How ‘Innovation’ Became a Meaningless Buzzword (And How It Can Be Saved)
First we have to understand what innovation really is and is not
When you’re representing a point of view that hasn’t been widely propagated in a given debate, it’s only natural to encounter skepticism and resistance. When that point of view challenges “conventional wisdom” around creativity, ingenuity, and human progress, the criticism is fast and furious.
So when I posit that the best way for Silicon Valley to address its problems is through a process that industrial sociologists call “professionalization,” it comes as no surprise that I am more often than not met with a mixture of befuddlement and derision.
Professionalization is the step-by-step process by which a trade or vocation — a wild west comprised of freelance practitioners — becomes a profession, with universal and, crucially, enforceable standards and norms. An industry, pre-professionalization, has no uniform standards, no formalized body of knowledge, and, therefore, no ability to sanction or eject a malpractitioner from its ranks.
Imagine if you will an unqualified frontier “surgeon” in an old western, setting up shop because there are no other medical facilities for hundreds of miles. He can do as he pleases, regardless of how his…
