Insisting on the Impossible: The Life of Edwin Land

by Victor K. McElheny

Book Overview

If a single life exemplifies the inner drive that fires a great inventor, it is the life of Edwin Land. The major innovations that he was able to achieve in photography, optics, industry, and science policy carry priceless lessons for readers today.Insisting on the Impossible is the first full-scale biography of this Magellan of modern technology. Victor McElheny reveals the startling scope and dating spirit of Land's scientific and entrepreneurial...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0738201901
• ISBN13: 9780738201900
• Release Date: October 1999
• Publisher: Basic Books
• Length: 544 Pages
• Weight: 0.25 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.7" x 5.9" x 9.0"

Customer Reviews

Fascinating and Accurate

Having been an employee of Polaroid for 15 years in the 60s and 70s I found this biography to be spellbinding and full of great details I never was aware of. Without being overly critical the author provides a balance of Land's brilliance and shortcomings set amidst the business world and its demands and pressures. Land was one of those leaders who was able to withstand many of the pressures of Wall St with his strong beliefs and self confidence. A good example for leaders today. He had his faults, most notably a poor selection of the management that suceeded him, leaving the company leaderless and clueless. But for all that, he was an incredible genius, business leader, inventor, project leader, scientist and inspiration to the thousands of Polaroid employees.

Pick the Right Dare . . . for Lasting Greatness

This book contains the most detailed information I have seen assembledin one volume about the life of Dr. Edwin "Din" Land, founder ofPolaroid Corporation. Although I long have read public accounts ofDr. Land's work, this book greatly added to my knowledge. Forthose who would like to understand the rise and fall of Polaroid andits stock price over several decades from 1937 through 1980, this bookmakes fascinating reading about some of the do's and don't's ofrunning a high technology company that depends on developing newtechnologies and an on-going stream of innovative products. If youwant to understand the techniques employed by Dr. Land to makescientific breakthroughs, there are many insights here into his methodof goal-oriented empiricism. Interestingly, it parallels theapproaches used by Thomas Edison, the most prolific inventor of the20th century. Unfortunately, Dr. Land left little in the way ofwritings to draw on other than patent applications and speeches, sothese insights are limited primarily to recollections by colleagues.On the other hand, the empirical approach is often guided by instinctbased on experience, which is hard to capture. Most scientificthinkers dislike empiricism, so those who use this method can expectmany rebukes . . . as Dr. Land received in his work on the nature ofcolor perception. Those who want to understand the scientificbreakthroughs that Polaroid made will probably come away confusedunless they already have a great knowledge of optics and chemistryrelated to photography. I learned a great deal from the book, butwould have liked to learn more. I graded the book down one star forthis weakness. If you want a fascinating, new look into theemerging arms race with the Soviet Union in the 1950s, there is muchinteresting material here about Dr. Land's role as a national advisoron defense surveillance. I was a guest at a dinner hosted byDr. Land in the mid 1960s during which he demonstrated his newtechnology of instant color photography...His good humor,generous attitude toward his guests, and his sincere desire totransform the world, however, left me with a more profound lesson --seeing much more potential for what a company can be than I wouldotherwise have had. Dr. Land explained his vision that night in termsof releasing the human spirit and encouraging all of us to create andappreciate more beauty. Although glimpses of this side of Dr. Landcome through in the book, they are overshadowed by the overall themeof a flawed genius.I dislike books that argue for flaws ingeniuses. That approach serves to make them more human, but not in away that makes us appreciate them or their good points. Geniuses areby their nature obsessed by their work, and their personal quirks canbe quite negative. ... By the standards of 20th century geniuses,Dr. Land was a regular guy. In fact, the extent to which he retainedhis humanity is part of his greatness. I think an alternativeexplanation to the one in this book of Dr.

Flattering and not so

This book left me thinking this question: Is Land a menace or mensch? A mensch because he was a first-rate inventor and a fairly-talented high-tech strategist. A menace because he disowned his parents (and siblings). Unbelievable since they paid for him to attend Harvard and gave him money to support his intial research and business. Still I found his life story useful and inspiring and I expect other engineers/entrepreneurs would too.

HOW TTO DEVELOP THE REAL PICTURE OF SUCCESS

Edwin Land was a genius by many measures. There is only a handful of people who developed breakthrough products and ideas over many years and in many different areas. And, yet, what made Land a genius also contributed to his downfall, and the first of hard times for Polaroid. When a man is so scussessful, he and those around him begin to think that he has the Midas Touch. We do less data gathering, measuring and testing before we introduce a new product and we eliminate or shorten test markets so we do no know how well something will work. In reading this book, it occurred to me that Land could have done a lot more if he wasn't held back by what appears to be a number of habits. We suffer increasingly from the most common "stalls' that, unlike instant photography, never allow us or our ideas to become fully developed. Land must have lived with the Disbelief Stall: never questioning whether or not anything that he invented would be in great demand. He also experienced the Communications Stall, by not asking customers what they want. Perhaps the Tradition Stall of doing things the same old way also was at play. Very few companies are able to make real change or real progress before the "stalls" get them stuck, with some ending up on the burning platform. The 2,000 PERCENT SOLUTION, by Mitchell, Coles and Metz, describes the prevalence of these stalls, the problems they cause and how to identify the ones that are holding back progress in your organization,. Rather than INSISTING ON THE IMPOSSIBLE, they include a process to develop ideal best practices for key activities, thereby achieving the future before its time. However, INSISTING ON what may appear to others to be THE IMPOSSIBLE, based on the right information, measurements, practices, repetition, and teamwork, is a critical element of success.

This book is both inspired rigorous

I found Insisting on the Impossible to reflect the authors dedication to producing a biography that provides both inspiration, and rigourous historical treatment of one of most innovative scientists, and business leaders of the century. This book required a profound understanding of Edwin Land and his times, as well as what would make it a fascinating read for anyone interested in building a business based on radical innovation today. It was clearly written as a labor or love