...with some exceptions, Canada does not take the steps that other countries take to ensure science can be successfully commercialized and used as a source of advantage for innovative companies seeking global market share. Canadian companies are thus rarely at the leading edge of new technology and too often find themselves a generation or more behind the productivity growth achieved by global industry leaders. - The Conference Board of Canada (Full report)
Earlier this year, the Conference Board of Canada gave the country a grade of "D" in innovation, placing it at an astounding 14th place out of 17. As subjective as these kinds of rankings might be (how were the 17 countries picked and why those countries specifically?), it is hard to deny how underwhelming a picture this paints for any country.
But lets take a step back. Even better, lets swing a few miles back.
Just what exactly is innovation? Why should we care? Why do governments care? Why has "innovation" become a favorite buzzword on the blogosphere again? Wait ... has it?
A quick look-up on Google Trends shows some interesting results:
But lets take a step back. Even better, lets swing a few miles back.
Just what exactly is innovation? Why should we care? Why do governments care? Why has "innovation" become a favorite buzzword on the blogosphere again? Wait ... has it?
A quick look-up on Google Trends shows some interesting results:
1) According to Google's indexing and crawling of webpages around the world, the overall frequency of the term "innovation" has actually not increased. In fact, it looks like there may, arguably, be a slightly decrease in the usage of the term. And,
2) There is a very clear saw-toothed pattern in the frequency of the usage of "innovation", or at least the usage of the specific word on the Internet. To venture a bit further, it appears the peaks tend to be in the final quarter of the year, usually in the months of October and November, followed by sharp troughs in December and occasionally mid-year. If we were to believe in this pattern, I would predict that the first few months of 2013 will see a sharp jump upwards. Watch this space!
So then, given the saw-toothed nature of the above graph, is innovation a cyclical or seasonal phenomenon? Do people only seek it at specific points of the business cycle? Is it predictable? I admit, these are all questions that I have only begun to ponder about, so I'm afraid I don't have the answers to them. As future innovators, however, I believe it is worth our while to consider them.
Hang on, I'm getting ahead of myself again - we still haven't defined "innovation". Here's how the Conference Board of Canada defines it:
2) There is a very clear saw-toothed pattern in the frequency of the usage of "innovation", or at least the usage of the specific word on the Internet. To venture a bit further, it appears the peaks tend to be in the final quarter of the year, usually in the months of October and November, followed by sharp troughs in December and occasionally mid-year. If we were to believe in this pattern, I would predict that the first few months of 2013 will see a sharp jump upwards. Watch this space!
So then, given the saw-toothed nature of the above graph, is innovation a cyclical or seasonal phenomenon? Do people only seek it at specific points of the business cycle? Is it predictable? I admit, these are all questions that I have only begun to ponder about, so I'm afraid I don't have the answers to them. As future innovators, however, I believe it is worth our while to consider them.
Hang on, I'm getting ahead of myself again - we still haven't defined "innovation". Here's how the Conference Board of Canada defines it:
Innovation is the ability to turn knowledge into new and improved goods and services.
Sounds simple enough, right?
Lets take a look at how a few others see innovation:
"The carrying into effect of an innovation involves, not primarily an increase in existing factors of production, but the shifting of existing factors from old to new uses." - Joseph Schumpeter
"Innovation is the process of change that creates and grows wealth." - Roger More, Professor of Marketing at Richard Ivey School of Business
"Innovation is the specific tool of entrepreneurs, the means by which they exploit change as an opportunity for a different business or a different service. It is capable of being presented as a discipline, capable of being learned, capable of being practiced." - Peter Drucker
"A new method, idea or product." - Oxford Dictionary
And on, and on. The fact of the matter is that is it quite easy to get ahead of oneself when discussing innovation because it can mean different things to different people and sources of authority and in different contexts. Even Schumpeter, regarded widely as the Prophet of Innovation, was criticized for his flip-flopping views and definitions. While some might say that his perspectives were highly context-specific, others may argue that he too struggled to wrap his hands around the slippery beast that is innovation. I think there is truth to both explanations, but that will probably be left for another blog post.
To switch quickly back to the issue of Canada, I know I started this blog on a bit of a glum note. The full report from the Conference Board of Canada isn't all that chipper either. That said, I wanted to mention that the report does present a silver lining:
"On a small scale, however, Canada has demonstrated it is capable of developing innovation strategies to successfully align business, government, investors, and customers."
I believe there are many valuable lessons to be learned from these "smaller" successes. Anything that we can do to learn about innovative wins on smaller scales has the potential of helping us on a larger scale as well.
In this weekly blog, I hope to share and discuss my musings on what I find interesting and topical about the world of innovation. I am, in particular, interested in technology, business strategy and the relevance of innovation to Canada and its broader macroeconomic context. If you share these interests as well, I hope you follow me and find my posts interesting and perhaps even educational. If you don't have any interest in the aforementioned topics, and you've read this far, then I can only assume I did something right and that I can change your mind!
Happy innovating.
Lets take a look at how a few others see innovation:
"The carrying into effect of an innovation involves, not primarily an increase in existing factors of production, but the shifting of existing factors from old to new uses." - Joseph Schumpeter
"Innovation is the process of change that creates and grows wealth." - Roger More, Professor of Marketing at Richard Ivey School of Business
"Innovation is the specific tool of entrepreneurs, the means by which they exploit change as an opportunity for a different business or a different service. It is capable of being presented as a discipline, capable of being learned, capable of being practiced." - Peter Drucker
"A new method, idea or product." - Oxford Dictionary
And on, and on. The fact of the matter is that is it quite easy to get ahead of oneself when discussing innovation because it can mean different things to different people and sources of authority and in different contexts. Even Schumpeter, regarded widely as the Prophet of Innovation, was criticized for his flip-flopping views and definitions. While some might say that his perspectives were highly context-specific, others may argue that he too struggled to wrap his hands around the slippery beast that is innovation. I think there is truth to both explanations, but that will probably be left for another blog post.
To switch quickly back to the issue of Canada, I know I started this blog on a bit of a glum note. The full report from the Conference Board of Canada isn't all that chipper either. That said, I wanted to mention that the report does present a silver lining:
"On a small scale, however, Canada has demonstrated it is capable of developing innovation strategies to successfully align business, government, investors, and customers."
I believe there are many valuable lessons to be learned from these "smaller" successes. Anything that we can do to learn about innovative wins on smaller scales has the potential of helping us on a larger scale as well.
In this weekly blog, I hope to share and discuss my musings on what I find interesting and topical about the world of innovation. I am, in particular, interested in technology, business strategy and the relevance of innovation to Canada and its broader macroeconomic context. If you share these interests as well, I hope you follow me and find my posts interesting and perhaps even educational. If you don't have any interest in the aforementioned topics, and you've read this far, then I can only assume I did something right and that I can change your mind!
Happy innovating.
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