Johnson--writer, Web guru, and bestselling author of Everything Bad Is Good for You--delivers a sweeping look at innovation spanning nearly the whole of human history. What sparks our great ideas? Johnson breaks down the cultural, biological, and environmental fuel into seven broad "patterns," each packed with diverse, at times almost disjointed anecdotes that Johnson synthesizes into a recipe for success.

Q: What is a "little bet"? A: A little bet is a low-risk action taken to discover, develop, and test an idea. So, for instance, Chris Rock develops new comedy routines by making little bets with small audiences, while Amazon's CEO Jeff Bezos makes small bets to identify opportunities in new markets.

Share your thoughts with other customers: 51 of 58 people found the following review helpful: 5.0 out of 5 stars Together with 'Cracking Creativity'...dynamic duo...consider them among the best in the genre!, July 16, 2006 Help other customers find the most helpful reviews 46 of 57 people found the following review helpful: 3.0 out of 5 stars Still waiting for the revelation, August 13, 2010 7 of 7 people found the following review helpful: 5.0 out of 5 stars An Essential Guide for Creative Thinking, October 8, 2008 Help other customers find the most helpful reviews 5.0 out of 5 stars Not Even Half Done This Book...

Amazon Exclusive: Seth Godin Reviews Rework Seth Godin is the author of Linchpin, Tribes, The Dip, Purple Cow, All Marketers Are Liars, and Permission Marketing, as well as other international bestsellers. He is consistently one of the 25 most widely read bloggers in the English language.

"Humans make progress by discovering new ideas, but also, importantly, by repurposing the ones that already exist. Boynton and Fisher show how each of us can get better at this critical skill, identifying and reapplying existing ideas."―Paul Romer, Senior Fellow, Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research“Hunting is an apt metaphor.  Ideas exist everywhere in the wild.

"Josh Linkner is a tremendous business leader who has established a successful and sustainable company, as well as a culture that nurtures employees to help them maximize their potential."-Hon. Jennifer M. Granholm, Governor, State of Michigan "At Zappos, one of our core values is to be adventurous, creative, and open-minded.

In this new paperback edition of the classic bestseller, you'll be taken on a hilarious, fast-paced ride through the history of ideas. Author Scott Berkun will show you how to transcend the false stories that many business experts, scientists, and much of pop culture foolishly use to guide their thinking about how ideas change the world.

One of the more surprising things I've noticed while working on Y Combinator is how frightening the most ambitious startup ideas are. In this essay I'm going to demonstrate this phenomenon by describing some. Any one of them could make you a billionaire. That might sound like an attractive prospect, and yet when I describe these ideas you may notice you find yourself shrinking away from them.