What is innovation? How important is innovation in business? How can we use it to succeed? In the last 150 years our world has been transformed—largely due to innovation. Our parents were born into a world where television had yet to be invented, and there was no penicillin or frozen food. Our great grandparents began life in a world with no light bulbs, cars, telephones, or airplanes. This Very short introduction looks at what innovation is and why it can affect us so profoundly. Mark Dodgson and David Gann also consider the extent to which our understanding of innovation has developed over the past century and how it might be used to interpret the global economy we all face in the future.