There are more and more patents, but not enough revolutionary inventions, says Mathijs Bouman (journalist). Should you be interested; you can read all about it in his article of October 4 (FD). Looking at the figures, something doesn’t seem right. The number of patents is rising, but productivity lags behind. Where is the groundbreaking innovation? Bouman has a good point here, and I recognize this from my own experience as an entrepreneur: many companies are stuck in old thinking patterns.
Bouman does not want to attribute the problem directly to the diligence and inventiveness of Dutch inventors, he jokes. But after poking around the archives at mijnoctrooi.rvo.nl, he is not left with a good feeling.
Today’s CEO: innovation as strategy
And this is exactly where the problem lies. My experience as an entrepreneur and business innovator after 10 years shows that there is too little focus on new technology and innovation. The traditional ‘CEO 1.0’ focuses mainly on labor productivity and simple key figures. This is a safe but outdated way of working. The more progressive “CEO 3.0”, on the other hand, has a broader view. This CEO looks to the future, considers community involvement and incorporates the interests of multiple stakeholders in his decision-making.
And then we have the “CEO 2.0,” who is somewhere in between. The latter is primarily concerned with short-term results to keep shareholders happy, but that comes with risks. The focus on quick profits makes companies vulnerable, with the result that Dutch companies often become takeover targets for American and Chinese companies.
But how can we turn that tide? Innovation plays a crucial role in this. If we look at the countries at the forefront of invention, such as South Korea, China, the U.S., Japan and Germany, we see that these countries invest much more in new technologies. The Netherlands may still be just in the top 10, but without a firm focus on real innovation, we lag behind.
Innovation is all about originality and value
In the United States, we see a striking trend: productivity is growing slower and slower, while the number of patents is exploding. But these patents often turn out to be unoriginal. This is a crucial observation, because in my work as an innovation strategist I see daily the importance of creativity and originality in new inventions. It is precisely the truly original ideas that have a direct impact on a company’s productivity.
But how do you actually measure originality and creativity? This is not always easy, but there is a clear link to the value proposition of a business model. In other words, what unique “value” are you actually delivering to your customer? Innovations that simply improve existing products often have a limited effect. It is the breakthroughs that offer truly new solutions that make the biggest impact.
What we can learn from nature
And this is where a surprising player comes in. It is also known as biomimicry. Innovation is not just about technology. I can tell you that nature is a great inspiration for innovation. Think about it: nature and we humans face similar challenges, but in about 88% of cases nature comes up with completely different solutions than the ones we come up with. Nature’s are often not only more creative, but also more sustainable and efficient. These major differences make nature a source of unconventional ideas. And it is precisely these ideas that create breakthrough innovations!
Nature is like a library of ideas from which we can select a solution of our choice and then apply it. But we really still do that far too little.
Would you like to team up with DIOAcademy to peer into nature? The ideas are there for the taking. Will you join us?
