Ad Inexplorate and the future of the aerospace industry
It seems that innovation has become something of a buzz word, I can hardly believe it. You see, I get over 70 online newsletters arriving in my inbox every day, and I also browse the news, and I just can’t believe how much time and effort goes into talking about innovation. One thing that bothers me is that all academics talk about innovation. Because those who enter academia as professors don’t necessarily spend their time innovating, they spend their time putting information into their heads.
Even the academic researchers I’ve met are so narrowly focused that they don’t really understand what innovation is. You see, as an entrepreneur and I started my first business at the age of 12, I have consistently innovated in every industry I’ve been in. There is a big difference between how politicians, academics and thought leaders view innovation and how innovation actually occurs in the marketplace. In fact, the reality gap is so different that it’s almost like we’re not talking about the same thing.
That’s why it often bothers me when I hear a politician say we’re going to spend more money on innovation and then funnel the money into academic research. And there are plenty of universities and academics willing to soak up that money, do a few small research projects, and then ask for more money year after year. It’s almost like we have an “academic innovation complex,” obviously borrowing the term from Dwight D. Eisenhower’s farewell speech about the “military industrial complex” that we’re supposed to be wary of, too.
In fact, I remember when I think about innovation, the aerospace innovators that have brought us such brilliant advances in space and military aviation. “Ad Inexplorate” stands for “Into the Unknown,” which is the motto at the Edwards US Air Force Aerospace Test Center. You see, part of what bothers me is that we’re not taking enough risks with innovation. Financial risks are one thing, but real life risk, where people put their lives on the line, is quite another.
Just throwing money at a problem and telling yourself; “well, we’re taking a chance here” isn’t really what it takes to get to a breakthrough. And what risk are they really taking? They’re just spending wads of taxpayer money, that’s not innovation!
You have to risk your career, your life and everything and have the passion to do it. Entrepreneurs know how to do it, academics don’t. If you are an academic researcher and would like to defend yourself; then please send me an email, let’s talk.
Let’s see how tough you are and if you are really in this game to win it. If not, maybe the academy could just take that little buzzword they’ve hijacked from the world and stop talking about it. I thought “Talk” was supposed to be cheap! In fact, I hope you will please consider all this and think about it.