Why Smart Companies Do Dumb Things: Lessons Learned from Innovation Blunders: Avoiding Eight Common Mistakes in New Product Development

The sub-title of this surprisingly readable book is: "Avoiding Eight Common Mistakes in New Product Development - Lessons Learned from Innovation Blunders." It's the sort of title and sub-title one expects from trendy or failed businessmen. In this case, it is the title selected by a genuine expert. Former chairman of the board of the American Marketing Association, Hodock teaches business and marketing at a rather long string of colleges and universities throughout the country. In other words, he knows what he's talking about. The premise of the book is simple, really: Innovation is absolutely key to the survival and well-being of American business. So failed innovation has far-reaching effects. This book is, quite literally, a guide to how not to fail. It accomplishes this goal through eight extensive case histories. After each problem is illuminated...and its causes thoroughly examined...Hodock emphasizes the lesson to be learned and offers practical advice on how to put that lesson into practice. There is, obviously, a highly selective audience for this book. But any businessman would do well to take a look at "Why Smart Companies Do Dumb Things." The most innovative thing is not to make mistakes in the first place. This book can help you achieve that goal.

New products are risky. More fail than succeed. What this book points out is American business continues to make the same eight mistakes over and over. This is truly failing stupid. This is nothing wrong with failure if we learn from it. This book reinforces the eight common innovation mistakes with case histories and the lessons learned from each innovation debacle. The lessons are a sure way to fail smart. I really enjoyed reading this book and will recommed it to everyone I know.

This book discussed the eight common mistakes associated with misguided product innovation. It is amazing how most companies simply ignored these basic mistakes and continued down the path of innovation mediocrity. Case histories are used to illustrate each of the eight basic mistakes. Each case if followed by lessons learned. If a company religiously follows the lessons learned in this book, their innovation efforts will improve and so should profits. If you read this book, absorb the case history lessons and put them into practice, the result will be an innovation track record admired by the competition.

The title of this book has stopping power. That's what prompted me to buy it. The book has a bold, brash style that goes well beyond the book's title. The case histories often start with humorous headlines like "Loose Stools Foil Fake Fat" or "Clueless in the Paradise of Innovation." I enjoyed reading about Marketing Kindergarten and Marketing's Freudian Id. This book has a knack for taking rather somber topics and giving them a light, breezy touch wile still retaining the important essence of the issue.

Many business books are a bit on the dry side, but not this one. It has a marvelous sense of humor on an important topic product innovation. The energetic and humorous style builds a strong bond between the reader and content. You'll stay engaged with this book from the first to the last chapter. One example of this is what the book refers to as Marketing Alzheimer's or Marketing Amnesia. Companies keep making the same product mistakes. There is no historical perspective. They simply go out and make the same mistakes again, victims of history lessons forgotten.