It’s no longer enough to protect your core business with the proven methods of Operational Excellence - you also have to ignite new growth using the methods & mindset of the world’s Innovation hot spots. The ambidextrous will prosper in our brave new world.
What applies to companies, also applies to economies, no? Canada, my dear land, is in the midst of a historic decline. Among peer countries, Canada has been last in productivity growth for the past ten years and is projected to be last in the coming decades. Canada’s most prosperous provinces, Alberta & Ontario, are poorer than the USA’s poorest states. You read that right. Canada’s GDP per capita, a decade ago roughly equal to America’s, is now about 60% of America’s. To make things worse, Canada’s real estate is roughly twice as expensive as America’s. So, life is hard in Canada, and likely to get harder.
So, what’s a country like Canada to do?
What applies to companies, also applies to economies…And so, Canada must take steps to a) protect its core business, and b) ignite new growth.
Protect the Core
Canada’s core business is the physical economy including manufacturing, mining, oil & natural gas, agriculture, as well as financial services (including banking, insurance, leasing and real estate). Protecting the core business means developing a fair & competitive tax & regulatory system - one that attracts investment, and is appealing to talented people including entrepreneurs, small business owners and skilled professionals.
Investment & talent have fled from Canada the past few decades. My friend, Paul, a gifted Tech entrepreneur and graduate of Waterloo’s world class engineering program is a case in point. Paul is a senior leader in one of Silicon Valley’s most celebrated AI unicorns. ‘I left Canada as soon as I graduated,’ he told me. ‘I’d be crazy to stay. There’s nothing for me there.’
Free trade has greatly benefited Canada’s core industries, but is now in imminent danger thanks to Mr. Trump’s international trade war. Canada must do all it can to sustain free trade with all international partners, but it won’t be enough to slow the erosion in prosperity and wellbeing.
Ignite New Growth
Igniting new growth entails designing cool products & services everybody loves and is willing to pay a premium for. Design, data and digital methods are at the heart of Innovation.
Fair & Competitive Tax & Regulatory System
If you want to Protect the Core - and Ignite New Growth, you have to have fair taxes & regulations. Otherwise, people like Paul will continue to leave in droves. Why build anything when more than half will be clawed back by the government? Why not go across the border to Silicon Valley, where you’ll earn - and keep - much more of the value you’ve created?
National Innovation Infrastructure
But fair taxes & regulations are not enough. You also have to make it easy for smart people to connect & try stuff together. And that means fostering a national Innovation infrastructure. Singapore provides an excellent blueprint. I started going there in 2018, working with Laurent in FinTech & Consumer Goods. I met splendid people and explored the great city’s innovation labs, maker spaces and accelerators. I loved attending Friday ‘playbacks’ during which innovation teams would summarize the week’s activities - wins, losses, what they learned & what it means for next week & beyond. I loved attending the Singapore FinTech Festival (SFF), SNG Tech Week, and all the rest.
During SFF week, I’d meet people from startups offering a broad range of services in payment, lending, wealth management and insurance. I met engaging entrepreneurs from all over the world, whose minds seemed to operate at the speed of light. Laurent & I wrote a book about our Singapore adventures, trying to capture that energy, excitement, exotic neighbourhoods & marvelous cuisine.
I’ll talk about Singapore’s innovation infrastructure in an upcoming piece. For now, I’ll leave you with how I felt at the Fusionopolis innovation hub - three buildings full of innovation labs, maker spaces, and accelerators. Imagine open spaces, interesting visuals, a small stage in the center, the atmosphere electric, as in a great jazz club. Something like model launches at our old Toyota factory, but with quicker experiments & somewhat different methods & mindsets. And me thinking, ‘This is the place to be.’
Sure enough, Singapore, like Silicon Valley, is full of talented Canadians. Next time, how did Singapore become an innovation powerhouse, and what’s mean for countries like Canada?
Best wishes,
Pascal Dennis
E: pascal.dennis@leansystems.org
PS To learn more about my Strategy Execution program, Getting the Right Things Done in a Digital World, feel free to drop me a line.
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