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Teamwork is the Key to Innovation, Author tells NIWeek Attendees
Andrew Hargadon talks about green initiatives during keynote address
Terry Costlow, Contributing Editor -- Design News, August 8, 2008
The idea that great inventions stem from the minds of individuals is not realistic, and it's caused many headaches for engineers. Instead, they should team up with others and figure out how to leverage existing products and concepts in new ways.
That was the message from Andrew Hargadon, director of the Green Entrepreneurship Program at the University of California, Davis, who addressed attendees at NIWeek in Austin, TX, on Aug. 7.
Though green initiatives were the theme at National Instruments' annual gathering, Hargadon barely touched on the topic during his keynote. Afterwards, he told Design News that the key change this trend provides is to alter the flow of venture capital.
"The green movement means that a lot of money is flowing in, changing which innovations are rewarded," says Hargadon, who's also the author of "How Breakthroughs Happen: The Surprising Truth about How Companies Innovate."
Regardless of what field engineers work in, they need to work together with others to leverage technologies that are already around. Though Thomas Edison, James Watt and Henry Ford are viewed as lone wolves, they actually worked with strong partners or teams.
"Inventing is about connecting, taking pieces that are already there and connecting them in different ways," Hargadon says. "Your best opportunity to come up with ideas is not to lock yourself alone in a room but to be out in the world, seeing what others are doing and use that in different ways."
Every great engineer has a partner. Steve Wozniak had Jobs, Edison had Charles Bachelor, Hargadon explains. Engineers need to network with knowledgeable marketing and financial people. Without marketing, even the greatest technology stands a good chance of remaining unknown.
Hargadon derided the adage that if you build a better mousetrap, the world will beat a path to your door. "This saying has led many engineers to their doom. It's fundamentally dangerous to assume that if you have a great idea, somebody will care," Hargadon says.
Asked about the role patents play, he said they can both help and hurt. "Patents can suppress innovation, but without protection, people won't make investments," Hargadon says.
He also touched on the need to upgrade science and engineering education. "We should be teaching everyone enough engineering that they can understand the basics of technologies they may encounter," Hargadon says.
Underscoring his idea that innovation comes from using existing ideas and technologies in novel ways, he used a popular quote by author William Gibson: The future is already here, it's just unevenly distributed.
"Our job is to distribute it," Hargadon says.
