Designing Innovation - Can Government Help?
Can government help companies innovate, or do they tend to get in the way instead?
The answer is that often regulations tend to impede innovation and progress. Other key aspects of a country's ability to innovate are the relative risk tolerance of its citizenry and whether it is culturally accepted to try and fail at something.
The United States leads the world in innovation because it has created the perfect storm of a risk tolerant citizenry, where failure is sometimes a badge of honor, and a government that invests in basic research, helps to commercialize it, and for the most part tends to go out of the way from a regulatory standpoint.
Other countries have looked to America with envy, often as some of their most innovative citizens were leaving to realize their visions in the New World. That is now starting to change, however. Some of the best and brightest are returning to their home countries from America and other governments are looking to replicate, or even improve upon, some of the factors that have led to success in America.
One of those countries is now Britain. Britain has been home to some phenomenal inventors over the past several centuries, but in the recent past the Brits have not been as successful at turning invention into innovation as the Americans. They are now working to change that.
When I was living there I saw several initiatives to spur innovation and new industries, and I also saw a growing innovative spirit. One of the top innovation agencies in the world, WhatIf?! (primary focus on product/service innovations), is located there and the country is full of design talent to go with its heritage of invention. This is allowing the creation of new global leaders like Dyson and Tesco with the right stuff to become leaders across the globe instead of only across Britain.
There is an interesting article on how Britain jumpstarts design. America was the innovation leader in the last century. Who will be the innovation leader in this century? Will it be Britain, America, or someone else?
Who do you think it will be?
The answer is that often regulations tend to impede innovation and progress. Other key aspects of a country's ability to innovate are the relative risk tolerance of its citizenry and whether it is culturally accepted to try and fail at something.
The United States leads the world in innovation because it has created the perfect storm of a risk tolerant citizenry, where failure is sometimes a badge of honor, and a government that invests in basic research, helps to commercialize it, and for the most part tends to go out of the way from a regulatory standpoint.
Other countries have looked to America with envy, often as some of their most innovative citizens were leaving to realize their visions in the New World. That is now starting to change, however. Some of the best and brightest are returning to their home countries from America and other governments are looking to replicate, or even improve upon, some of the factors that have led to success in America.
One of those countries is now Britain. Britain has been home to some phenomenal inventors over the past several centuries, but in the recent past the Brits have not been as successful at turning invention into innovation as the Americans. They are now working to change that.
When I was living there I saw several initiatives to spur innovation and new industries, and I also saw a growing innovative spirit. One of the top innovation agencies in the world, WhatIf?! (primary focus on product/service innovations), is located there and the country is full of design talent to go with its heritage of invention. This is allowing the creation of new global leaders like Dyson and Tesco with the right stuff to become leaders across the globe instead of only across Britain.
There is an interesting article on how Britain jumpstarts design. America was the innovation leader in the last century. Who will be the innovation leader in this century? Will it be Britain, America, or someone else?
Who do you think it will be?
Labels: Braden Kelley
posted by Blogging Innovation at 4:27 PM
1 Comments:
I find it difficult to accept two of the assumptions you make concerning the basis for America's history of innovation.
First, I would like to take issue with the assumption that Americans have been generally tolerant of risk. We have indeed embraced a pioneering spirit throughout much of our history, but this is not the same as risk tolerance per se. In fact, I would argue that a narrow-minded or at best very focused view of what constitutes acceptable or tolerable risks has accompanied most American innovation. This has often been framed as a desire to be first, which is not the same as desire to be the best. Indeed, the two objectives may be quite incompatible with on another.
My second issue is with the notion that regulation inhibits innovation. This idea has populist appeal, but tends to overlook the fact that regulations often spawns innovative thinking. This can take many forms, but two responses in particular have been the subject of much of my professional attention: In one case, innovators respond to regulations by looking for ways to minimize their negative externalities. On the other hand, many innovators use regulations, often inappropriately, to carve out niches in which they or their products can operate unhindered or at least protected from harmful competition or exploitation.
Globalization has indeed produced a reverse migration of talent from the United States to many of the countries that contributed to our recent prosperity. But that need not mean the end of the story for us. We should see this as an opportunity to share the risks of innovative thinking and open ourselves to new ideas about the role and function of regulation, which itself has been the subject of considerable innovation beyond our borders.
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