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Synopsis
A compelling novel of business intrigue, suspense, and transformation from a critically acclaimed author
In an exciting departure from his writing on leadership, corporate culture, and strategic change, Craig Hickman, the author of such titles as Creating Excellence and Mind of a Manager, Soul of a Leader, gives us a compelling tale of corporate intrigue and innovation. A suspenseful business novel that engages the reader on every dramatic level while teaching important lessons on how to be a more effective innovator and creative problem-solver, An Innovator's Tale focuses on the trials and tribulations of a newly promoted vice president who has been thrust into a world of corporate turnaround, duplicity, and espionage. Readers learn by her example as she discovers and applies four different levels and five critical stages of innovation, while struggling to contain containing the damage done by stolen business secrets, computer hacking, and high-level company officers who are not quite what they seem to be.
Publishers Weekly
The logic is easy to understand. If one is going to write a book about innovation, why not take an innovative approach and present the argument in the form of a novel? That's what Hickman (Mind of a Manager; Soul of a Leader) does in his story about a relatively small snack food company's attempt to stay ahead of, and independent from, a far larger competitor that sounds suspiciously like Nabisco. The problem is, the approach doesn't work. In an attempt to create a suspenseful narrative, business problems like corporate espionage that have nothing to do with innovation get lots of attention, while Hickman's thoughts about innovation (which build off Clayton Christensen's The Innovator's Dilemma and The Alchemy of Growth) get short shrift. Hickman's four stages of innovation (imagine, integrate, isolate and illuminate) and four manifestations of innovation (incremental, insightful, inventive, ingenious) are good, but never fully developed. At the same time, the characters are one-dimensional, the dialogue flat and the action not particularly riveting. As a novel, the book lacks artistry; as a business guide, it's missing substantial detail. The result is that Hickman proves the point he set out to make: innovation is even harder than it looks. Agent, Michael Snell. (Jan.) Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information.