
To innovate we need to learn to work together, says Sheryle Moon.
For the first time in a long time we're worried. You can see it on people's faces as they read of the malaise in the global economy, or in the way they fidgit at any mention of interest rates.
And the reason we're concerned is for a long time we've been taking our economic situation for granted. In a strong global economy we have allowed our trade deficit to get seriously out of balance, especially in areas where we should be doing well, like the service sector.
At the moment we import more knowledge than we export, and this is a problem we'll need to face if we want to get some control over our destiny.
To gain this control we need to cast off our sheepish tendency to false modesty, and begin to innovate.
And don't come back at me with the invention of the stump-jump plough, or the black box, or the hills hoist. I'm not talking about invention, I'm talking about innovation; the capacity to do things differently, to refuse to accept the status quo, to look for ways to make thing run more smoothly or more efficiently.