Lean Innovation

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The Need for Innovation

Cutting the deficit by gutting our investments in innovation and education is like lightening an overloaded airplane by removing its engine. It may make you feel like you’re flying high at first, but it won’t take long before you feel the impact.¹

Barack Obama

All problems can lead to opportunities—you have heard that before (often offered as, “look at the bright side,” which could seem irritating at the time). So, instead of starting with the challenges faced by most firms today, I am going to start with a story that represents the real upside for us in today’s environment.

Let us go back to spring 2008. The problem at the time was the oil market: Oil prices were climbing quickly, crashing through artificial ...