Innovation Delusion? Part 1

In my work on innovation, I recently came across the book The Innovation Delusion: How our Obsession with the New has Disrupted the Work that Matters Most (Currency, 2020), by Lee Vinsel and Andrew L. Russell. (Freakonomics podcast listeners may remember the related 2016 episode.) Even though the book has some flaws (in my opinion), I think there are important insights for individuals and organizations. In this post, I’ll look at the positive aspects of the book’s argument before turning in the next post to a critique of the argument that I think would actually strengthen the very point that the book is making.

Vinsel and Russell state that they wrote the book "to raise awareness about maintenance and elevate the status of those who perform care and repair work" (p. 218). By "maintenance," they mean such diverse activities as maintaining one's body, performing housekeeping duties, repairing municipal infrastructure, fixing broken electronics, and maintaining a computer network. The relative neglect of maintenance and maintainers arises from society’s overwhelming preference for innovation. While the authors acknowledge the critical role of "actual innovation," they distinguish it from "innovation speak,” which they define as “a breathless dialect of word salad that trumpets the importance of innovation while turning that term into an overused buzzword” (p. 10).?

“Innovation speak” arises because of the “innovation delusion” that puts innovators on a pedestal and tasks them with driving almost all growth and profit. This mindset is ultimately rooted in the fear that individuals, organizations, and societies will be left in the dust by others that innovated successfully—a fear captured perfectly in the 1996 book title of the founder of Intel, Andy Grove: Only the Paranoid Survive. Importantly, the authors do not condemn innovation per se; in fact, they note the importance of innovative approaches to maintenance, including predictive maintenance and the role of technology in disseminating instructions for repairing broken products. They take issue with the pursuit of the new in ways that are ultimately unsustainable and harmful.

The authors argue that the widespread prioritization of the “new” has led to a range of problems at three different levels: societal, organizational (such as businesses and schools), and individual. On the societal level, America’s existing infrastructure has long suffered neglect in favor of the creation of new infrastructure or expanding existing systems. The actual damage created by deferred maintenance often only becomes clear long after policymakers make budgetary decisions. Moreover, politicians and community leaders gain significantly more positive visibility for new infrastructure projects, but the public does not recognize the significant long-term maintenance costs that local governments incur through these projects. In fact, federal funding is often only available for new projects rather than for operations and maintenance on existing infrastructure.

On the organizational level, Vinsel and Russell argue that a short-term focus on growth leads businesses to obsess about cost cutting, often putting maintenance and maintainers on the chopping block. As with the neglect of infrastructure on the societal level, the consequences of such neglect are deferred. The authors cite the example of a natural gas and electrical utility company’s failure to perform routine maintenance and tree trimming, ultimately resulting in multiple disastrous accidents. The book argues that education has also suffered under the innovation delusion, as leaders and the public often embrace new EdTech solutions, such as providing tablet computers to children, instead of addressing longer-term systemic problems, such as poor teacher pay.

On the individual level, the innovation delusion manifests in a variety of ways. Exercise programs often focus on “gains” and “increases” in various metrics rather than simply engaging in long-term bodily maintenance to slow down some of the negative effects of aging. People also buy larger and larger houses that are difficult to maintain both in terms of costs and labor. In the marketplace, they purchase costly new products when their old products break rather than attempting to fix them—a situation often exacerbated by companies’ restrictions surrounding authorized venues for repair.

In contrast to the “innovation delusion,” the authors put forward the “maintenance mindset” that focuses on sustaining good things over time by investing in maintenance and supporting those who perform it. Instilling this mindset involves cultural change but can be supported through a variety of means. Examples include the following:

·?????? Encouraging grassroots initiatives like fix-it clinics

·?????? Gathering better data around the costs of deferred maintenance and current maintenance-related problems

·?????? Providing better funding for necessary infrastructure repairs, including taking repair costs more into account when setting utility rates

·?????? Advocating for right-to-repair laws, opening the market to independent repairpersons

·?????? Supporting the Maintainers research network and conferences; the authors of the book are deeply involved in this movement

Vinsel and Russell indicate how the maintenance mindset cuts across bipartisan lines. Both parties have at least recognized America’s infrastructure problems. Conservatives could support such policies as right-to-repair laws, which remove barriers to the free market. Progressives could support regulations that limit further environmental degradation from the “throwaway culture” associated with the innovative delusion.

The book convincingly highlights the problems caused by the neglect of maintenance and the need to change mindsets around maintenance. In the next post, I will address some of the problems that I perceive with the book—particularly in its critiques directed toward innovation—but in the meantime, these are some takeaways for leaders and organizations:

·?????? Leaders and organizations must think twice before cutting maintenance and maintainers in a bid to save costs. As with the case of the natural gas and electrical utility company, the true consequences of such cuts may not be apparent for long after leaders make them. Sometimes cuts are necessary, but only after a rigorous risk assessment.

·?????? Organizations should monitor and possibly implement innovations in maintenance. The book notes how innovative technologies (such as acoustic tools in predictive maintenance) can result in significant cost savings over time. These tools may require up-front costs, but in many cases, they can reduce costs long-term.

·?????? Those involved in launching new products and services—including infrastructure projects—need to be in conversations early on regarding the costs and processes necessary to maintain operations. Of course, some new products and services (such as those in the digital domain) may be mothballed relatively easily, but others (such as new roadways) require substantial investments in maintenance over time.

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In the next post, I’ll continue my engagement with The Innovation Delusion by addressing the book’s critiques of innovation. ?