A reset is a terrible thing to waste.
If Ottawa is the city of comfortable brown shoes, Toronto a bland tweed jacket and Montreal warm woollen slacks then Canada justly deserves the title of innovation laggard. One of my favourite blog posts from “The Road Less Travelled” a while back is “Ottawa the city of comfortable brown shoes”. I love this post because it is so indicative of the Ottawa and perhaps the Canadian craving for comfort and aversion to risk taking. This mentality has served Canada very well going into the Great Reset. However, it will also be our downfall when prosperity returns and the new world order emerges.
Apparently I am not alone in thinking along these lines. The Globe and Mail had an article yesterday entitled “Canada has everything going for it … except innovation”. Canada is #1 in spending on public innovation; however, we are #14 in terms of innovation productivity. Innovation has long been a challenge for Canada yet we continue to stay the course.
In fact there is a good article in the Ottawa Citizen recently by Richard Florida on “Why Canada needs a Great Reset”. Change seems like a good thing when you are spending like a gold medal winner but performing like an also ran. The two key points from my perspective are;
- Focus on growth industries
- Create new and better jobs
This 1st place spend coupled with a 14th place finish has me pondering Canadian innovation performance. I’ll be dong some pondering and writing of the “Innovation Series” over the summer break.
Stay tuned.
Ian Graham
Why Canada needs a great reset!
Canada has everything going for it … except innovation.
Maybe Canada is #14 in public innovation *because* we’re #1 in spending.
Government funding can actually hurt innovation, because the government allocates funds for wrong reasons — regional balance, ministerial rivalries, propping up local champions, political sensitivities, lobbying, etc. — so lame companies that should fail (or should never have started) have lots of money to tie up talent and other resources, keeping them away from more innovative startups who might have had a chance.
I think the best way to improve innovation in Canada would be for the government to stop trying to help.
Maybe we are seen as #14 in innovation because no one knows what we invent and we sell it as soon as or before it becomes commercialized.
Maybe it is because our government funds R&D through grants and refundable tax programs but not the IP to stamp it Canadian and protect it as Canadian.
Maybe because Americans build companies with a 25 year business plans and we build companies to sell within 5 to 7 years.
Maybe we should stop funding companies by province, region and city creating competing small companies across the country and instead support companies on a national scale to become world leaders in emerging markets and technologies.
David is right when he suggests that government interest in supporting business is more related to the personal initiative of the local politician appeasing his voters or creating employment an area with a struggling economy neither of which lends to building a successful business on the world stage.
At the same time I don’t believe governments should turn a blind eye to helping Canadian innovation. Its just a matter of the level of their involvement and the execution of the programs that needs to be examined and fixed (or RESET).