Innovation is the hottest buzzword in business. But what if its benefits has been exaggerated, and our obsession with finding the next big thing has distracted us from the work that matters most?
Lee Vinsel is a professor in the Department of Science, Technology,
and Society at Virginia Tech.
Andrew L. Russell is a professor of history and the dean of the
College of Arts and Sciences at SUNY Polytechnic Institute.
Together, they are the founders of the Maintainers research network
and conferences, and their writing on the topics of this book have
appeared in The New York Times, The Atlantic, The Washington Post,
and Wired.
“The authors’ most emphatic recommendations involve talent—and our
perception of it. When we overvalue innovation, they say, we forget
that the vast majority of engineers will wind up maintaining
existing systems, not coming up with the next Facebook. [The]
authors’ emphasis on maintenance resonates, and their take-down of
innovation theater feels well-deserved.”—The Wall Street
Journal
“These last few months [of 2020] have been costly, but they’ve
shown us that we can, individually and collectively, change how we
work more rapidly than we ever imagined; revealed the importance of
essential workers and maintainers; and given us a glimpse of a
future that could be radically different—more prosperous, better
maintained, and more sustainable—from the world we left this
spring. Vinsel and Russell have given us a modest manifesto for
building that world.”—Los Angeles Review of Books
“[Challenges] us to ask an urgent question: what if we invested as
much in maintenance, care, and upkeep as we do in growth, change,
and disruption?”—Adam Grant, “The Fall Idea Books to Teach You
Something New”
“There’s nothing quite like a pandemic to reveal how much a society
relies on maintainers. The Innovation Delusion offers a vital
wake-up call. Stirring, sobering, and brilliantly composed, this
book is a must-read for everyone who longs for a radical
reinvestment in what matters most.”—Ruha Benjamin, professor at
Princeton University and author of Race After Technology
“Lee Vinsel and Andrew L. Russell have taken on one of the tech
industry’s sacred cows, showing how the chase for the next big
thing has harmed countless businesses, left our roads and bridges
in a state of neglect, and drained support for the essential
workers who keep society going. By equal turns alarming and
empowering, The Innovation Delusion is a send-up of Silicon
Valley’s empty promises and a much needed plea for sanity in how we
think about technology, profit, and work.”—Dan Lyons, bestselling
author of Disrupted and Lab Rats
“Vibrant, sure-footed . . . The authors guide readers with clear
and contemporary examples of when deferred maintenance led to
either slow or fast disaster. . . . The authors also thoroughly
expose the unjust hierarchy that leaves maintenance workers at the
bottom of the pay scale. . . . A refreshing, cogently argued book
that will hopefully make the rounds at Facebook, Google, Apple et
al.”—Kirkus Reviews (starred review)
“[A] resounding call for sane business growth. Readers will come
away from Vinsel and Russell’s urgent and illuminating primer with
a new perspective on the importance of maintenance as well as
innovation in business.”—Publishers Weekly (starred review)
“In this caring ode to the ordinary grit of maintenance, Lee Vinsel
and Andrew Russell light a brilliant bonfire of the vanities from
carefree innovation-speak. We should upkeep their message, and
repair our corporations, communities, and consciousness. This book
is more than a conversation starter—it’s a course correction.”—Guru
Madhavan, Norman R. Augustine Senior Scholar and director of
programs at the National Academy of Engineering, and author of
Applied Minds: How Engineers Think
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