How innovation works?

(21 Oct 2021)

Last spring I read Matt Ridley’s book “How innovation works: And why it flourishes in freedom” and liked how he gives an overview on the history of innovation and aims to see the process from a new angle. Innovation is probably one of the key drivers of human prosperity and therefore it would be a good idea to understand how innovations are typically generated. According to Riddley, different innovation processes often share many similarities. He sees and shows innovation as incremental and collective bottom-up process which is sort of a natural process, rather than a process which follows a top-down plan. Nourishing this kind of (perhaps self-organizing) activity likely requires a certain degree of freedom. It is also kind of interesting that for example aeroplanes were invented and used before it was scientifically shown how they work precisely. Engines were invented before the science of thermodynamics. The book is not an academic review but it might make you think about innovation from a new and fresh angle and offers several interesting insights!