Designing Innovation - Can Government Help?
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 Can government help companies innovate, or do they tend to get in the way instead?
The answer is that often regulations tend to impede innovation and progress. Other key aspects of a country's ability to innovate are the relative risk tolerance of its citizenry and whether it is culturally accepted to try and fail at something.
The United States leads the world in innovation because it has created the perfect storm of a risk tolerant citizenry, where failure is sometimes a badge of honor, and a government that invests in basic research, helps to commercialize it, and for the most part tends to go out of the way from a regulatory standpoint.
Other countries have looked to America with envy, often as some of their most innovative citizens were leaving to realize their visions in the New World. That is now starting to change, however. Some of the best and brightest are returning to their home countries from America and other governments are looking to replicate, or even improve upon, some of the factors that have led to success in America. .............................................................................. More
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Six Sigma versus Innovation
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Are Six Sigma and Innovation inherent enemies or powerful allies?
Some would say that Six Sigma and innovation are diametrically opposed goals for an organization to pursue. Some say that organizations cannot excel at both and would point to the issues that 3M has run into with its ability to innovate after CEO James McNerny came in and introduced Six Sigma into the organization.
I disagree that it is not possible to pursue a dedication to continuous improvement and reduction in variability while also challenging the organization to identify ways to deliver greater value to customers through innovation. .................................................................... More |
