Powerful Times: Rising to the Challenge of Our Uncertain World

Chapter 10. Innovation

We are accustomed to looking to the West and the rest of the developed world for innovations and breakthroughs—after all, developed nations have been responsible for nearly all major innovations in the last century, achieving huge supremacy even over the Soviet Union from the 1960s onward. We also expect these innovations to be substantiated—if not initiated—by significant corporations or institutions. Certainly, most will continue to follow this pattern in the coming decade. But we should also be prepared to witness, as well as celebrate and promote, important innovations from two rather different sources: people working their passion, or entrepreneurial spirits with the energy, creativity, and effectiveness to generate ...