What motivates innovation?
The modern world is filled with inventions that make our lives more convenient, connected, and comfortable. From the radio to jet engines, vaccinations to rolling suitcases, these products are the result of innovation.
But how does innovation happen? This is a question that most people struggle to answer. Despite being the driving force behind technological advancements and civilization’s success, innovation remains a poorly understood phenomenon. However, by examining ingenuity throughout human history, we can begin to understand the conditions that enable creativity to thrive.
Innovation is a messy, bottom-up process that relies on collaboration and the free exchange of ideas. Rather than being the sole province of geniuses or lone inventors, innovation emerges from a diverse array of perspectives and backgrounds. Creativity flourishes in environments that encourage exploration, experimentation, and risk-taking.
The Complex and Collaborative Nature of Innovation
Innovation is often thought of as the work of a single individual, but that’s a simplified view of the process. The truth is that innovation is complex, messy, and collaborative. Even the most creative people are influenced by the tools, technologies, ideas, and social structures that surround them. Therefore, multiple forces often contribute to an innovation, even when one person takes the credit.
A perfect example of this is the atmospheric steam engine. Three men, Denis Papin, Thomas Savery, and Thomas Newcomen, produced their own working models of the engine around 1700. However, it’s still unclear who was truly first or how much each inventor influenced the others. The basic ideas behind the device were already being discussed in scientific circles at the time, and Papin and Savery refined their thinking by exchanging letters and papers with other inventors. Moreover, Newcomen relied on previous advances in blacksmithing technology to complete his machine. Each man’s invention was also a product of their backgrounds and influences.
This principle applies to all innovation. While Thomas Edison is credited with inventing the light bulb in 1879, more than 20 other creators had patented similar contraptions in earlier decades. All these thinkers were responding to ideas and technologies circulating at the time. Of course, some of these attempts were better than others, but none of these innovations happened in complete isolation.
Innovation is a collective process that involves the contributions of many individuals and the influence of the environment in which they operate. While one person may be credited with an invention, it’s important to recognize that it’s the result of a complex network of influences and collaborations. As such, we should acknowledge and celebrate the contributions of all those who play a role in the process of innovation.
Medical Innovations: Balancing Risks and Rewards through Trial and Error
Innovation is often associated with deliberate discovery and sound scientific theory. However, in the medical field, innovation can develop over time through trial and error and random chance, as people seek practical solutions to their problems. Medical innovations are a particularly risky process, but they offer high risks and even higher rewards.
One such innovation was the practice of engraftment, used to make individuals immune to smallpox. In the 1700s, the technique involved scraping pus from someone recovering from smallpox, cutting an open wound into one’s own skin, and rubbing the infected pus into the wound. The practice saved countless lives and eventually led to the discovery of modern-day vaccines.
Another example is the addition of chloride of lime to drinking water by Dr. John Leal in Jersey City in 1908. At the time, adding chemicals to drinking water was considered repulsive, but Leal had heard rumors of its success in European cities, so he tried it anyway. Within months, the experiment paid off, and disease rates plummeted, leading to the widespread adoption of water disinfection throughout the country.
Today, innovation in medicine continues, with electronic cigarettes, or vaping, being a prime example. While vaping may be a step towards quitting smoking and saving lives, their health effects are not fully known, making their use controversial. Some countries have banned them, while others encourage their use.
Innovation in medicine, as in all fields, involves risk-taking and the pursuit of practical solutions. The outcomes of these experiments are not always clear, and they can be controversial, but they have the potential to save countless lives.
The Evolution of Travel: How Incremental Improvements Changed the Way We Move
From the Salamanca to the Sans Pareil, the early 1800s saw a flurry of inventions aimed at creating a steam-powered locomotive to replace the horse as the king of transportation. While many of these prototypes failed, each one represented a step toward incremental improvements in speed, safety, and reliability. The Rocket, built by Robert Stephenson in 1829, was a major breakthrough, capable of transporting 13 tons of cargo at 30 miles an hour, paving the way for a railway boom.
The story of the automobile is similarly one of slow, steady improvement. From Isaac de Rivaz’s clunky, explosive internal-combustion engine in 1807, to Jean Joseph Lenoir’s update to petroleum fuel in 1860, to Nikolau Otto’s four-stroke engine in 1876, each inventor added their own small improvements to create a smoother, more efficient machine. It was Henry Ford’s assembly-line manufacturing process in 1909, however, that made the automobile affordable to the masses, and ultimately made it one of the most popular forms of transportation.
The key message is that travel innovation has always been about incremental improvements, with each new invention building on the successes and failures of its predecessors. From the steam locomotive to the automobile, humans have always sought faster, more reliable ways to move, and each new mode of transportation has come with its own challenges and shortcomings. However, by embracing a process of continual improvement, we have been able to create increasingly sophisticated machines that have changed the way we move and transformed the world we live in.
The Unseen Innovations: Ideas That Changed the World
The humble potato is a tasty tuber that is the basis for many popular snacks and dishes. However, the potato wasn’t always beloved in Europe. First cultivated more than 8,000 years ago in South America, it wasn’t introduced to the Old World until the mid-1500s. For years, Europeans were wary of the potato, with some even believing it caused leprosy. But over time, the potato became a staple of European cuisine.
This highlights the idea that some innovations aren’t tangible objects but instead good ideas. Innovation is often equated with inventing tangible items such as machines or electronic devices. However, some of the most influential innovations are intangible, such as ideas that open up new ways of thinking or solve problems.
The Arabic numeric system, also known as numbers, is an intangible innovation that is used every day. This counting system was first developed by Indian scholars around 500 AD, adopted by Arab traders in the ninth century, and finally found a foothold in Europe in the 1200s. An Italian author known as Fibonacci advocated for using Arabic numerals because they were more practical than the Roman numerals popular at the time. Their key advantage was their positional system, which allowed for more advanced calculations like multiplication, division, and algebra. Adopting the idea of Arabic numbers was essential for launching Europe into a new age of trade, commerce, and scientific discovery. In conclusion, not all innovations are tangible objects but can also be good ideas that open up new possibilities.
How Our Desire to Communicate Drives Rapid Innovation in Communication and Information Technology
The speed of technological innovation in communication is largely driven by humanity’s desire to connect with one another.
In the early days of communication, people relied on face-to-face interaction or physical objects like letters to convey messages. However, the introduction of electronic communication technology like the telegraph, telephone, and eventually computers completely transformed the way people communicate with one another.
The telegraph, which was invented in 1837 by Samuel Morse, allowed messages to be sent instantly through electrical signals sent via suspended wire. It quickly gained popularity, and by 1855, the United States alone had 42,000 miles of telegraph lines. Similarly, radio broadcasting began with a single station in 1900 and by the 1930s, it had become the primary form of public communication.
Computers also became an integral part of communication technology, with the number of transistors in a computer chip steadily increasing over time. This has allowed for the creation of faster, more powerful computers that are now ubiquitous in daily life. With the advent of the internet, it has become even easier for people to share information and connect with each other across vast distances.
The proliferation of communication technology has had a profound impact on society and politics. It has given rise to powerful companies like Google and Facebook, which control much of the world’s communication channels. The speed at which technology has advanced is a testament to humanity’s deep-seated desire to connect with one another, and this drive will likely continue to fuel innovation in communication technology for years to come.
Innovation: A Serendipitous Combination of Chance and Collaboration
Innovation is not always the result of a carefully planned strategy. Rather, it often arises unexpectedly, driven by a mix of chance, collaboration, and recombination. Take PTFE, for instance, a heat-resistant material found in non-stick pans, Gore-Tex coats, and the first atomic bombs. This discovery was an accident in 1938, when a scientist was researching refrigerants and stumbled upon a stable and durable material while working with tetrafluoroethylene gas at sub-zero temperatures.
Innovation is not a linear process, but rather, a complex and unpredictable one that relies on several factors. Many of the greatest innovations originate from serendipity, an unusual insight, or random occurrence. From there, other scientists pick up on the discovery and apply it to new situations, refining and improving it through trial and error until it finds practical use.
Collaboration is also a key driver of innovation. When people from different fields, expertise, and cultures work together, they can cross-pollinate ideas, share knowledge, and combine their skills to solve complex problems. For instance, the modern practice of using DNA as forensic evidence in criminal cases was not the result of a deliberate invention. It began when a scientist discovered that DNA was like fingerprints, unique to each individual, while researching how to diagnose diseases using genetic samples. Later, police approached him for help in solving a murder case, and together, they collected and analyzed genetic samples from local suspects until they found a match.
Furthermore, innovation relies on recombination, or the ability to combine and re-purpose existing ideas, technologies, and materials in novel ways. For example, the development of smartphones and other portable devices is the result of combining various technologies, such as touch screens, GPS, and wireless networks, into a single device.
Innovation is more likely to occur in environments that facilitate chance encounters and collaboration. Universities, trading hubs, and major cities have a long history of producing innovative ideas because they bring people with diverse perspectives, experiences, and backgrounds together. By fostering interactions and exchange of ideas, they create the conditions for serendipity, collaboration, and recombination to flourish.
Innovation is a complex process that relies on a combination of factors. While chance and serendipity can play a significant role in the discovery of new ideas, collaboration and recombination are essential for refining, improving, and applying them to new contexts. By creating environments that facilitate these factors, we can encourage innovation to thrive and solve some of the world’s most pressing challenges.
The Limits of Government Oversight and the Power of Private Enterprise
The British government’s experiment in the 1920s to build a civilian airship capable of traveling across oceans resulted in two very different outcomes, one from direct government oversight and the other from private enterprise. The government contracted a government lab and a private firm, Vickers, to build two ships. By 1930, Vickers had designed the R100, a light, fast, and efficient aircraft, while the government lab built the R101, a heavier, more costly ship. On its maiden voyage to Karachi, Pakistan, it only made it to France before crashing, killing 48 passengers.
This experiment demonstrates that innovation doesn’t always come from the top down. There’s a widespread belief that innovation requires guidance and funding directly from the state, as private industry tends to avoid costly research and development necessary to create truly new ideas. However, this is not entirely true. While government-directed research makes great discoveries, it often takes the ingenuity of private enterprise to turn them into practical innovations.
Take the example of the internet. The basic components of computer networking were created by the Defense Advanced Research Project Agency, an American government lab. However, the world wide web didn’t take off as a household necessity until private firms like Cisco began to experiment with the technology in the 1980s and 1990s. This dynamic occurs because big government projects often aren’t sensitive to the needs or desires of everyday people, and they can be slow to adopt new, outside-the-box ideas.
Big companies can also suffer from this tendency, which is why even giant firms are sometimes usurped by plucky start-ups. Kodak, once the undisputed master of the photography industry, missed the digital photography revolution and filed for bankruptcy in 2012. In 1975, one of their scientists built an early version of a digital camera, but his innovation was ignored by the higher-ups who didn’t see the potential in his bulky, electronic gizmo. Smaller companies saw the potential and developed their own products, which took over the market.
The Resistance to Innovation: Why New Ideas Face Pushback
The introduction of new ideas or inventions is often met with resistance, as people naturally fear change and established industries don’t want to risk losing their dominance. For instance, margarine faced opposition from the dairy industry when it was first invented due to its cheaper price and greater stability than butter, with the National Dairy Council even spreading false information to discourage people from using it.
The resistance to innovation can take different forms, such as sowing fears about safety and security, as seen with the opposition to genetically modified organisms (GMOs). Groups ideologically opposed to GMOs, like Greenpeace, lobby against their production, often citing unconvincing evidence that these foods are dangerous. Intellectual property laws can also stifle innovation when they are overly applied, preventing the sharing of ideas and building on the work of others. Copyright laws have been steadily extended, making it more challenging for new uses to be made of good ideas.
Despite the potential threat to innovation, it is not necessarily in danger of coming to a halt. The tension between the need to incentivize innovation through exclusive use of ideas and the need to share ideas and build upon the work of others will continue to exist. However, society can find ways to balance these competing interests and ensure that innovation continues to progress.
Innovation is not a sudden outcome of solitary geniuses’ creative abilities. Instead, it is a complex and disordered process that takes a considerable amount of time. Innovation happens when numerous people share and remix chance encounters and fortunate insights. Fresh discoveries are gradually refined over time as individuals find practical uses for unique concepts. To stimulate more innovation in the future, it is essential to encourage the free exchange of knowledge and take daring risks at the personal, organizational, and national levels.
Inspired by a book “How Innovation Works”; Matt Ridley