Innovation throughout the ages

Breakthrough ideas have been happening since long before the first management book was written. In fact, the alphabet used to write said books, as well as the printing processes, fonts, and technology used to produce them, are all the result of a breakthrough idea making it to a viable market.

The Atlantic recently published the 50 greatest breakthroughs of all time , an article by Jim Fallows that looks at all of the ways in which our worlds have been shaped by invention. To me, it was fascinating to realize that of the 50, which range from the alphabet to paper money to steam combustion engines to television, none of them came about in the last 35 years. In fact, only three of them are attributed to the 60s and 70s (the Internet, the personal computer, and the birth control pill).  Maybe that’s just context – in another 50 years, some of our generation’s greatest thinking will bump something off the list – one can only hope!  But still, it makes me wonder, have we muscled innovation out of the workplace because a fanatical focus on efficiency and process?

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