Pre-Ramble:  Just the sound of the word “innovation” gives me a rush of energy that rises up out of a cross section of art, science and the romantic notions of resourcefulness and hard work. Over the past decade, this glorified word has been slapped all over everything from business schools to soap, claiming the “frontier spirit” and trading on its appeal to dreamers and pragmatists alike. 

There is growing concern, however, that the U.S. prowess for innovation is in danger, and that steps must be taken to ”reclaim our edge.”  John C. Lechleiter, chairman, president and CEO of Eli Lilly and Company expounds upon that sentiment in a recent Opinion page article (WSJ, 7/9/10, p. A17).

A stream of inventions helped make the 20th century the American century … Unfortunately, America’s economy is in danger of losing what has always been our greatest competitive advantage – our genius for innovation. … A recent study ranked the U.S. 6th among the top 40 industrialized nations in innovative competitiveness, but 40th out of 40 in the rate of change in innovative capacity … In other words, we’re at serious risk of falling behind.”

(Forgive me if I’m missing something here, but how much farther behind can we fall if we’re already dead last?)

Building capacity. In crafting a turnaround plan, Lechleiter talks about an “ecosystem” of conditions that are required to foster an environment of innovation, among them the “seeds of innovation” meaning, us human beings with our talent and energy, creativity and insights, “…  a priceless resource and one that is woefully underdeveloped in this country.” Lechleiter goes on to suggest that, along with simplified immigration policies and adequate funding for our research infrastructure, one way to bolster America’s “capacity for innovation” is to step up the rigors of science and math instruction in our schools.

At the recent Apsen Ideas Festival, education gurus like Bill Gates, Jeffrey Canada, and Howard Gardner discuss the future of education in America. They suggest all kinds of great ideas, innovative ideas even, that strive to engage young people in real learning and give them the tools they will need for a successful future. They talk about innovative models for reform … a longer school day, … an articulated curriculum, … more rigorous testing, … accountability for results, … teacher quality and parent involvement.  Certainly, these are all important elements in a high-quality education, and important building blocks for innovation as well.

Jack Hidary, a successful innovator/entrepreneur in the tech and finance camp, former philosophy and neuroscience student at Columbia University, and also a speaker at this year’s Aspen Festival, puts things in another perspective, 

“Problem-solving is not correlated with grade scores on a transcript.”

Science and reading and math – Oh my!  Sure, high performance in math and science (and reading ) are critical skill sets that must be nurtured in the well-rounded innovator, but so too are the critical traits of curiosity, independence and engagement. What is going to actually engage these kids?  Why are they going to want to sit in the classroom longer and take harder courses?  What is going to get them excited to come to school and apply themselves?  To get excited about learning?  How are they going to find what they are looking for in life unless they are given an opportunity to access their their imagination, their chi, their passion, their hidden sources of motivation? What is going to compel these students to shift their internal paradigm such that they see barriers and obstacles as exciting ”challenges to be overcome”?

Follow the yellow brick road.  Sometimes the answer is to go off of the beaten path and find yourself in a whole new place … maybe even one with rainbows, a tin man and ruby slippers (awesome, magical sparkliness shown above). Problem-solving – a gateway to innovation – involves critical thinking, exploration, resourcefulness and creativity. Future  innovators need to develop the motivation and capacity to snoop around … to follow their whims … listen to their gut, and rely on instinct and insight to make new connections among an infinite sea of random data points.

We need to provide kids with opportunities to venture down the yellow brick road … to get out of the black and white and see the world in color on a regular basis. In addition to a crabby Auntie Em and high winds, Dorothy’s data points were facilitated by her encounters with the Scarecrow, Tin Man and Cowardly Lion.  The future entrepreneur needs a firm understanding of math and science and literature, AND art and music and team-work and a whole bunch of other random and wonderful things.

The Take-Away: We’re not in Kansas anymore, Toto. Like Oz and the Fab 4, our the world is spinning and we need to figure out a way to make sense out of it. If we are to have any hope of rebuilding the American capacity for innovation, we need to engage and “nurture the seeds” in new ways. … Even clicking our societal heels in a spanking new pair of sparkly red shoes isn’t going to help us find our way back to innovation if we continue to ignore the critical role that the arts and extracurricular activities play in human engagement and continue to undervalue (cut funding for) them in our public and educational environments.