Rating: 5.0 stars
Reviewed by Stephanie D. for Readers Favorite – 04/23/2012
Do Not Invent Buggy Whips. Create! Invent! Position! Disrupt! by Kenneth J Thurber is a book for anyone wanting to successfully bring a new product to market. Too often inventions, such as the buggy whip, become obsolete because of technological advances, in this case the invention of the car. In this book we find the solution in creative disruption and reinvention. Thurber looks at the familiar ideas of innovation and conceiving and positioning a product, and at venture capital. But he also introduces creative disruption and reinvention, and this is what makes this book unique. To develop a successful product, first you need focus and clarity. This leads to the basic model of position, customer and reinvention. But this must be refined using creativity, disruption and creative disruption. Now it is time to ask questions, namely ‘what if’, ‘who cares’ and ‘what is the market size’. This will lead to successful product definition.
Do Not Invent Buggy Whips is very well written. It is very clear and methodically, but not pedantically, laid out. A point is made, explained and illustrated, and then reinforced. This is business and marketing writing at its best. Thurber uses familiar examples as case studies of how reinvention has brought market success, including the Mustang, Starbucks, Segway, digital cameras, print-on-demand and the iPod. He also uses Picasso as an example of reinvention at work. The author concludes by looking ahead at future reinvention, in which he predicts mobility will be the key. We must embrace innovation, not be displaced by it, and reinvent our way to success. The book has an index and there is a supporting website.