Where Good Ideas Come From

Where Good Ideas Come From

The Seven Patterns of Innovation

Summary

From the author of Emergence and The Ghost Map, Steven Johnson's Where Good Ideas Come From: The Seven Patterns of Innovation identifies key principles that are the driving force of creativity.

Learn how:

A slow hunch can be much more valuable than a Eureka moment
The connected 'hive mind' is smarter than the lone thinker
Where you think matters just as much as what you're thinking
The best ideas come from building on the ideas and inventions of others

From the Renaissance to satellites, medical breakthroughs to social media, Charles Darwin to Marconi, Steven Johnson shows how, by recognising where and how patterns of creativity occur, we can all discover the secrets of inspiration.

'Inspirational' - Independent

'Exhilarating ... An entirely new way of looking at almost everything' - Guardian

'A huge diversity of bright ideas' - Financial Times

'Johnson finds new and original things to say about the nature of innovation, and the different forms it can take' - Economist, Books of the Year

'An enthralling work full of counter-intuitive insights' - Daily Mail

Steven Johnson is the author of the acclaimed books Everything Bad is Good for You, Mind Wide Open, Emergence and Interface Culture. His writing appeared in the Guardian, the New Yorker, Nation and Harper's, as well as the op-ed pages of The New York Times and the Wall Street Journal. He is a Distinguished Writer In Residence at NYU's School Of Journalism, and a Contributing Editor to Wired.

Reviews

  • Stimulating and insightful ... a huge diversity of bright ideas
    Financial Times

About the author

Steven Johnson

Steven Johnson is the US bestselling author of Where Good Ideas Come From, Future Perfect, The Invention of Air, The Ghost Map, and Everything Bad Is Good for You. He is the founder of a variety of influential websites and has written for Time, Wired, The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal.
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