What if "old wine in new bottles" is actually the secret to game-changing
innovation? The authors explore what they call precedents thinking,
illustrating how radical breakthroughs such as Henry Ford's assembly line and
Reed Hastings's Netflix model grew out of creative combinations of existing
ideas. They describe the three-step process of precedents thinking: framing
the challenge, searching for relevant precedents, and combining them to
generate innovative solutions. They demonstrate how this method can drive
innovation in both startups and established companies, drawing on the
successes of DoorDash and a multinational they call "Global Foods," among
others.
