On Monday, I wrote about the troubling state of America's commitment to innovation, spurred by a panel discussion I'd taken part in.
After the panel, I found myself having a fascinating follow-up discussion with a Harvard professor, a psychiatrist, a Broadway producer, a biotech entrepreneur, a business consultant, a film producer, an author, and a jazz musician.
It wasn't as crowded as it sounds since my conversation was with one person, John Kao. In his polymath career, Kao has taken on each of these roles. He now spends most of his time writing, lecturing, and advising governments and corporations on innovation.
Our talk about the importance of developing a "national innovation agenda" and having governments act as "impresarios" creating the conditions that allow a society to move forward in smarter, faster ways, was interrupted when Kao had to put on his jazz musician hat and go on stage to play. In keeping with the innovation theme, he and his fellow musician ended up improvising, to the delight of the crowd.
On my flight home, I started reading Kao's book, Innovation Nation, which he gave me as I was leaving the conference. It was both frightening and inspiring. Frightening because of the details it provides about the ways America is falling behind the rest of the world; inspiring because Kao imbues it with a sense of optimism and great possibility.
Yes, there is much to be concerned about -- evidence that we are heading in the wrong direction ("We are rapidly becoming the fat, complacent Detroit of nations," he writes). But Kao reminds us of all the times in the past America has rallied, marshalling its forces to innovate and rise to meet great challenges.
After Pearl Harbor, America's naval force was decimated. But, Kao points out, just three years later "America had a hundred aircraft carriers fully armed with new planes, pilots, tactics, and escort ships, backed by new approaches to logistics, training methods, aircraft plants, shipyards, and women workers" along with "such game changing innovations as the B-29... and nuclear fission."
Same with our reaction to the Soviet's launch of Sputnik, when "we responded with massive funding for education, revamped school curricula in science and math, and launched a flurry of federal initiatives that eventually put Neil Armstrong in position to make his 'giant leap for mankind.'"
So, even though we currently find ourselves "basking in our faded glory," Kao believes "America has the potential to become the first [Innovation Nation], a blend of enlightened self-interest and outward-reaching altruism."
But first we have to embrace that sense that great things are still possible and that our best days still lie ahead. That mindset is a prerequisite for innovation and getting things done. Without it, the seeds of innovation wither in a soil that is an arid mix of negativism and defeatism. With it, America can put a commitment to innovation front and center, the way countries as diverse as China, Australia, Finland, Singapore, Canada, and India are doing.
This commitment has to come from both the top down and the bottom up.
There are so many amazing things happening at the local level, with citizens and not-for-profits making an unprecedented commitment to the idea of giving back. And we need to do all we can to encourage these initiatives because government alone can never fully address all our social needs.
David Brooks makes a very compelling case for this approach in his column on our "broken society." Brooks focuses on the "communitarian" approach being advocated by conservative British writer Phillip Blond, author of the upcoming book Red Tory.
Brooks details how revolutions on both the left and the right have led to "an atomized, segmented society" -- one that needs to be replaced by a society "oriented around relationships and associations."
Blond's communitarian approach meshes with Kao's emphasis on altruism and innovation that is not solely informed by a desire to invent something that will make you rich, but to invent something that will enhance the overall good of society.
Kao points out that innovation, despite a widely held perception, is not only about science and high tech creations. He cites the rise of micro-lending as a powerful example of a social innovation that works at the grassroots level.
A great illustration of this is the work being done by Vittana, a micro-lending site for higher education. The process is incredibly simple: you find and select a student in need; you make a loan for his or her education (you can commit as little as $25); then, after the student graduates, your loan is repaid. It's a shining example of how innovative non-profits can lead the way -- especially now that so many governments are struggling and cannot be depended on to meet every need.
At the same time, the problems our society -- and, indeed, much of the world -- is facing are too monumental to be solved solely by the for-profit and the not-for-profit private sectors. We still need, in some ways more than ever, the raw power that only big government initiatives -- and big government appropriations -- can deliver.
In my previous post, I outlined three big innovation ideas (increasing broadband access, spurring green jobs, loosening immigration policies that restrict the entry of talented foreigners) our government should focus on.
President Obama clearly understands the importance of an innovation agenda. In announcing the kick off of his Educate to Innovate campaign -- a nationwide effort to move American students back to the top in science and math education -- he made the point that "this nation wasn't built on greed. It wasn't built on reckless risk. It wasn't built on short-term gains and shortsighted policies. It was forged on stronger stuff, by bold men and women who dared invent something new or improve something old -- who took big chances on big ideas, who believed that in America all things are possible."
We've had much discussion about whether this will be an American century or one dominated by China or some other foreign power. Kao believes America will still be an "indispensable nation" but that innovation will go global.
"The next big ideas can now truly come from anywhere," he writes. "Talent is not confined to any culture or geography. No one has a monopoly on ideas. And that will make the world a thrilling place to inhabit, one in which the catalytic nature of diversity and the power of innovation on a planetary basis may well unleash the full potential of human beings to better themselves and to create a world well worth living in."
On the title page of his book, Kao quotes Winston Churchill: "The American people always do the right thing after they've tried every other alternative." Right now, we are largely trying every other alternative. Time to do the right thing.
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In 1928 construction and the automobile industries began to lose their vitality as demand increased. Industry had done well by keeping the cost of labor and raw materials low as well as by decreasing productivity, using profits to expand factories rather then pay workers higher wages. Without strong labor unions or government support, real wages didn't keep pace with productivity. Consumers and workers did not have enough money to buy the products they made more efficiently and at lower costs. Consumer debt rose by 250 percent. By 1929 1 percent of the population owned 36 percent of all personal wealth. The working and middle classes didn't have enough money to keep the economy going. Mismanagement, greed and the emergence half banker- half broker banks diverted more funds into speculative investments.
Since the Glass-Steagall acts repeal, we have irresponsible huge banks –stock broker mergers,speculation wildly with derivatives ,which all led to the banking disaster causing huge brokerage houses and Banks to fail. Unions weakened, salaries on the decline, automobile sales declined, the largest Corporations Ford, GM, and Chrysler were in the red, and going into bankruptcy, the government had to bail them out.
Ignoring history we are bound to make the same mistakes again and again.
This is almost like a skit from SNL.
How will you find work for millions of unemployed people.
Importing "so called" smarter people is kind of insulting to people here who have good educations.
Gates got wealthy importing workers. They got cheap wages.
Who he didn't import, he exported work.
Who is going to start green jobs. The banks won't lend.
Al Gore wants them.. He should start a green factory with his $$.
Talk about importing more people into the U.S. because they are smarter....I don't think so...they just work cheaper.
Don't immigrants who come here get government grants, don't pay taxes for ...how many years...when that time is up they give it to another "immigrant" and he gets the tax break.
So...this is the new America...If we start businesses, we don't
get those opportunities.
America, no matter how innovative, will never be like it was when we
had factories.
Between Nafta and importing workers doesn't make for a good
America...no matter how green...the most green is the color of money.
To repeat....it should be mandatory that all our Military equipment be made here.
Isn't it enough we "outsource" our military...why should we
outsource the jobs too. Only thing fair about this is farewell to jobs.
My comments usually don't get posted.
Guess I vent my spleen too often.
Our nation has become kinder to outsiders than to its own citizens. We support immigrants, yet tax our working persons to death. We grant education visas and finance the education of people around the world, when our own can't afford college tuition. We support other countries by shipping jobs overseas, or over the border when our own are unemployed. We have immigration policies that reward illegal immigrants for sneaking in when our own lack basic necessities. And our people are disgruntled and aren’t ‘producing’ or innovating. Why you ask? It should be obvious.
That's the exact opposite of the current European mindset. That was my first impression when I first came to the U.S. 12 years ago.
Nowadays, nobody (from Europe at least) seems to find a reason to come here. The government is growing fast, taxes will be going up and up, salaries down (except the public sector), prudent people are "punished" while irresponsibility is rewarded, and why on earth would you work when the government will bail you out one way or the other, especially if you can get into one of these public unions... where you have to make no effort, just "please" everyone with nice words... (same as in Europe, so why risk the migration? not worth it anymore).
The U.S. was the dream of immigrants in the past: Small government, low taxes, low cost of living, mobility. Therefore, it had billions of anonymous allies all over the world. By all means a much better choice than Europe (hence the millions of Europeans migrating even in the 90's, which was probably the second largest wave of Europeans to the U.S.). Now, I can say "Americans, you' re on your own".
(could be a tent) and some food for the tummy...
Food stamps will help with that...
Furthermore, there is virtually no retrospective analysis: ''what did we do wrong?' OR 'how can we clean up our mess'? Nature does it. It's a self contained unit. It recycles. Not man. It's all innovate.
Where the hell is the innovation to clean up the plastic pile of crap the size of Texas floating in the ocean that we masterfully innovated into existence? In nature, such a waste would have been anticipated - prevented. Where is the plan to address the bees that we are innovating into extinction? Surely it doesn't take a genius to anticipate that a bee-less planet is worrisome?
We need to innovate with a complete life cycle. In other words, you make it, you profit from it, you also put out a responsible product / service. Take childhood (and adult) obesity - junk food, anyone? Our kids are the fattest, most unhealthy in history. No one thinks that poor nutrition does not impact brain power, attention span, immunity, and overall health? We need to hinder this kind of innovation because it's ultimately deleterious to all.
We need responsible innovation. Beginning, middle, end. Progress is not defined by profit but rather by leaving a person (place or thing) better than it started. Otherwise, it's just greed masquerading as progress.
The academic system measures success as that of passing tests and rewards a person an I.Q., but educators have yet to understand and test 'Common' Sense' which with or without academic training is a better level of wisdom and has greater potentiality for solving human problems or being innovative and is more creative and original in the thinking process.
If you want a good place to start, look to the countries that have gone up the lists for better education and higher standards of living. The ratio of executive compensation is much lower than the US. Now, only the wealthy can afford the building blocks of advanced education (including High Speed Internet).
In the name of greed we have mortgaged the future. In the name of corporate profits we have short-changed the very engines that breed innovation. Instead we have "invented" clever ways to game the economic system to generate profits from slight-of-hand tricks to boost the bottom line.
We are living the future that greed has bought us. Even as the American worker productivity has grown, the benefits have been squandered on "the few" who aren't sharing it. If we ever want to grow something useful again, we need to plant some seed and do a better job of nurturing the field. If not, we're fast on our way to becoming a second rate country whose single claim to fame with be carrying a big stick. "We're number one" should be more than an empty slogan.
Go google fab fi (with a space) and start clicking on the links. You will find plans, trouble shooting and all the different ways they can be put up. Get out those old bed springs on a frame lurking in your garage. It's perfect. And all those old window screens. Give yourself free broadband access before cable and dish try to figure a way to outlaw it.
The capitalistic model is phffittt. Hire yourself out doing workshops instructing people how to do fab fi in your area. Death to cable and dish for their stranglehold on our lives.
You want to publish? There's a great little site for doing little zines. And lulu.com for books which links to selling on amazon. Get with it and stop complaining about how it's not possible anymore.
all the old factories have become expensive lofts....for the rich. however, what Americans who are successful are doing is teaching us new ways to be....check out Matrix Energetics for example.
or www.swarmusa.com
term R & D.
If our institutions of learning are teaching ideology and religion, and shunning diversity, new concepts, and a sence that our sence of community goes beyond our borders...all of the money, all of the scholarships, all of the colleges in the world will not stop this downward slide.
In fifty years if we keep going in the direction we are going, we are going to wonder what happened, as we sit in a nation of lemmings with a theocratic leadership.
Intelligent reinvestment is being choked by increasing regulations and taxes which upset the delicate risk reward balance businessmen, big medium and small, make. Why invest when most of the fruits will be absconded? Why transact when the value of every buy/sell deal is ransacked? Better to hunker down.
Get used to it. Get used to no growth, structurally high unemployment, a rising gray market, and a cultural malaise.
Pure right wing fantasy. Taxes on the most wealthy and corporations have gone down last few decades. Regulations as well.
It's the reason why 1% of Americans now control more wealth than 95% of all other Americans combined - and the average working american hasn't had a real pay raise since 1974. America has become a serf society and mostly because you've had this incessant neo-fascist right wing call for less taxes and less regulations.