Let’s face it, the reason we have to become innovators is for the purpose of sustainability. If you want to last in business, in sports, in government and in your career you have to be an innovator. In more general terms, sustainability is endurance without depletion. For instance Kodak endured in business for years without being truly profitable because they were depleting their value and cash to stay in business. Their business was not sustainable because they had ceased to be a relevant innovator. The Federal government of the United States and the banking system are currently in a condition that is unsustainable. The value of the nation, its currency and its citizen’s productivity is being depleted. Having the innovators edge means building value both to others and to yourself! You can’t truly be an innovator if you are only building your own value and depleting others. That is like a monopoly where it is your position and not the actual value of your product that enables you to gain temporarily. A true innovator is not focused only on their product but on the betterment of their users. Focusing on the needs of the user and being passionate about serving and building value into that user is a sustainable model and attitude. Unfortunately, starting with a sustainable model and attitude does not guarantee long term success because it’s easy for human nature to decline into self-interest. So, sustainability is more about guarding against this decline in attitude than the position of your product. There is a great line in one of the tales of Camelot when King Arthur said “only in serving others can we truly be free.” That is not always easy to do but it is one of the keys to long term sustainability and the innovators edge.
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