Big Little Breakthroughs: How Small, Everyday Innovations Drive Oversized Results

From the first story about cigarette butts and Superman, I was hooked on Linkner's approachable prose, incredibly storytelling ability, and willingness to connect with the reader. He doesn't just TELL, he SHOWS -- something that is not easy in a book format. Although I know him as a great speaker, I'm impressed with how his message translates so well into an enjoyable and meaningful read.

To me, Big Little Breakthroughs isn't so much a how-to book (although that's certainly in there) as much as it is a mindset book. In my own research on innovation, I've found that many people seem to think, "Well, if I'm not inventing the iPhone, I'm not really an innovator." And so they don't even try. It's like, "If I can't be Steve Jobs, Elon Musk, or Sara Blakely [she invented Spanx], then what's the point?" It's hard to imagine how much useful, practical, valuable innovation gets shut down by that attitude before it ever has a chance. This, really, is what Josh Linkner is addressing in this highly insightful, highly readable book. And that's why this is such a valuable addition to the field. My hope is that those who read Big Little Breakthroughs will walk away thinking, "Hey, you know what? I AM an innovator!"

I've been a big fan of Josh Linkner since I read Road to Reinvention. In fact, we had our entire team read that for book club this past year and it made a huge impact on our organization. Big Little Breakthroughs takes innovation and creativity in business to another level! The stat that 77% of creative advances is attributed to small creative advances, not radical innovations is spot on. But how are those small creative advances taught in business?This book may be the first to simplify the creative method. The eight obsessions of everyday innovators listed on pages 113-114, may be the most valuable pages in the book. The "Fall in love with a problem" concept is worth 10X the price of the book in itself. I personally leaned in heavy on this section as I've been obsessed with fixing the problem of baseball being long and fixing the boring fan experience. The story about Chad Price and how he was obsessed with the problems with the DMV, then medical lab testing and then pharmacy industry was fascinating to read. It inspired to me to keep attacking the problem of baseball and going after bigger problems."Start Before You Are Ready" and "Build a Test Kitchen" hit home as well with creating a mindset of discovery, experimentation and learning over failure. "Break it to fix it" was spot on in breaking down the current business and asking the right questions to reconstruct and rebuild.The "Judo Flip" has been key to our organization as well where we say, "Whatever is normal, do the exact opposite." Every business can benefit from listing out all the traditional ways of doing something and then reach for the polar opposite.Linkner preaches being weird, embracing experiments and daring to be different. He teaches us how to out-think and not out-spend and be resourceful. We learn how constraints bring out creativity. More than anything, based on the hundreds of examples and stories from big time entrepreneurs to unknown creative superstars, Linkner inspires us to push the boundaries on the status quo and that anybody has the creativity to change the world.

Big Little Breakthroughs is an excellent book. While innovation is often thought of as world-changing ideas from the likes of Musk, Jobs and Bezos, Linkner’s book highlights that most innovation comes from the small, everyday actions of the rest of us. The book offers a step-by-step methodology to help unleash the true creative capacity we all have via small actions that demonstrate enormous results over time. Linkner clearly demonstrates how roles often thought of as not very innovative have the power to unleash true creativity. He fills the book with vivid, rich stories from the author's own interviews and research that offer fresh, new insight into how most innovation actually happens. Of the many books on creativity I’ve read over the years, this one is by far the best.

This is a must read for anyone who wants to elevate their professional and personal lives by unlocking the creativity that we all have inside us. It’s a fun read! Through his engaging storytelling, Josh takes the reader on a journey of lessons from well-known companies to celebrities to ex-cons to everyday people who applied small, simple, creative solutions to overcome massive obstacles and achieve amazing success. Josh continually highlights the awesome power of tiny gains. Most people have far more creativity than they think, and this book gives an easy-to-read roadmap for finding and tapping into it. Lots of practical tips and small, incremental things we can do to unleash our inner creativity and make profound changes in our lives.

I have followed Josh for years now, and super excited to add Big Little Breakthroughs to my bookshelf. Why? Because it is a reminder of the big impact that small insights have. I've always been a creative person, and Josh's new book has helped to remind me of the importance of small bits of innovation that happen every day. Not everyone identifies as being creative, and that is okay. But this book shows that we all have small creative moments. With so many real-life examples and stories of businesses born from small creative bursts, this book breaks down creativity into a framework and system that we can all utilize. I recommend this book to those who want to find small steps that lead to big moves.

Brilliant book which takes Linkner’s underlying belief that we all have a natural ability to be creative innovators and explores how we can tap into that full creative potential. Packed full of fascinating stories behind some of the ‘big little innovations’ in the world and how they went from being the seed of an idea - usually the solution to a problem - to take the world by storm. Backed by the science behind the theory and full of tips and ideas to get you thinking more like an innovator. If you have a sense that you’d like to reawaken your own creative strengths and flex those creativity muscles this book is for you.