The Future of Innovation

By: Kethaki Nair

When looking for jobs, especially in green organizations, creativity is a highly valued skill. Its value emerges from the importance of innovation within the green industry. Constant innovation can make green technologies commercially viable as well as help green businesses.

As the economic situation gets worse many people are worried about the impact it will have on innovation. In general, as money becomes harder to come by businesses start cost-cutting and research is often the worst hit. This can halt the development of green technologies like solar energy generation. An alternative perspective is that the economic crisis could actual increase investment in innovation!

This perspective is based on the assumption that success is bad for innovation. It’s somewhat counter-intuitive (Interestingly it’s the basis on many popular movies! Think of Pixar’s Lightning McQueen). Companies that are forced to re-evaluate their approaches can move resources towards areas that are more sustainable. This can mean more resources for green innovations and ideas.

Most organizations will probably go through both these processes. The cost-cutting is going to be hard on many people. On the bright side it has forced many corporations to rethink their choices, and perhaps their commitment to sustainability.