Response to this question was fairly light (an indication of lack of interest or lack of progress?) but interesting. Those responses are included below, but first we'd like to invite you to participate in our Best Business Books survey.

We'd like to create a "classics" list of books that have been truly impactful to your organization and/or your career -- books that you return to time after time. Please suggest no more than two books in each of the following categories and include no more than two sentences about why you're recommending these books. Categories:

Innovation, Organizational Effectiveness, Strategy Creativity, Personal Effectiveness

Send your recommendation TO: books@thinksmart.com, SUBJECT: BOOKS

Thanks for your help in creating this list. Joyce Wycoff

Supporting Innovation

From: pat.plunkett@gsa.gov
Regarding ideas, managers need to create the atmosphere of an idea factory, i.e., the more ideas we generate the more good ideas we will have. Recognize that creativity leads to excitement and excitement leads to creativity. Creativity occurs when people think differently. When looking for ideas or solutions, managers should ask what are the possible ways of doing this? Then ask, what are some wacky ways to do this. Do not judge ideas right away. Let the ideas flow. You may be surprised what comes up. Take time later to do the critical thinking.

Does my organization do this? Get out of here.

From: Alex Chua, alexeve18@yahoo.com
My company Luvasia.com is in the process of archiving our advice column into a knowledge base of searchable love advice. Through experience, we noticed a similarity in the type of questions asked by our visitors. Thus a knowledge base will not only allow readers to get instant answers for their quires but will also save us lots of valuable time. Another innovative feature allows other visitors to contribute their advice to help the one in need. That's what we call a community ;-)
(Editor: after a momentary hesitation, we checked out this website and it truly is for couples in love worth looking at even if you're not Asian.)

From: Brian J Tillotson, briant@hsvaic.hv.boeing.com
Our CEO recently introduced a program called the Chairman's Innovation Initiative. It provides an electronic site where any employee can submit an idea for a new business: new product or service for an existing customer, or new market for existing product or service, but not new product for new (to us) market. Ideas go through a multi-level screening process. Money becomes available as an idea moves through the process, which allows the idea team to develop real business plans. If it goes to implementation, the originator shares some of the financial reward (beyond his/ her salary) and has the opportunity to go with the new venture rather than stay in his/her old job.

From: "Whalen, David W", david.whalen@eds.com
I have just started reading Hamel's book, "Leading the Revolution," so I can not fully address the book. However, I think the passage that was included in your email was typical of what is currently being published by the "experts:"

To institutionalize radical innovation, companies will need to build highly effective electronic markets for ideas, capital and talent.

Being a consultant in the information technology industry I should support this statement 100%, but I believe that it could not be further from the truth! Many executives are led to believe that implementing knowledge management, collaborative or idea generation software will automatically thrust them into innovation. I believe that if their culture does not currently support innovative processes, they will never achieve it. In fact, I believe that organizations can achieve significant improvement in innovative thinking without the investment in electronic tools.

I thought that Hamel, James Champy and Michael Hammer learned something when they first started writing about business process reengineering (BPR). Champy came out with his second book, "Reengineering Management" as if to say, "oh yea, I didn't realize that the organization must change in order for effective BPR to take place." But like all of the current works claiming to address innovation, there is a general failure to address the real problems that organizations face. The Good Morning Thinkers note eluded to it, noting how innovation "is more like climate, culture and environment." Organizations need to address these problems instead of going for the quick fix.