Evolutionary ideas

What if innovation, even radical, was more a matter of imitations or evolutions than of true revolutions? Sam Tatam takes on the conventional wisdom according to which a new problem necessarily requires a new solution—an approach that is both hazardous and resource-intensive.

To this “creationist” vision, he opposes the “evolutionist” approach: reusing proven ideas, even if from a completely different area. The book covers two distinct fields. A first part describes the process of “innovation” in nature that we would gain from imitating: evolution responds in a creative manner to the problems encountered by various species, by effecting mutations, by testing and retaining only the functional adaptations. In a second part, he looks at the psychological factors that influence the adoption of innovations. He details the strategies available to companies wishing to increase the perceived value of their innovations, in most cases without making any changes to the product or service itself.