Today’s Chicago Tribune had a front-page article on declining innovation in the midwest (Illinois Could Use a Few Good Edisons). Rightly so that this should make the front page and not just the business section. Declining innovation is often a harbinger of economic decline. People in Illinois should be worried.
Looked at individually, the leaders in Illinois innovation (Motorola, Abbott, Caterpiller, ITW, etc.) all took actions since 2000 to improve their performance. No one has faulted them for cutting costs – especially in an area where the payoff is as long-term as R&D. (A companion article discusses the strategy at Motorola for curbing its appetite for patents.) Moving the focus to better profits has, generally, pleased analysts and supported their stock price. Each of these companies has acted to defend and extend their business model.
But looked at by an outsider, the implications are really shocking. Illinois is now the 22nd state in patents – 22nd – even though it’s home to some of America’s biggest companies. What the Tribune can see no locked in company can. That from the inside, cutting these innovatoin expenses looks very different than it looks to someone from the outside.
It’s important for businesses to listen to outsiders. There is no way that any business can avoid having blinders. The quest for profits simply leads to lock-in and focus. Outsiders often see what insiders simply can’t.
