The Truth of American Superiority at Innovation
Yesterday I blogged about David J. Rothkopf’s attack on “the widely subscribed to notion . . . often cited by politicians and op-ed writers . . . that somehow there is something special, some gene in American DNA, that makes us uniquely capable when it comes to innovation.” Rothkopf argued that “the United States’ only path to renewed growth and sustained leadership is via innovation and enhanced competitiveness. But we have no natural right to lead in those areas. We have no special ‘gene.’”
Be that as it may, here’s the good news: A new study by General Electric, the “GE Global Innovation Barometer,” finds that most executives worldwide still consider the United States the clear leader in innovation. The survey was based on telephone interviews with 1,000 executives in 12 countries, all of them involved with innovation at the level of vice president or above. It found that when those executives were asked to name the three most innovative nations, 67% of them mentioned the U.S.; Germany followed at 44%, Japan at 43%, and China at 35%. And almost all of them felt that this matters greatly: 95% said they believe that innovativeness is the “main lever” for economic competitiveness.
So whether or not we’ve got a gene for it, the world believes we are still the very best at innovating.
Read more from GE about the study here, and a Fast Company article about it here.