The costs of innovation have exceeded the benefits, says Umair Haque, and it’s time to move away from this “relic of the industrial era” towards something specifically “built for the 21st century”. Haque has dubbed this the almost too hip Awesomeness Manifesto.
The three problems with innovation as it stands, according to Haque:
- Innovation relies on obsolescence.
- Innovation dries up our seedcorn.
- Innovation often isn’t.
The four pillars of new-innovation, or awesomeness:
- Ethical production.
- Insanely great stuff (creativity).
- Love.
- Thick value (making people authentically better off — not merely by adding more bells and whistles).
Let’s summarize. What is awesomeness? Awesomeness happens when thick — real, meaningful — value is created by people who love what they do, added to insanely great stuff, and multiplied by communities who are delighted and inspired because they are authentically better off.