BusinessWeek recently published an article, “Innovation Interrupted,” which discussed the notion that “the past decade has seen far too few commercial innovations that can transform lives and move the economy forward” (pg 34). Similarly, a Harvard Business Review article, “Restoring American Competitiveness,” warned that “decades of outsourcing manufacturing has left U.S. industry without the means to invent the next generation of high-tech products that are key to rebuilding its economy” (pg 114). Are these gloomy diagnoses accurate? And if so, what are the root causes of the decline? Is the decline of innovation in the United States and other countries simply a case of natural innovation maturity, where most of the breakthroughs have occurred and the opportunities for new ones is scarce? Or are there other reasons?

Effective innovation is the result of a long-term investment in creative people. It starts with encouraging intrinsic creativity in the early years and continues throughout K-12 education and post-secondary education. Readers who are familiar with the film “October Sky” based on the Homer Hickman book The Rocket Boys, or who have experienced the benefits of a home chemistry set or building a crystal radio, will understand the author's laments about how these opportunities to build creative thinking are not available to today’s youth. As we celebrate the 40th anniversary of Apollo 11 moon landing, one might think about how something long considered impossible was achieved in less than a decade, and how all of the innovations resulting from the program continue today to benefit mankind.

Today’s science, engineering, technology and business communities are often focused on short-term profits and employing human resources on term-limited employment contracts. Today, many funding bodies believe that if an individual does not make a major breakthrough by the age of 27 then they are “over the hill” and their research career comes to a halt. These practices do not facilitate the best results from innovation. A plethora of examples illustrate how most important breakthroughs have occurred after 20 to 30 years of research in an environment that facilitates innovation. Despite a rich knowledge base of best practices of managing innovation, many of today’s executives and managers are not educated or choose not to employ practices in the effective management of technology and innovation.

What do you think? Do you think that we are experiencing a decline of innovation? If so, what are the reasons and what can be done to restore innovation in America?

References and Further Reading:

• Michael Mandel, "Innovation Interrupted," BusinessWeek, 4135:34-40, 15 June 2009, www.businessweek.com.

• Gary Pisano and Willy Shih, "Restoring American Competitiveness," Harvard Business Review, 87(7): 114-125, July-August 2009, www.hbr.org.

• John Kao, "Tapping the World’s Innovation Hot Spots," Harvard Business Review, 87(3): 109-114, March 2009.

• "The 50 Most Innovative Companies," BusinessWeek /Innovation,
  www.businessweek.com.

• Tony Bigham and Pat Galagan, "Innovation is the Framework of Adobe’s DNA," Training and Development, 63(5): 42-53, May 2009, www.astd.org/TD.

Other Bytes

Here are some of the things going on in and around the engineering community:

• Eric Beinhocker, Ian Davis and Lenny Mendonca from McKinsey & Company in their article “The 10 Trends You Have to Watch” [Harvard Business Review, 87(7):55-60, July-August 2009, www.hbr.org] discuss the trajectories of ten trends that savvy business people should closely watch when engaging in strategic business thinking. The authors believe that organizations should reassess their business models under different future scenarios and consider emerging markets where consumer spending is growing.

• On a similar theme, Michael Richarme in “Ten Forces Driving Business Futures” [The Futurist, 43(4): 40-43, July/August 2009, www.wfs.org/futurist.htm] discuss how business success requires both staying on top of current trends and spotting new ones on the horizon. The author believes that the implications of these trends will cause business to rethink their business models and remain future vigilant by aggressive research programs with scenario planning to chart their way through the future.

• The cover story of HR Magazine [54(6): 42-47, June 2009, www.shrm.org] “Does the United States Need Foreign Workers?” Rita Zeidner discusses important issues associated with employment and employment practices of recruiting of hiring foreign workers. A link is provided to other HR Magazine articles and resources on hiring foreign workers.

• For those looking for a new kind of challenge, a home based franchise might be your future. In “101 Best Franchises to Run from Home” [Entrepreneur, 37(6): 78-85, June 2009, www.entrepreneur.com] Emily Weisburg provides a listing of franchise opportunities that might interest you. The listing is not intended to endorse any particular franchise as you should only purchase a franchise after carefully considering all of the business and legal implications. On a similar theme, Entrepreneur provides you with a listing of companies and opportunities for success that are believed to be recession-proof ["100 Brilliant Ideas," Entrepreneur, 37(6): 36-49, June 2009].

• The cover story of the July/August Inc. [31(6): 62-76, www.inc.com/magazine/20090701/] “How to Build Your Dream Company” provides you with ten success stories of entrepreneurs who pursued their dreams by setting up and running their own companies and provide tips on how you can do the same.

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