---
title: "What Thomas Edison can teach us about innovation (Hint: it’s not what you think)"
description: The world’s greatest inventor was also the world’s greatest innovator. The secret to his success wasn't perspiration, it was his approach to team-building.
---

[Peerview Data Insights | Benchmarking, Competitive Analysis, Data-Driven Decision-making ](https://www.peerviewdata.com/old-blog)

# [What Thomas Edison can teach us about innovation (Hint: it’s not what you think)](https://www.peerviewdata.com/old-blog/what-thomas-edison-can-teach-us-about-innovation)

 Written by [peerviewadmin](https://www.peerviewdata.com/old-blog/author/peerviewadmin) | Jul 5, 2014 12:22:00 PM

<https://www.peerviewdata.com/hs-fs/file-2228825953-jpg/images/Abraham_Archibald_Anderson_-_Thomas_Alva_Edison_-_Google_Art_Project.jpg>

If it weren’t for Thomas Edison, where would we be?

What’s surprising is the man many consider to be the world’s greatest *inventor* was also the world’s greatest *innovator*. So what lessons can he teach us that we can still use today?

Despite being known for saying “Genius is one percent inspiration and ninety-nine percent perspiration,” the true secret to his success, according to his great-grandniece, [Sarah Miller Caldicott](http://www.powerpatterns.com/), was his approach to team-building.

This except in [Fast Company](http://www.fastcompany.com/3002977/learning-edison-sarah-miller-caldicotts-new-book-explores-collaborative-innovation) from her book, [Midnight Lunch: The Four Phases of Team Collaboration Success from Thomas Edison’s Lab](http://www.amazon.com/Midnight-Lunch-Collaboration-Success-Edisons/dp/1118407865), breaks it down:

> **Step 1: Capacity** — *build diverse teams of two to eight people.*  
> What worked for Edison: To create the lightbulb, Edison’s team had to include chemists, mathematicians, and glassblowers.  
> Modern counterpart: Facebook’s small, collaborative coding teams.
> 
> **Step 2: Context** — *after a mistake, step back and learn from it.*  
> What worked for Edison: At age 22, he had his first flop–the electronic vote recorder, which legislators failed to adopt. From there, he changed his focus to the consumer.  
> Modern counterpart: At Microsoft, Bill Gates took intensive reading vacations each year.
> 
> **Step 3: Coherence** — *when team members disagree, step in and make a decision.*  
> What worked for Edison: Groundbreaking work in electricity isn’t easy to come by. Fights and frustration followed; overarching vision kept creation on track.  
> Modern counterpart: Whirlpool has “collaboration teams” to spark dialogue between departments.
> 
> **Step 4: Complexity** — *when the market shifts, change your direction–or face the consequences.*  
> What worked for Edison: It was the era of electricity. Inventors ignored that at their peril.  
> Modern counterpart: The implosion of Kodak, which failed to adapt to market changes.

[View full post](https://www.peerviewdata.com/old-blog/what-thomas-edison-can-teach-us-about-innovation)

```json
{
  "@context" : "http://schema.org",
  "@type" : "BlogPosting",
  "author" : {
    "@type" : "Person",
    "name" : "peerviewadmin"
  },
  "dateModified" : "2014-12-19T21:02:06.004Z",
  "datePublished" : "2014-07-05T12:22:00Z",
  "headline" : "What Thomas Edison can teach us about innovation (Hint: it’s not what you think)",
  "image" : {
    "@type" : "ImageObject",
    "height" : 4761,
    "url" : "//cdn2.hubspot.net/hub/457584/file-2228825953-jpg/images/Abraham_Archibald_Anderson_-_Thomas_Alva_Edison_-_Google_Art_Project.jpg",
    "width" : 5778
  },
  "mainEntityOfPage" : "https://www.peerviewdata.com/old-blog/what-thomas-edison-can-teach-us-about-innovation",
  "publisher" : {
    "@type" : "Organization",
    "logo" : {
      "@type" : "ImageObject",
      "height" : 60.0,
      "url" : "https://cdn2.hubspot.net/hubfs/457584/logo-AMP.png",
      "width" : 247.0
    },
    "name" : "Peerview Data Insights"
  }
}
```