Quirky (book)

Quirky: The Remarkable Story of the Traits, Foibles, and Genius of Breakthrough Innovators Who Changed the World

Company type	Book
Industry	Publishing
Founded	2018
Founder	Melissa Schilling
Parent	Hachette Book Group

Quirky: The Remarkable Story of the Traits, Foibles, and Genius of Breakthrough Innovators Who Changed the World is a 2018 publication authored by Melissa Schilling, a faculty member at the New York University Stern School of Business. This book was released under the PublicAffairs imprint, part of the Hachette Book Group.

Content

In this work, Melissa Schilling examines eight prolific breakthrough innovators—Elon Musk, Dean Kamen, Steve Jobs, Marie Curie, Albert Einstein, Thomas Edison, Benjamin Franklin, and Nikola Tesla. She identifies shared characteristics across their skills, motivations, personalities, and life experiences. Combining these insights with innovation theory, Schilling elucidates how these traits contribute to generating groundbreaking ideas and sustaining determination.

Reception

The Financial Times characterized Quirky as a captivating business read that delves into the distinct talents and drives of eight pioneering innovators. The review emphasizes their common feeling of being outsiders, which nurtures creative thinking, and advocates for expanding educational opportunities to stimulate innovation beyond conventional scientific disciplines.

Joe Culley from The Irish Times commended Schilling’s lucid writing style free from technical jargon and her compelling individual profiles.

A critique in Strategy + Business highlighted Schilling’s method of using detailed case studies focused on innovators' biographies to uncover traits that enable unique perspectives. Although the limited number of subjects restricts generalizability, the review acknowledges the book’s valuable insights for fostering innovation within corporate environments.

Charles Warner, writing for Innovation & Tech Today, underscored Schilling’s exploration of eight influential innovators spanning 250 years worldwide, connecting innovation with genius while discussing educational and societal factors that impact future innovators.

Stephanie Orellana described the book as both engaging and enlightening, revealing elements of innovators’ character and working methods that can inform strategies to boost innovation capabilities.

The International Journal of Innovation Management praised it as a daring and thoroughly researched volume that provides comprehensive biographical accounts, offering both intrigue and intellectual challenge to readers interested in innovation studies.