The Myth of the Lone Inventor

It is convenient for us to attribute invention to an individual.  For starters, it takes less time in conversation.  My experience lately has reinforced my recognition of the inconvenient truth that invention and innovation is usually a complex and sustained social phenomenon.  In all but the most trivial cases:

• Somebody must identify an under-served need and propose a solution that is typically a recombination of technologies already in use in other contexts. So, even this most basic form of invention is historically contingent and, thus, dependent upon the prior work of others.
• An initial proof-of-concept prototype must be developed in the lab or workshop.
• "Works like" prototypes must be translated into near-production designs and made in "garage scale" in some kind of pilot plant.
• Full-scale production, for a new and different product, usually requires new kinds of production equipment and methodologies.
• Innovation is what people adopt.   New products very often require new packaging, distribution, sales tactics, and marketing strategies.
• Consumer acceptance is often the inherently unpredictable result of socially contingent decision making.

Innovation requires all of these things to happen. One person cannot do it all. There is no one inventor just as there is no one entrepreneur. Those of us who aspire to play a role in the process of innovation are well served by acknowledging these are labels of convenience.

Comments

[Sean Murphy]

Not to argue with your point that it takes a team to bring a technology to market successfully I think you left out a more common path: an inventor develops a working prototype for market A, teams up with an entrepreneur who helps to shift focus to market B where adoption is much easier because it's actually a better fit for the technology.

[Dave Bayless]

I don't disagree, Sean. Even "step 1" is usually an iterative process that involves a number of people. The broader point I was trying to make is that innovation is a process that requires many people playing many roles--some lesser, some greater. The singular appellations of "inventor" and "entrepreneur" are made for reasons of convenience (and ego). When taken literally, those exclusive terms can mystify and obscure the process.