Prophet of Innovation – Joseph Schumpeter and Creative Destruction by Thomas K. McCraw

McCraw is the Isidor Straus Professor of Business History, emeritus, at the Harvard Business School. He has won the Pulitzer Prize. This particular book garnered the 2007–2009 Alfred and Fay Chandler Book Award in Business History.

Don’t let the 506 pages (hardcover) plus another 200 pages of notes scare you off. This is a uniquely crafted insight into BOTH the life and mind of Joseph Schumpeter.

“No country, regardless of how long it has been prosperous, can take permanent affluence for granted. Nor can any company assume its continued existence…Digital Equipment, Pan American Airways, Pullman, Douglas Aircraft and The Pennsylvania Railroad remind us….And all are now in the dustbin of history, along with hundreds of thousands of other businesses of all sizes – once as strong as dinosaurs but now just as extinct.” (p. 496).

I adored this book and admired the incredible scholarly research that taught me about Schumpeter, his times, his work – and his contributions to the field of economics, organizational development, capitalism, and our world.

From The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press (hardcover 2007 and paperback in 2010), this is a precious gem that deserves to be relied upon in in the exploration of a truly remarkable man and his mind….both of which continue to resonate with the challenges that confront societies across the globe.

Like I said, “a precious gem.”

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