Archive: Innovation
Is Bill Gates wrong about polio?
Gates is right to set an audacious goal and take it to the finish line. In doing so, he has decided to convert what many see as an intractable problem into one that is solvable.
By Paul Light | February 4, 2011; 11:30 AM ET | Comments (70)
Want to actually trim government bloat? Start with the hidden workforce
Poor leadership is no doubt partially to blame, but so is the bureaucratic sloth, the hyper-inflated performance appraisal process, the absence of encouragement to break the mold and innovate, and the failed disciplinary system that keeps poor performers on the job long after they should have been fired. There is nothing quite so demoralizing to high performers than sitting next to clock-watchers who long ago forgot the public purpose that should motivate them to action.
By Paul Light | November 19, 2010; 09:44 AM ET | Comments (25)
Are social entrepreneurs crazy?
Social entrepreneurs have never been in greater demand as the world grinds on with tired solutions to seemingly intractable problems such as hunger, poverty, war, inequality, and disease. In theory, social entrepreneurs bring new combinations of ideas for challenging the prevailing wisdom that these problems are intractable at all. There is no doubt that social entrepreneurs exist, nor any doubt that they are changing the world. Unfortunately, here is an emerging portrait of social entrepreneurs as just plain crazy, or at least "crazy enough" to think their idea might work. It is just plain wrong, even a bit crazy itself.
By Paul Light | October 13, 2010; 09:38 AM ET | Comments (5)
Secrets of innovation from the Inventor's Hall of Fame
Contrary to conventional wisdom, our best inventors are not usually mad scientists. Most of this year's Inventor's Hall of Fame inductees were scientists and engineers who had the time, freedom, and funding to invent.
By Andrea Useem | April 29, 2010; 06:03 AM ET | Comments (3)
