What do ABBA have in common with the Beatles, the Sex Pistols and Aretha Franklin? In addition to being pioneers in their genre, they made their breakthroughs long before they turned thirty.
Most innovation comes early in a career. While many musicians produce their most important work later in life, they often build on ideas that emerged in their younger years. The same is true in music, art, and other fields. Spotify, Apple, and Facebook were all founded by young people.
Anyone who wants to promote innovation needs to understand why we are more innovative during a certain period of life. There is nothing magical about youth itself.
The reason why groundbreaking ideas come in youth is because we are in a learning process. When we learn new things, the brain has to create new neural connections. This means that there is no ready-made thought pattern. We receive the new knowledge without preconditions and are open to combining it freely with previous knowledge and experiences.
As we begin to master knowledge, stronger neural pathways are created. More experience makes us faster and more efficient. But by that time we have lost much of the ability to view knowledge in completely new ways. That is why so many new ideas arise before the learning process is over.
Of course, innovative thinking and creativity are not worth much if they are not complemented by in-depth knowledge. But when someone in a learning process is given access to advanced cutting-edge knowledge, it creates the conditions for truly revolutionary ideas.
That's why the university is such a fantastic breeding ground for innovative thinking. There, students meet teachers who are active researchers working at the research frontier.
Unfortunately, this is often forgotten. When talking about innovation initiatives, the focus is on research. This applies not least to the “research and innovation” bill that the government presented at the end of 2020, where education was completely forgotten. Investing in established researchers can lead to oh-so-important research findings. But who will take the knowledge further into working life and completely new contexts if not the students?
The “Swedish pop wonder” can be explained by the existence of a broad music school for young people and a good infrastructure for established musicians. This allows new ideas to both emerge and spread.
The same mindset needs to permeate more sectors of society. Half the effort is wasted if you invest in research without curious students who can pick up the ideas and use them for something completely new.
Linn Svärd, Vice Chairman
Would you like to read more about investments in innovation? Read our consultation response to the investigation "innovation as a driving force" here.
This text was previously published in Dagens Industri as part of a campaign.