“Now that’s innovative – a business book that’s entertaining too. The powerful lessons that Dalton shares inside are like jet fuel for companies that want to propel their growth.”
–Ed Petkus, VP – Airplane Development & Engineering,
The Boeing Company
“Dalton’s innovative approach can help any company find the 80/20 spike needed to drive new product growth.”
–Richard Koch, bestselling author of The 80/20 Principle
“A Theory of Constraints approach to the process of innovation was long overdue. Production, project management, supply chain, and policy constraint analysis have all been comprehensively addressed. But until now, no one has thought to examine the ramifications of constraint theory on the challenge of innovation. Mike Dalton’s novel was worth waiting for. Simplifying Innovation synthesizes innovation best practices and the focusing step framework to create a powerful new application of TOC. Let it stimulate your imagination as it did mine.”
–H. William Dettmer, author of Strategic Navigation
“Inside a fascinating business novel, that I literally couldn’t put down, Mike Dalton has created a hands-on field manual to extending the Theory of Constraints to innovation – I only wished I had the benefit of Mike’s insights during my days as an R&D leader in Bell Labs.”
–Dr. Matthew W. Sagal, co-author of The Strongest Link
“Organic growth is hard work, but there is much you can learn from Mike Dalton’s years of practical experience. If you are committed to maintaining the discipline required, Simplifying Innovation offers a refreshing, common sense approach for improving your new product results and creating profitable growth. I’d recommend it for any business leader’s bookshelf.”
–Dr. James D. Hlavacek, author of
Profitable Top Line Growth for Industrial Companies
“I highly recommend that business leaders read Simplifying Innovation and am already looking at how to put Dalton’s approach to project prioritization to work in my company. Just as Cash Machine and Release the Hostages did with sales and customer support, Simplifying Innovation brings a practical approach to effectively managing R&D with TOC.”
–Richard Klapholz, co-author of Cash Machine
The difference between TOC companies and non- TOC companies is now too significant to ignore. While the current economic conditions provide an easy excuse for companies failing around the world, TOC companies are not only surviving but thriving under the same conditions. Mike Dalton has creatively taken these same tools and applied them to new product innovation – itself a remarkable innovation!
–Carol Ptak, co-author of Necessary but Not Sufficient
“After having spent much of his early career at a leader, like SC Johnson, it’s no surprise that Dalton has come up with an innovative new way to simplify and drive improvements in the new product process. He hits the mark with an easy reading style and key pointers to focus the organization from top to bottom and deliver profitable, value-creating growth within your existing resources and budgets.”
–Robert F. Brands, author of Robert’s Rules of Innovation
I wish that I had the benefit of Dalton’s insights about innovation bottlenecks years ago. The book is fast paced, interesting, and gives us the key concepts in a well-written story. He also provides a great summary of the important Theory of Constraints in the last chapter– more than worth the price of the whole book!
–Vern Burkhardt, author of IdeaConnection.com
“Simplifying Innovation offers an elegant solution for any company trying to get more out of their R&D investment. A refreshingly original approach that is a must for any executive’s library.”
–Matthew E. May, author of In Pursuit of Elegance