chief Financial Officer, I've been hearing alot of "hype" about valuing intangibles and intellectual capital. Not until I read Amidon's most recent book, did I understand the rationale behind this type of valuation, or a way to implement it for my company. The chapter on Knowledge Economics - in particular - has been instructive for what I can and need to do for my company. But this book does so much more than provide insight for my own function. It has provided me with a vehicle to have THE conversation with the rest of my Management team. Now I can see that Strategic Planning alone is not enough and Innovation Strategy - something we need to learn how to do - is CRITICAL. I encourage other readers to explore the implications of this book that are well beyond the boundries of a company or a country. Its a practical book that will lead to action! Enjoy what you find!
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Summary: Essential Reading for Leadership Managers
Review: As a Chief Financial Officer, I've been hearing alot of "hype" about valuing intangibles and intellectual capital. Not until I read Amidon's most recent book, did I understand the rationale behind this type of valuation, or a way to implement it for my company. The chapter on Knowledge Economics - in particular - has been instructive for what I can and need to do for my company. But this book does so much more than provide insight for my own function. It has provided me with a vehicle to have THE conversation with the rest of my Management team. Now I can see that Strategic Planning alone is not enough and Innovation Strategy - something we need to learn how to do - is CRITICAL. I encourage other readers to explore the implications of this book that are well beyond the boundries of a company or a country. Its a practical book that will lead to action! Enjoy what you find!
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Summary: La Chauffeuse of the 21st Century Innovation SuperHighway
Review: As a guiding spirit and poet of the knowledge economy, Amidon crafts a compelling architecture for the future of innovation and collaborative knowledge networks. In a rapid, fun style, and with breathless excitement, The Innovation Superhighway elaborates the major opportunities and advantages of the knowledge-based economic landscape. Its sights are set squarely on the future of 21st Century innovation. The author and muse to her meta-network of innovators known simply as the Entovation 100, takes the reader on journey to the future of knowledge management and collaborative innovation. The Innovation SuperHighway is a must read and reference for everyone concerned about the future.
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Summary: Corporate Innovation Newsletter Review (Jan 2003 issue)
Review: Debra Amidon has long been recognized as a visionary in the Knowledge Strategy world and was one of the first to recognize the role that KM would play in enabling Innovation as a fundamental part of any business. She has since been a stalwart on the conference circuit, educating major corporations and major governments around the world on the necessity of Innovation (or "knowledge in action" as she sometimes likes to put it) and how to do it right. With her latest book, she not only traces back through the history of KM & Innovation, she also puts out her latest thoughts on the process of Innovation - "...the creation, evolution, and commercialization of new ideas into products and services..". Unlike other authors, Debra looks at the Innovation process not just from a corporate standpoint, but also from a government standpoint giving us case studies, stories, and insights into the importance of Knowledge and Innovation at the Macro level. With this kind of change in viewpoint levels, it's obvious that this won't be of relevance to everyone from cover to cover - however, selective reading of the chapters that relate to your level and to your interests will not disappoint, and for anyone approaching the Innovation process from a KM standpoint, this book should be considered a must-read reference to understand the process intimately. Highly recommended...
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Summary: A New Global Dialogue for New Wealth
Review: Debra Amidon has thrown the lawn party and everyone's invited!
Before WWW, I used to think how unfortunate it was that the global reach of information and entertainment was primarily a one-way communication. Then the Internet came along and the great dialogue begin. Now, Debra Amidon is helping to create a new agenda and a principal part of that agenda is to how to take the dialogue to the next level, especially in terms of process.
One could see this book from a variety of perspectives such as innovation or knowledge management, but, in essence, it's an incredible coalescing of new human ability to collaborate and create. Debra Amidon not only provides the vision and direction, she also provides a viable example with a vibrant international network of amazing human beings.
As you read the book, you can see that Debra Amidon is actually helping to "pave" the innovation superhighway that she writes about. From a nationalistic point of view, hopefully we in the U.S. are effectively developing our stretches of this highway system. Hopefully, corporate America and the U.S. Federal government will get clearer about this picture. Also, we need to figure out how we can get her to spend more of her time traveling U.S. sections of the "innovation superhighway".
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Summary: A prophet of the KM revolution
Review: Debra Amidon is a prophet of the KM revolution and uses suitably prophetic language. She is at the centre of a world-wide network of KM specialists. This book is part grand vision, part synthesis of the various strands of KM, part guide to practice, and part guide to the literature and celebration of some 'great names' in the field. As a grand vision it risks utopianism by ignoring some realities and paradoxes that do not fit with the vision. The synthesis is useful, particularly in its insistence on a holistic view of the technology and human aspects of KM, although specialists in other disciplines may not welcome the attempt to subsume the whole of strategy and management under the KM umbrella. Those seeking a guide to practice will find some very useful tools, perspectives and approaches, but may be frustrated by the very conceptual level at which many are pitched.
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