The Edisonian approach to innovation is characterized by trial and error discovery rather than a bottom-up theoretical approach. This approach is based on the successful but protracted approach used by Thomas Edison to invent a practical incandescent light bulb.

Edison is quoted as saying, "When I want to discover something, I begin by reading up everything that has been done along that line in the past - that's what all these books in the library are for. I see what has been accomplished at great labor and expense in the past. I gather data of many thousands of experiments as a starting point, and then I make thousands more."