The Missing Element of Innovation

This week, Newsweek released the results of the Newsweek-Intel Global Innovation Survey. The questionnaire, administered to 4,800 adults in the United States, China, Germany and United Kingdom, was designed to compare how people in different countries perceived the “innovation race.” Not surprisingly, the U.S. appears to significantly lag behind other countries when it comes to innovation .
While the authors make the case for more government funding to support research and development, along with placing more emphasis on developing “human capital” so that companies have a better supply of workers who are equipped to work in a knowledge-based economy, these approaches miss a fundamental component of innovation: incremental process improvement.
Don’t get me wrong – I believe that breakthrough innovation on products and services is a critical element of sustainability. However, it’s only one element. Equally as important is incremental process improvement (how ideas are brought to life)