Innovation: lessons from a historian

Clusters, leaders, and corporate culture are the secret. An interview with Smithsonian Institution’s historian Arthur P. Molella. “We know much more today about sustaining creative cultures,” said Arthur P. Molella, Historian, and Director Emeritus of the Lemelson Center for the Study of Invention and Innovation, at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C. Scholars have identified changes in the innovation processes, especially in the 19th and 20th centuries, and found ground to take a historical approach to assess complex contemporary innovation practices[i]. One such finding is that physical, social and cultural proximity matter in creating and sustaining innovative environments. History has proven this time and again, and Silicon Valley is the latest proof to the claim. There are special mixes of […]

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