A great number of people have contributed to the making of this book, and I am grateful to all of them.
First, I thank John Micklethwait, the editor-in-chief of The Economist, for giving me time to write this book and for giving me permission to use articles that I have written for the magazine. I also thank Daniel Franklin and other editors and colleagues for their encouragement of this project.
Many of the themes, characters, and arguments found in this book were inspired by real-life conversations and debates that took place on the Ideas Economy stage (www.ideas.economist.com). This is a path-breaking series of innovation conferences and multi-media events started a few years ago by The Economist. I have had the privilege of chairing this series, and the pleasure of working closely with the sparky people curating the content. Justin Hendrix, Sean McManus, and the entire Ideas Economy team deserve tremendous praise for their efforts.
I have also been fortunate to have sharp people outside The Economist supporting my efforts. I am grateful to Andrew Wylie, my agent, for fighting in my corner; I also thank Scott Moyers for his invaluable early support. I had a hunch when I first spoke with Hollis Heimbouch about innovation that she would be the perfect editor for this book—and her wise and graceful edits certainly proved me right. I thank her and the entire team at HarperCollins for their fine work.
Finally, I am grateful to my wife, Michelle, for both her unflagging support and her keen editorial judgment. In addition to insightful comments on impenetrable draft chapters, she also offered a timely and incisive critique of the book’s structure that led to a vital mid-course correction. All that, even as she had her hands full with much more important matters.
To Michelle, to all my long-suffering friends and family, I say thank you from the bottom of my heart.