Jon Gertner

Author of The Idea Factory, a history of Bell Labs that Kyle read as a case study in what happens when an organization combines patience, talent identification, and a tolerance for non-obvious R&D. Gertner narrates the Labs through its people and its institutional habits; one thread Kyle flagged ties Bill Baker’s knack for extracting information from any conversational partner to the same trait in Gordon B. Hinckley.

Context: Jon Gertner is an American journalist and author. The Idea Factory: Bell Labs and the Great Age of American Innovation (2012) is his best-known book; he has also written for The New York Times Magazine and authored The Ice at the End of the World on Greenland’s ice sheet.

Where this appears

• The Idea Factory — author of the book; his account of Bell Labs frames Kyle’s notes on innovation, talent, and patient R&D.