Extreme Innovation: Innovation Expert Sandy Carter Releases Newest Book Chronicling Superpowers Needed to Succeed

AUSTIN, Texas, March 8, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- In her fifth book, Sandy Carter urges companies to innovate or die. Put simply, innovation is the competitive weapon for corporations big and small. In fact, it is not just the competitive weapon – it may actually be its lifeboat.

Consider the following: Eighty one percent of CEOs say their teams are not equipped to meet the innovation opportunities needed to compete in today's marketplace. Half of the S&P 500 companies will be replaced in the next ten years. The lifespan of these companies is in steep decline: their lifespan on the S&P 500 used to be 33 years – now it is only 14.

"CEOs are worried," said Carter. "The need for innovation is greater than ever, but nobody seems to have a road-map on how to do it, or how it should work in a practical situation, and be aligned with larger corporate strategy and objectives," she said.

Enter Carter's latest book, a new guide to innovation with over 100 case studies, which will be launched in Austin at South by Southwest (SXSW), a weeklong-plus confab celebrating the convergence of the music, film and interactive music industries.

Extreme Innovation discusses new concepts like the impact of new technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI), blockchain, and artificial intelligence (AR) in the innovation cycle, explaining the role that ecosystems play in fostering innovation. The book highlights three top areas critical for innovation.

First is speed through diversity, especially cognitive diversity – a difference in thought and style -- a point illustrated by the fact that 75 percent of all companies surveyed with diverse teams have higher levels of innovation. The second area is the need for super intelligence -- gained from employees being explorers using technology as tools. In fact, her foreword is written by a National Geographic explorer. Like explorers, innovators are ground-breakers. Because of that, they must go beyond the boundaries of today's knowledge and discover a new way to discover.  For example, using Virtual Reality to help customers envision a new solution.  The third and final focus is ecosystems that surround new technologies, products, solutions, and causes.  Even Tesla has ecosystems of charging station partners positioned to help it scale its innovation to success.  

The book also references a diversity study send to over 2,000 female founders conducted by Silicon Blitz, an innovation exploration and research firm, and Carnegie Mellon in Silicon Valley. Results show that female founders, while abounding in new innovative ideas, start a decade later than their male counterparts in Silicon Valley -- but almost two decades later if they live in New York.  "As a Director and professor in the Integrated Innovation Institute at Carnegie Mellon University, I see innovation and new product creation speeding up continuously. The harnessing of innovation to address the challenges of our societies is critical. CMU partnered with Sandy Carter on the research for 'Extreme Innovation' around female founders in order to understand these extreme innovators and share the findings.  The superpowers of intelligence, speed, and synergy are the skills required for our rapidly changing world.  Every executive should read and study these insights," said Sheryl Root, Director, MS in Technology Ventures, Carnegie Mellon University

Extreme Innovation also outlines a framework that can be used for the use of technology in the innovation cycle and explores other points about the ways major technologies are being employed. For example, artificial intelligence and bots are opening the doors for innovation not just in products, but in customer experience and business models. Blockchain is disrupting businesses not just in financial services but in other verticals: retail, energy, and healthcare.  Virtual reality enables customers to visualize future products before they are built to be sold. SmartVizX, Lowe's, and Tom's are great examples of innovation using VR.

Experts are chiming in on the book. "Extreme Innovation easily describes how these technologies impact the brave new world of innovation. The rapid evolution of mixed reality (XR) is going to massively influence how we interact with technology, each other, and the world around us, for years to come." Dave Curry, VP Emerging Trends & Technology, POP

"The book has grounded and easily digestible advice and is anchored in the pillars of extreme innovation--intelligence, speed and synergy. Extreme Innovation can be applied today by companies choosing to innovate to generate profit and growth," said Mary B. Teagarden, professor of Global Strategy at the Thunderbird School of Global Management at Arizona State University and one of the top innovation experts in the world.

Published by ParamMedia, the book is on sale now on Amazon.com.

Contact Information:
Anna Shen
[email protected]
+1-917-907-0035

About Silicon Blitz: Silicon Blitz is dedicated to training the next generational leaders through workshops, webinars, and podcasts to help shape companies planning for innovation at the intersection of start-ups and corporations, and ecosystem economics. Million Female Founders is a project to help women founders around the world to drive success.

About Carnegie Mellon Silicon Valley: Carnegie Mellon Silicon Valley was founded in 2002 and houses a unique set of programs and activities that leverage Carnegie Mellon's world-class technical leadership through a hands-on Silicon Valley approach to graduate education and research.

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SOURCE Sandy Carter