Think Like an Innovator

We learn lessons from two great Japanese engineers, industrialists, innovators and marketers.  They created companies which became world leaders.  Soichiro Honda (1906 - 1991) founded the Honda Motor Company.  Akio Morita (1921 - 1999) was the co-founder of Sony Corporation.

We examine the works of two great inventors.  Sir Hiram Maxim (1840 - 1916) was an American who became a British Citizen and patented over 100 inventions and designs.  John Harrison (1693 - 1776) was the English master clockmaker who dedicated his life to winning the first great crowdsourced competition, the Longitude Prize.  

Let me tell you about two towering geniuses, astists who were prolific in different fields and who, unusually for artists, were famous in their lifetimes.  Michelangelo (1475 - 1564) was the Italian renaissance genius of painting, sculpture and architecture.  Salvador Dali (1904 - 1989) was an outrageous Spanish surrealist - a master in many media.

In this episode we review the lives and achievements of two towering figures in the world of 19th century science.  Marie Curie (1867 - 1934) pioneered work in radioactivity, discovered two new elements and is the only winner of two Nobel prizes in different sciences.  Dmitri Mendeleev (1834 - 1907) is the Russian chemist who proposed the Periodic Law and the Periodic Table of the Elemen...

J K Rowling (born 1965) is the British author of the Harry Potter series, the best-selling book series in history.  Hans Christian Andersen (1805 - 1875) is the Danish author of many classic fairy stories.  What inspired these literary geniuses to create works which would entrance children (and adults) all over the world?

Here we have two dynamic innovators and entrepreneurs.  They created enterprises which changed the world and yet they both fell from grace.  Muhammad Yunus founded the Grameen Bank, pioneered microfinance and won the Nobel Peace Prize.  Travis Kalanick founded Uber, at one stage  the fastest growing start-up in history.

We discuss the achievements of two highly influential retail innovators.  Harry Selfridge (1858 - 1947) was an American who created the great department store in Oxford Street, London which carries his name.  Ingvar Kamprad (1926 - 2018) was the Swedish entrepreneur who created IKEA and built it into a huge global brand while retaining its frugal Swedish culture.

We review the work of two contrasting musical icons.  Madonna (born 1958) is the Queen of pop music.  She has sold over 300 million records and is recognised as the best-selling female recording artist of all time.   Miles Davis (1926 - 1991) is a legendary trumpeter, composer and bandleader.

The stories of two great American entrepreneurs whose products and companies are familiar to us today.  Levi Strauss (1829 - 1902) was the creator of the iconic fashion item, the blue jean.  Ray Kroc (1902 - 1984),  born in the year that Strauss died, was the entrepreneur who built McDonalds into the world's most successful fast food chain.

We review insights from the brilliant work of some of the giants of the Internet.  Sir Tim Berners-Lee, the inventor of the World Wide Web, is the geek who changed the world.  Larry Page and Sergey Brin were the two graduate students who created Google - almost by accident.

We look at two great inventors.  Johannes Gutenberg (1398 - 1468) was the German craftsman who invented the printing press, which had a truly groundbreaking effect across Europe.  George de Mestral (1907 - 1990) was a Swiss Engineer who invented Velcro.  In this short episode we learn powerful innovation lessons from these inventors.

In this short broadcast we tell the stories of two great media moguls.  Oprah Winfrey rose from a disadvantaged background to become one of the most influential people in the world.  Sideny Bernstein founded Granada TV and in doing so displayed a remarkable piece of lateral thinking.

In this episode we look at the achievements of two great modern day entrepreneurs.  Jeff Bezos is the founder of Amazon.  Elon Musk is a serial entrepreneur who built Paypal, SpaceX and Tesla Motors.

Edward Jenner (1749 - 1823) was an English country doctor who discovered the smallpox vaccine.  Florence Nightingale (1820 - 1910) was the founder of modern nursing.  These two innovators had enormous influence over subsequent medical practice and their actions have saved millions of lives.  We can learn some powerful lessons from their stories.

In today's episode we look at the work of two radical rule-breakers and business innovators.  Anita Roddick was an entrepreneur and activist who founded the Body Shop.  Don Estridge is known as the "father of the IBM PC".  What can we learn from these two revolutionaries?

In this episode we look at the actions of two visonary leaders, Mahatma Gandhi and John F Kennedy.   How did these political giants inspire their countrymen to take on and accomplish difficult challenges?  

In this episode we explore the work of two towering legends of popular music, David Bowie and Freddie Mercury.  What made them so influential?  What lessons can we learn from their ground-breaking creations?