The (Best) Time to Innovate Is - Now

There is a saying that is particularly appropriate at the present time: When the going gets tough, the tough get going.

Put less poetically, difficult times bring out the best in people and those who have true grit and resolve use periods of crisis and distress to accelerate their work and find new opportunities.

In such times are we living now.

While the events of the past two and a half years have been unprecedented in many ways, history has recorded more than one period of crisis, war and economic depression. There is nothing new under the sun.

In between these times of acute difficulty, the world seems to float along, getting better and better all the time - at least for some. But under the surface, there are always problems. And solving these problems is why great companies exist.

It is also why innovation never stops: whenever a problem arises, there will (sooner or later) be a person or company that steps up to fix it. Herein lies the basis of the classical method of pitching a startup company to venture capital investors - the tried-and-true “problem-solution” hook that makes a new product or service marketable and attractive.

Of course, some big companies have reached such positions of power that it may seem possible for them to continue raking in money whether or not they actually solve the problems and meet the needs of their customers. Shame on them for this…

In fact, one might go so far as to say that any firm that is not built around a mission of addressing the needs and wants of people does not really deserve to exist.

It is times such as these that reinforce this maxim and help refocus the world on what is most important.

It is also times such as these that can and should spark new waves of innovation in every area of life.

To refer to a “tradition of innovation” sounds almost like an oxymoron. And yet, looking back into the depths of history, it is clear that time and time again, crisis periods have spurred innovation and inspired free-thinkers to build and create something better.

Think about the many inventions created before, during and after the two world wars. Think about how famine and pestilence and drought have sparked new methods of farming and moving water. Think about the way the Great Financial Crisis gave rise to something as revolutionary as Bitcoin.

All along the way - times of need have turned out to be times of great innovation.

Time to move - quickly

Mark Zuckerberg’s Facebook was famously concentrated - at least in its early days - around the principle of “move quickly and break things.” The catchy and controversial slogan helped define a generation of tech innovation that was focused on achieving great things (and making money) quickly.

But what happens when things are already broke?

Do visionary leaders throw up their hands and give up? Does the next generation of Elon Musks sink down into deep depression and wallow in misery because there is no hope?

No - of course not.

When the second half of the equation has already been fulfilled - “…break things” - what is to stop a new crop of innovators from jumping in to “move quickly” and make the world a better place?

Nothing.

The past few years have upended the world order as we have known it and caused nations and their peoples to question many of the principles which they held dear up until now. Globalisation has proven fragile in the face of the covid pandemic. International engagement with China and Russia has also turned out to be full of pitfalls and downright danger. A red-hot stock market has suddenly exploded in a wave of risk-aversion.

Is this the end of the world? Hardly.

It is, in fact, a ripe moment for the brave of heart. It is the hour of glory for forward-thinkers.

It is the best time to move quickly and innovate.

Fortune favours the innovators

If now is the time to do great things - the question must be: what are those great things?

The easiest answer comes from examining what is broken - where are the problems, what needs to be fixed…or created anew?

An obvious start is supply chains. And a logical follow-up is supply chain finance. With covid disrupting the value creation and the value deliver systems of many companies around the world, it is time to rethink off-shore versus on-shore versus near-shore and the implications of “just-in-time” production - with all its implications for fast fashion, semi-conductor production and more.

Another area that needs innovation is company creation and capital deployment itself. Where Google, Facebook and a host of other global tech companies built their company culture around (hip) shared spaces - the future of work looks destined to be much more global, much more fluid and much more individual-focused.

If you sit in Switzerland and need an experienced AI-developer - your best bet is likely to come from outside the country.

This will challenge traditional company structures even more than the “gig-economy” wave that Uber, DoorDash helped to popularise.

Innovation in communications and decentralised systems can also bring a wave of new possibilities…

In fact, the opportunities are endless.

Innovation - fast and slow

The thing about tough times is that they are - tough.

But they may also be times of rapid acceleration. That is why “the tough get going”, to quote the well-known phrase (again).

As the covid pandemic has shown - when there is a great and overwhelming need, companies (even the most conservative ones) will be forced to change and innovate.

In the face of all this - and even while staring down a global recession brought on by rampant inflation and rising interest rates - why should we not continue to believe in the ingenuity of mankind?

Why should we not continue to keep faith with the free-thinkers and builders who have, by their efforts down through the ages, continued to make the world a better place?

In some cases, innovation takes a long time - years, decades or sometimes even centuries. At other times, it happens almost in the twinkling of an eye. It is a matter of innovation - fast and slow - much along the lines of Daniel Kahneman’s famous treatise on the mind - Thinking, Fast and Slow.

Either way, the imperative for mankind is to innovate - now. Some changes will be big and have immediate effect. A single, global supply chain tracking system for all essential foodstuffs and goods would be an example.

Other innovations are tiny, almost obscure and insignificant. But even the most minute improvement in a semi-conductor or an advancement in mRNA technology may one day yield outsized returns - for investors and mankind as a whole.

Whether it is fast or slow, whether it is today, tomorrow or 200 years from now - the best time to to dream big and push towards a better future is (always) - now.