Danielle Newnham Podcast Dr Anton Howes on How to Foster Innovation
Today’s guest is Dr Anton Howes, a historian of innovation, with a focus on the inventors of the British Industrial Revolution. He is also author of Arts & Minds, How the Royal Society of Arts Changed a Nation and author of the popular newsletter, Age of Invention.
For those who don’t know, The Royal Society of Arts or its full name - Royal Society for Arts, Manufactures and Commerce is a London-based organisation committed to finding practical solutions to social challenges which was founded in 1754.
Anton is writing a second book on why innovation accelerated in the eighteenth century in Britain, which in turn led to the Industrial Revolution and is also Head of Innovation Research at The Entrepreneurs Network, a UK-based think tank focused on encouraging innovation and entrepreneurship.
In this interview, we look at:
- What ingredients are required to foster innovation
- What has surprised Anton most about his research
- The virality of invention as the improving mindset spreads
- How education could be reformed to encourage more polymaths
- The impact of how poorly the invention process is portrayed in traditional media.
Anton has done a vast amount of research in this area and is clearly excited about the subject which makes for a very enjoyable interview.
I hope you enjoy it too.
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Anton on Twitter @antonhowes
Danielle on Twitter @daniellenewnham and Instagram @daniellenewnham
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Links:
Anton's book, Arts and Minds: How The Royal Society of Arts Changed a Nation
Anton's newsletter, The Age of Invention
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This episode was hosted by me - Danielle Newnham, a recovering founder, author and writer who has been interviewing tech founders and innovators for ten years - and produced by Jolin Cheng.