Yes, Thomas Edison invented the light bulb; but he didn’t do it on his own. He and his team built on others’ discoveries. That’s the secret sauce in GE Appliances’ winning streak. They know innovation is a team sport and are refusing to make false trade-offs as they continually strengthen their culture, focused on innovation and also customer-centricity, collaboration and accountability.
Over its first 100 years Edison’s General Electric (GE) brought to market things like the first lightbulbs, electric home appliances, TVs, X-ray machines, electric locomotives, jet engines, and nuclear power plants. Over time, the home appliances became lower priorities. GE stopped manufacturing and selling small appliances in 1984 and sold its entire appliance business to Haier in 2016 for $5.4B….
