---

From historical figures such as Marie Curie to contemporaries such as Steve Jobs, a handful of innovators have changed the world. What made them so spectacularly inventive?

---

The science behind the traits and quirks that drive creative geniuses to make spectacular breakthroughs
What really distinguishes the people who literally change the world--those creative geniuses who give us one breakthrough after another? What differentiates Marie Curie or Elon Musk from the merely creative, the many one-hit wonders among us?
Melissa Schilling, one of the world´s leading experts on innovation, invites us into the lives of eight people--Albert Einstein, Benjamin Franklin, Elon Musk, Dean Kamen, Nikola Tesla, Marie Curie, Thomas Edison, and Steve Jobs--to identify the traits and experiences that drove them to make spectacular breakthroughs, over and over again. While all innovators possess incredible intellect, intellect alone, she shows, does not create a breakthrough innovator. It was their personal, social, and emotional quirkiness that enabled true genius to break through--not just once but again and again.
Nearly all of the innovators, for example, exhibited high levels of social detachment that enabled them to break with norms, an almost maniacal faith in their ability to overcome obstacles, and a passionate idealism that pushed them to work with intensity even in the face of criticism or failure. While these individual traits would be unlikely to work in isolation--being unconventional without having high levels of confidence, effort, and goal directedness might, for example, result in rebellious behavior that does not lead to meaningful outcomes--together they can fuel both the ability and drive to pursue what others deem impossible.
Schilling shares the science behind the convergence of traits that increases the likelihood of success. And, as Schilling also reveals, there is much to learn about nurturing breakthrough innovation in our own lives--in, for example, the way we run organizations, manage people, and even how we raise our children.

---

"[A]n entertaining and enlightening romp through the lives of eight ´breakthrough innovators,´ exploring their remarkable abilities, personalities and motives."
-Financial Times

---

Schilling, Melissa A
Melissa A. Schilling is a professor at New York University´s Stern School of Business and the author of the number one innovation strategy textbook in the world, Strategic Management of Technological Innovation. As one of the world´s leading experts on innovation, she has appeared on numerous media outlets including Bloomberg BusinessWeek, Huffington Post, CNBC, The Brian Lehrer Show, Scientific American, USA Today, South China Morning Post, Energy Biz Insider, Clean Technica, and New Energy

---