The intersection: your best chance to innovate: monkeys and mind readers -- The rise of intersections: the sounds of Shakira and the emotions of Shrek -- Break down the barriers between fields: sea urchin lollipops and Darwin's finches -- How to make the barriers fall: Heathrow Tunnel and...

At least since Arrow (1962), the effects of appropriability on invention have been well studied, but there has been little analysis of the effect of appropriability on the commercialization of existing inventions. Exploiting a database of 805 attempts by private firms to commercialize inventions...

Do large firms produce more valuable inventions, and if so, why? After confirming that large firms indeed produce more valuable inventions, we consider two possible sources: a superior ability to invent, or a superior ability to extract value from their inventions. We develop a simple model that...

The way things never were -- Good ideas and how to generate them -- Problems in search of solutions -- What would croesus do? taking the perspective of an unconstrained consumer -- Why dont you feel my pain? internalizing the external effects of decision making -- Solutions in search of problems...

Creating possibilities -- Pinpointing problems -- Recognizing patterns -- Channeling chance -- Transcending boundaries -- Detecting barriers -- Applying analogies -- Visualizing results -- Embracing failure -- Multiplying insights -- Thinking systematically.