The Problem: There is not enough time and space for creativity in most sectors of commerce and government.
The Solution: Hire people to think, not work.
This idea goes back to the great innovators of the Victorian era, many of whom were able to make their discoveries because they had enough family wealth or a wealthy patron to fund them to think, explore and engineer, in the process coming up with ground-breaking knowledge and products that spurred revolutions in the way we live and understand the world we live in.
I therefore propose returning to those halcyon days, with big businesses and philanthropists adopting that same strategy of patronage; guaranteeing individuals and teams with at least a decade of funding to pursue whatever they wish to, with no checking-in, no data-based evidence of their impact, or anything else, just the freedom to explore and innovate however they wish to.
Rather than having our scientists constantly chasing funding and free thinkers having to scrabble for a job to generate income, we need to find innovators and provide them with a salary and support to think, create and innovate, free of the stresses of job insecurity or funding deadlines.
By giving creative minds space to roam, we allow them to engage in both divergent and convergent thinking (thinking outside the box, and thinking of new ways to combine existing things together, respectively).
We need to give them the time to walk in the woods, to read all sorts of esoteric and conventional books, listen to TED talks and podcasts, travel the world to see how different people do things, and bring all of that experience together in new ways, to come up with new inventions, new thinking, new medicines, and new many other things we can’t even think of now.
It will be impossible to know with 100% certainty who the best people to receive this patronage are, and inevitably there will be a few duds along the way, but that is not the point. Even just a few innovators being given the space and support to create could have game-changing benefits for society, and all at fairly minimal cost; just salaries and an expenses account for travel.
It takes boldness to do; it needs leaders who ignore the cries of the bean counters and instead back themselves to find and fund amazing people, knowing they may see no return for years, if at all, but if they do see a return it will be exceptional.
It could be described as venture capital mindset on steroids, and it already takes places in some places, such as Google's Moonshot efforts.
In an era where we are always on, and the world moves so fast, giving innovators the time and space to slow down could produce great benefits for society; indeed, there is a strong case for not only business and philanthropists doing this, but governments, too.
Here’s to a new, great era of innovation!
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