Innovation is not a resource that can be depleted like oil or coal. The U.S. still has the potential to be an innovation powerhouse. People are looking at a broad set of problems in their lives and are assuming that innovations of some type are needed to save the day.
There are several problems that are driving the apparent dirth of new innovations:
1) All current innovation techniques have an underlying assumption that innovation (and by inference, invention) is a random process. The concepts of expanding the number of innovators, driving management teams to recognize innovations and forcing executives to take more risk are a reflection of this randomness. More innovators=more random events. Better innovation management=recognizing unexpected events. Risk taking executives=taking a chance on an unplanned innovation that might succeed.
2) As companies age the shift is from external innovation to internal innovation. To create new markets and expand revenues companies must create external innovations. Companies instead focus on internal innovations to reduce costs.
3) With an unsure financial market there are fewer startups and fewer risk takers that are driving disruptive innovations. Countries like China, that, until recently, have huge incoming funds to invest appear to be far more innovative than the U.S. because there are more startups and companies that are driving external innovations rather than internal innovations.
To address these problems, companies need to:
1) Drive targeted invention, targeted marketing and targeted innovation. Eliminate the randomness.
2) Recognize the need for both internal and external innovations. Ford Motor company did. GM did not.
3) Understand that following the right innovation approach it is not necessary to spend huge sums of money to be a creative, market disrupting company.
David Croslin
President, Innovate the Future, Inc.
david@innovatethefuture.com
www.innovatethefuture.com
www.davidcroslin.com
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