Reference no: EM133196569 , Length: Words Count:1000
Assignment:
Essay 1: It's hard out here for an inventor/innovator (with apologies to Academy Award Winner Three 6 Mafia)! While some (such as Edison, Jobs, Musk, etc.) become billionaires, many others fail -- often for predictable reasons.
Based on class discussion and readings, identify several (e.g., at least three) major reasons why inventors/innovators fail other than bad luck or their own lack of skills (which is addressed separately in Essay Question 2) and offer suggestions for how these predictable failures you identify might be anticipated, averted, or reduced. If you have a personal/family business experience with failure (or adversity) as an inventor/innovator, you may include your experience as part (but not all) of your analysis.
As with other essay questions, a 600 to 1000 word length would be appropriate (1 to 1.5 single-spaced pages). A table plus 600 words might be a possible format for this question.
Essay 2: Watch the following two short web clips (from Prof. Melissa Schilling's bestselling work "Quirky": which note the importance of individual (and solitary) contributions to innovation. Discuss, using examples from class (e.g., our team-size experiment, "So You Want to Be an Inventor," Edison's process for finding the proper filament material, the challenges in making a profit once you've invented a technologically better umbrella, etc.) both (a) why different perspectives and skills from multiple team members are potentially valuable in the innovation process and (b) even given this benefit, why solo or small-team innovation frequently outperforms large teams.