There is no question that the productive capacity of the world has dramatically increased over the last 100 years and is accelerating. Productivity tools abound, including labor saving farm implements, air transportation, manufacturing, computing and many more. Bill Gates of Microsoft dreamed of a personal computer on every desk, others, a car in every garage and on it goes. Yes, the world population continues to grow and the number of new widgets needed grows with it but the productive capacity far exceeds the needs. A little over 100 years ago most societies were predominately agriculture and most families had to produce some of their food to survive. Today, less than 3 percent of the population feeds the rest of the world because production capacity has improved so much in farming. Luckily, there have been numerous new world changing inventions and products since then that have created additional demand for the labor that is no longer needed for farming. And that is exactly the point, every nation needs to have their labor capacity utilized and without new inventions and innovations fewer and fewer of the population are needed for producing. When a population is not needed to contribute to labor needs they will become more of a burden to the productive population, this condition does not bode well for society as a whole or ongoing peace and prosperity.
Unfortunately, labor eliminating efficiency improvements offer a quicker return on investment than labor demanding inventions and innovations. Impatient investors would rather opt for the short term ROI at the expense of the long term. This investor mentality perpetuates the declining demand for labor and more and more of the workforce in advanced societies are becoming underutilized and incapable of consuming. With fewer consumers the need for production falls even further. Even though business leaders are increasingly conscious of the need for creativity and innovation, very few see it as the path to the paycheck, production is still the priority and what most business managers are incentivized to do. The big question is how to turn this consciousness into action? Production has definitely become systematized and systems produce consistencies so, the question becomes, how do we create invention and innovation systems so that they can be produced consistently? Fortunately, there are companies that are systematizing innovation and we all can learn from them. Try Proctor and Gamble former CEO A.G. Lafley’s “Game Changer” as a good starter. Schedule innovation the way you schedule production is another good starter.
Unfortunately, labor eliminating efficiency improvements offer a quicker return on investment than labor demanding inventions and innovations. Impatient investors would rather opt for the short term ROI at the expense of the long term. This investor mentality perpetuates the declining demand for labor and more and more of the workforce in advanced societies are becoming underutilized and incapable of consuming. With fewer consumers the need for production falls even further. Even though business leaders are increasingly conscious of the need for creativity and innovation, very few see it as the path to the paycheck, production is still the priority and what most business managers are incentivized to do. The big question is how to turn this consciousness into action? Production has definitely become systematized and systems produce consistencies so, the question becomes, how do we create invention and innovation systems so that they can be produced consistently? Fortunately, there are companies that are systematizing innovation and we all can learn from them. Try Proctor and Gamble former CEO A.G. Lafley’s “Game Changer” as a good starter. Schedule innovation the way you schedule production is another good starter.
RSS Feed