The Innovation Equation

biographies
Jacqueline Byrd, Ph.D.
Paul Lockwood Brown, MBA

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

The Innovation Equation provides road map for how to increase innovation in organizations, individuals

Co-authors introduce new formula: Innovation = Creativity x Risk Taking

MINNEAPOLIS (Sept. 16, 2002) - A new book, The Innovation Equation, is a definitive guide for managers and leaders in any organization on how to build innovation within teams and individuals.

Companies today must innovate continually to survive, say the experts. Yet while many organizations talk about innovation, most struggle with how to make it happen. The Innovation Equation is the first book to provide a clear road map on how to put innovation into action.

In The Innovation Equation, the authors show how to create an environment that fosters creativity and risk taking, and provide hands-on, practical tools that help assess innovative capacity, benchmark it and even more important, increase it.

"Our research proves that both people and organizations can become more innovative," says author Jacqueline Byrd, Ph.D., who wrote the book with Paul Brown, MBA. Byrd and Brown are consultants with a combined 40 years of experience working with small businesses to Fortune 500 firms on increasing innovation.

"The book grew out of our experience and desire to help businesses and clients be more creative and innovative," Byrd says. "People who tap into their natural abilities to be creative and take risks are more satisfied and productive. Organizations that are filled with innovative people are those that make a difference."

"The thing that stunned me was how exactly on target it is for issues we are grappling with right now," says William Gjetson, director, human resources for Caterpillar Paving Products. "The Innovation Equation provides a straightforward way to increase innovation within an organization."

Tools to help organizations

The Innovation Equation advances the formula, Innovation = Creativity x Risk Taking. The authors contend that risk taking coupled with creative ideas is what innovation is all about.

"You can have lots of great ideas, but you also must be able to take risks to drive those ideas forward and to achieve innovation," Byrd says. The book describes the drivers of innovation and the "stop signs" that impede our progress, e.g., fears, internal messages and socialized behaviors.

The book also contains a mini-assessment tool for determining what drives creativity and risk taking and offers a four-step process for building innovative capacity in individuals.

"This book is seasoned, incisive and practical. Like a Swiss Army Knife, it gives people access to the tools and wisdom required for innovation," says Richard J. Leider, chairman of The Inventure Group and co-author of the best sellers Repacking Your Bags and Whistle While You Work.

Byrd has created an online assessment and coaching model, called Creatrix, which explores the concepts in greater depth and has been used by thousands of employees worldwide. Visit www.creatrix.com for more detailed tools and resources on innovation.

Two-generation effort

The book reflects two generations of study and consulting around creativity, risk-taking and innovation. The father-daughter team of Jacqueline Byrd, Ph.D., and her late father, Richard Byrd, Ph.D., spent a combined 35 years studying and testing the concepts contained in The Innovation Equation. Both believed strongly in people's ability to grow and develop their creativity and risk taking abilities.

"We are more than we are using, showing and being," said Byrd. "My Dad was a great innovator, and inspired others around him to take risks and be more creative, including me. I'll never forget him saying at the end of his life, 'I did everything I wanted to.' It's my hope that readers of this book will be able to say the same thing," she said.

About the authors

Jacqueline Byrd, Ph.D., has introduced her concepts of innovation to manufacturing, high-tech, service, financial, governmental and not for profit organizations including Cargill and 3M. Byrd is currently president of the Richard Byrd Company, a Minneapolis-based organization with national and international clients. The company was founded in 1966 by Jacqueline's father, the late Dr. Richard E. Byrd, and continues its original mission of bringing the applied social sciences to business, government and industry. She is also chief acceleration officer for Creatrix, a division of the Richard Byrd Company that provides online tools for increasing innovation.

Paul Brown, MBA, has held leadership positions in manufacturing, service and retail industries and is completing a doctorate in organizational development and learning from the University of St. Thomas. He is currently CEO and director of organizational development for Kern, DeWenter, Viere, a financial services and business consulting firm with offices in St. Cloud and Minneapolis, Minn.

The Innovation Equation was published as part of the Practicing Organization Development series from Jossey-Bass/Pfeiffer. To obtain a copy of the book, call (800) 274-4434 or visit www.pfeiffer.com, www.barnesandnoble.com or www.amazon.com.

CONTACTS:

Mary Lilja, mcl@lilja.com
Heidi Bornhuse, hmb@lilja.com
Lilja Inc. For The Innovation Equation
952.893.7140

Note to Editor: A color photo of J. Byrd in jpeg format is available immediately upon request by calling Heidi Bornhuse at 952.893.7140 or via e-mail at hmb@lilja.com.