[The Prometheus Shot – E008 :: Edison’s Ruthless Innovation: More than a Light Bulb ]
This post is part of the Prometheus Shot series.
Thomas Edison had around a thousand inventions registered to his name. He also electrocuted chickens and an elephant.
He is credited with the invention of the light bulb, the phonograph, moving pictures camera, and even ‘electricity’ sometimes.
He was obviously a great man… but what exactly is his secret?
Is he an inventor, polymath, scientist, evil genius, or a systems builder?
We will explore Edison’s key achievements, attitude towards knowledge, and his ability to ‘make things happen’, even if he needed to use methods we might not totally approve of.
His story has interesting lessons related to innovating in systems, management, and mobilizing resources. There is a very interesting contrast between Edison & Tesla.
Throughout the discussion, we will be guided by the Awareness – Intent – Creativeness model as introduced in The Atlas of Worldly Wisdom (https://ahijazi.website/atlas-worldly-wisdom/), and reflect on knowledge, creativity, work, management, and innovation systems.
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Some comments from this episode:
What are Edison’s (real) great achievements?
How about his attitude towards knowledge, work, and creativity?
What are the characteristics of Innovation systems? How did Edison build one?
What are the differences between Edison and Tesla? What are the “Current Wars”?
Why did Edison electrocute chickens, cats, and … an elephant? What about his work on the electric chair?
What does brand-building have to do with Edison’s success?
How did Edison manage different networks and mobilize resources to achieve the great things that he did?
Was he ‘Dark’?
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Chapters:
- Inventor? Wizard? Innovator?
- I Know What’s Needed, So Does the World!
- Intent & Vision: Edison vs Tesla
- There is no ‘Us’ in ‘I’: Get it Done!
- Who Owns the Future?
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Youtube Video :
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Podcast (Substack) :
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Prometheus Shot
