invention

I stumbled over a great Q&A over at Quora. Someone asked about what to do with their great ideas and inventions so that they won’t get cheated. I’ve decided to reproduce the question here and the answer by Jimmy Wales, founder of Wikipedia, as I often get asked the same question but in many different ways.

The question:

Innovation is an oft-used but oft-misunderstood word. Legendary journalist, editor and author Sir Harold Evans gave a lecture at the RSA a few days ago on the 'spirit' of innovation - what makes for successful innovation and what we can learn from some of the great innovators - the inventors and the entrepreneurs who took risks, were often met with disdain, but who originated transformational technologies, products and services. He talked about the myth of the lone inventor. The trouble with the 'Eureka Myth', as he calls it, is that it

"Live in the market, not in a spreadsheet" Cheryl McKinnon

by: Dominic Basulto

Malcolm Gladwell returns to the pages of The New Yorker with a story about "innovation multiples" -- independent discoveries or inventions that occurred at the same time, but in different places.