7 Traits of an Inventors Culture

Thomas Edison is one of my heroes. Really. I have studied his life story, inventions, achievements and philosophies on many occasions. It was Edison who said - "Anything that won't sell, I don't want to invent. Its sale is proof of utility, and utility is success."

Arguably the most prolific and profit-minded inventor who ever lived. In fact, Edison was the first to launch an industrial research lab called Menlo Park – revolutionising the process of invention itself! It got me thinking, what traits perhaps were synonymous with an inventors culture the like of Edison’s Menlo Park?

7 Traits of an Inventors Culture:

1) The product and its utility comes first.
2) Knowledge and research leads and sustains the creation process.
3) If you are part of a product’s research and development cycle, then you are part of its ownership. All equal share, all the time. No exception.
4) Inventors work best, when they are part of a network of other inventors.
5) To linger is not an option. Create, evaluate, repeat.
6) The best inventions leads to maximum profit, wether in the form of money or social impact
7) Ultimately, inventors work to a greater cause, one of making a better world

Thomas A. Edison (1847-1931). Inventor. Entrepreneur. Icon.