The Most Important Ingredient For a Culture of Innovation

Innovation is like an engine, which turbocharges a region to achieve rapid growth and economic development. It is not surprising that economically advanced countries are powerhouses of innovation, which also sets them apart from developing countries such as Pakistan.
Many believe that Pakistan needs to invest in its physical infrastructure to foster innovation. These include building resources like labs, universities, and other infrastructure. While these are certainly important, they are not sufficient. These are just ‘enablers’.
But more importantly, a culture of innovation needs training our next generation to think differently and express their individuality and uniqueness. To make decisions based on their individual preferences, whether it is their career, lifestyle, or other aptitudes or inclinations. Allowing them to choose to be the way they want to.
Unfortunately, ours is a “conformist” culture. Which means that anybody who tries to be different or who deviates from normally accepted behavior, is pulled back in. They are discouraged, criticized and sometimes even mocked at for being different. So if anyone who looks, sounds or does something differently, we have a compulsive need to change them. And make them like the majority in our society. And that I think is the single biggest impediment to creativity and innovation.
Therefore, societies that have brought critical shifts in their behaviors and which now celebrates the uniqueness of its people — both in big and small ways, have more creative individuals. While individuals who live in such societies continuously get better at their decisions; experimenting, learning from own mistakes, and carving out unique paths for themselves.
Now if you look at the definition of creativity and innovation, it is making something different, something practically useful. So if you are a conformist, you are likely to be similar to the majority. This means by default you are not trying to think different, and therefore, you are not an innovator. You are just following other people. Accepting things as they are. Not challenging the status quo. This is why the opposite is precisely one needs to do, to become a creative and innovative individual who thinks differently to others.
Solving a problem needs a different perspective. To create a great painting or a beautiful tune, you would need to create. You would need to make use of your experience and knowledge by arranging the ingredients in a unique and useful way. And when a society starts celebrating the uniqueness of actions, expressions, education, and thoughts, it slowly, but surely, contributes to fostering a creative culture.
Innovation and problem-solving start with asking a very simple yet powerful question, why does it has to be this way? because somebody said so? why can’t I conveniently order and pick my food while sitting comfortably in my car? and drive-throughs were born. Why do we have to have ugly buttons on our phones? why can’t I just interact with my phone by tapping on the screen? somebody thought of this and touch-screen found the unprecedented scale of utility on our phones.
Of course, not all innovations are simple, but most are. The starting point for many of these innovations can be asking surprisingly simple questions like these.
This would inevitably require raising and training the next generation to not accept things as they are, and question conventional wisdom. A lot more individuals would start looking at everyday problems and ask “why does it have to be this way”? This is how we will not only raise a generation of problem solvers and innovators but significantly raise the quality of life in our region.
But the desire to trivialize discourages and sometimes even resists this ‘kid who wants change’ is strongly entrenched in our society. Which is why, change has to come from within, more precisely from the nucleus of the society — the parents and families who raise these ‘kids’ to begin with. Because home is where the actual training and mentoring happens. Parents would need to educate and train themselves on how to foster an environment where kids are allowed to experiment. And where mistakes and failures aren’t criticized but encouraged and supported.
Fortunately, kids are curious by nature, we just need to nurture and protect their curiosity. However, we systematically squash it as they grow up. We impose on them what we consider to be correct behavior.
Learning not to impose ‘Dos and Don’ts’ that inhibit their curiosity is the first step. By not giving them instructions to perform every single task, you are allowing them to think that there is more than one way to perform a task, thus, not limiting their creativity. Parents can focus on telling them why certain actions are more desirable than others. It can help kids understand the rationale behind an action at a much deeper level. In certain scenarios, parents need to resist the urge to control their kids and just back off and allow the kids to make their own decisions.
Pakistan has a population of over 220 million and is predominantly an agricultural economy. It has huge swathes of fertile lands available for cultivation. While a majority of its people rely on agriculture to earn their living. However, the country is still not able to meet its needs and has to rely on imports.
All this is extremely important because almost 68% of Pakistan’s population is youth. This means that the country has a massive human capital available at its disposal. If they are brought up and trained wisely, it would not only solve ours but also some of the world’s most challenging problems. It can become a valuable asset. But if the next generation is not properly educated and skilled, it could become a liability.
Raising our kids to become more creative and innovative is the only way to become producers in not just traditional industries such as manufacturing, agriculture, and fashion, but, more importantly, in industries of the future, such as defense, biotech, robotics, and artificial intelligence.
As a society, we need to understand that there is no universal formula that we can just copy. But there are fundamental attitudes, behaviors, and values that are preconditions for innovation. These include curiosity, openness, and experimentation. However, the most important value of all is the acceptance and celebration of ‘nonconformity’.
