Endless Innovation

Endless Forms of Innovation

Long-time readers of Endless Innovation no doubt realize that the inspiration for this blog's title derives from Darwin's famous quote from the final sentence of The Origin of Species about "endless forms most beautiful and most wonderful..." Anyway, this being the 150th anniversary of the publication of The Origin of Species as well as the 200th anniversary of Darwin's birth, both Yale and Cambridge are jointly recognizing Darwin through a traveling exhibit called Endless Forms.

For anyone visiting the NYC area over the next month or so, the exhibit at Yale (taking place at the famed Center for British Art) is a must-see. Brilliantly curated, the exhibit analyzes the impact of Darwin's radical ideas on artists of the 19th and 20th century. This past weekend, I had the unique opportunity to visit the exhibit, check out the catalog and pick up some additional books on and about Darwin. Interestingly, the tagline for Yale's Darwin exhibit is identical to the one that I'm using as the tagline for this blog, only in its full, unabbreviated state:

"There is grandeur in this view of life, with its several powers, having been originally breathed into a few forms or into one; and that, whilst this planet has gone cycling on according to the fixed law of gravity, from so simple a beginning endless forms most beautiful and most wonderful have been, and are being, evolved."

As only the curators of an exhibit at Yale could pull off, the exhibit is "a fitting homage to one of the intellectual giants of the 19th century in his bicentenary year." Boola Boola!

[image: Endless Forms at Yale's Center for British Art]

Tata Nano: The world's most innovative new car

It's often the case that imposing constraints can actually lead to more, not less innovation. Consider the case of the Tata Nano, which launched today in Mumbai to much acclaim and hype. It's a car manufactured in India that costs less than $2,000. For that price tag, you give up a bit in terms of power and features, but you also get world-class design. Plus, Tata is taking a page from the Cooper Mini playbook and marketing the Nano as a cool, hip alternative for urban city-dwellers.

Detroit, are you listening?

[image: Tata Nano]

McKinsey maps the world's innovation clusters

How innovative is your city? McKinsey Digital has released a new innovation study of the world's leading cities, grouping them into one of four different categories -- "hot springs," "dynamic oceans," "silent lakes," and "shrinking pools." The most innovative cities are "dynamic oceans," while the "hot springs" are the types of cities with a lot of economic momentum, but in need of a little Creative Class infusion to make them even more vibrant and diverse. In the chart above, Silicon Valley stands alone as the dominant innovation cluster in the world.

While it's not a real stretch to see Silicon Valley as the dominant "dynamic ocean" of innovation in the world, who knew that Kiel, Germany and Miyazaki, Japan are among the hottest up-and-coming innovation clusters in the world? (In fact, there's a whole handful of Japanese cities that made the cut as "hot springs" of innovation) And, conversely, that New York, Chicago and Philadelphia are "silent lakes" of innovation? By some measures, even the Twin Cities are more vibrant than their East Coast counterparts.

[chart: McKinsey Digital: Mapping Innovation Clusters]

How is innovation holding up during the economic recession?

My colleague Chuck Frey, founder and editor of Innovation Tools, is conducting an Innovation Climate Survey to determine how innovation is holding up during a time of economic uncertainty and market volatility. There are only five questions that take less than five minutes to answer, so drop on by and offer your opinions on the current environment for innovation.

In December, Chuck co-authored a special report with Renee Hopkins Callahan on innovation strategies for the downturn. This follow-up survey asks respondents to quantify the changes in their organizations' innovation climate and funding since the recession has hit, and asks them about the specific strategies they're using to help to keep innovation alive.