The headline for the article from which the quote below is taken made me think - what leads to a person being named as an inventor on so many patents? Plus, I'm sure Mr Stringer will be named on many more in the future.

Once I started thinking, I started doing a little research to see if there are things that a company can do to nurture innovation:

This article

included some really interesting points. The main takeaway was that allowing (in fact encouraging) failure and learning from it is key to innovation. Another important factor is leading from the top in the management and evaluation of risk.

A further point from this article is that it is really important not be afraid to act quickly, that yes you should gather your data and weigh up decisions, but then you should act.

I imagine that Mr Stringer was nurtured in a true culture of innovation at Apple, it will be interesting to see how he now nurtures those working for and with him in his new venture to keep innovating.

As an aside, I think, given the above points, that I am much more suited to life as a patent attorney than as an innovator - I am not great with failure (although I'm trying to get better), I'm rather risk adverse and I do like to weigh things up a lot before I act. However, it takes all sorts, and I guess the innovators need people like me to help them protect their inventions.