In the US, Europe, Asia and elsewhere, the word "innovation" is freely used.  What used to be called technology centers or business incubators are now often called innovation centers.   The idea is that you create something new, patent it, and then you or someone else takes the innovation to the marketplace.  The BIO Show in Washington DC was full of innovative ideas, from June 27-30, 2011.  Metromark was there.

If you would like information on how Metromark encourages innovation, please email me and I will contact you right away.

Other people may sell a product that is already in the market, but may devise a new way of marketing the product or providing customer service.  That's an innovation in service or marketing. Amazon.com was an innovation in marketing and customer service.   Still other people take an existing product and an existing service and marketing process.  That's the franchise model like McDonalds and has little to do with innovation.  Not much risk in that model.

There is risk for the innovator, where the product is new or where the service delivery is new. 

Some say that innovation is one side of a coin, the other side of which is failure.  Those who are innovative, trying things new, are bound to have a whole box of failed ideas, but often with only self-motivation move on in the quest for something that works.

Can we teach innovation and risk taking?  Or is innovation just a personal trait?   These are issues that Emerson Smith, the President of Metromark will be discussing in a series of seminars and lectures in Poland.  Poland is a highly educated country with innovators in many areas, including biotech. 

The problem with the nuclear power plants in Japan after a strong earthquake and the tsunami that followed is having an impact on not only the nuclear power industry but on the ability of our essential industries to have the confidence of the public, investors, employees and consumers.

The story is not about one industry where there are inherent dangers.  Nuclear power. Oil. Hospitals. Chemicals. Aviation. Pharmaceuticals.  All of these industries are inherently dangerous and often in the news when injuries and deaths occur.  All are full of risks. The dangers are mitigated by the professionals who work in these industries.  The safest of these industries is aviation.   

We have always known that the use of checklists in any industry is a sure way to reduce risks.  The use of checklists by pilots, mechanics, air traffic controllers, ground handlers, and flight attendants have contributed to an industry where risks are reduced and when something does go wrong there is a specified way to deal with the problem.  Pilots do not rely on memory. Experienced pilots rely on checklists just as do pilots in training.

The perception of the public has been that our essential industries are doing much more than they need to do to reduce risks to employees in that industry and to consumers.  But today, the public is more sceptical.  Nuclear plants cannot be controlled.  Drugs have unexpected side effects. Hospitals injure and kill patients.  Oil leaking from wells injures and kills wildlife and destroys ecosystems.  An aircraft skids off the runway.

We need to know what the perception is.  But more importantly, we need to know how to change that perception so that consumers have more confidence in an industry.