Even if you’re not an inventor (he held over 1,000 patents), an innovator (he built an electrical network from the ground up), or a top executive (he controlled a diverse range of companies) as was Thomas Edison (1847-1931), you can benefit (e.g., improve your financial situation) by reading about what he did, how he did it, and why he did it. And in Alan Axelrod’s recent book, Edison on Innovation, you’ll find 102 Lessons in Creativity for Business and Beyond. Here are some edited excerpts...

“Edison was no genius. He just acted like one. The sum of his work was genius, but Edison himself was pretty ordinary. Not born a genius, he figured out ways to invent the products of genius nevertheless.

• In 1922, Edison wrote of his intense interest in the nascent field of atomic energy.

• For Edison, creativity was always more a matter of investigative labor than of imaginative inspiration. His most famous aphorism—‘Genius is 99 percent perspiration and 1 percent inspiration’ —testifies to that....When he was on the hunt for the ideal filament for his electric lamp, he collected a sample of every conceivable substance that could possibly be formed into a filament, and he tried each, recording the results of thousands of observations.

• Lose no idea. Edison made it a habit to carry a pocket notebook in which he jotted or drew up ideas as they occurred to him—to capture ideas the very moment they passed through his mind.
 
• Invest in assets. When Edison sold a quadruplex telegraph system to financier Jay Gould in 1875, he immediately invested the cash proceeds in books and scientific equipment for his laboratory. He plowed his profits back into his enterprise.

• Harvest complaints. Edison avidly devoured feedback from his customers, especially the complaints. In these he found his inspiration and guidance for innovation and improvement.”