Business Insight Zone

Sometimes I get an idea for what I think would be a good blog post, but then come across someone else’s great post or article that has already done all the work for me. (Since I’m sometimes lazier than I should be when it comes to research, this is a good thing in my book.)

Case in point: the historian in me considered writing something about the business fortunes that have been launched during hard times . . . and then I came across this November 2008 Daniel Roth article from Wired:

Back to the Garage: How Economic Turmoil Breeds Innovation

. . . [F]or the bravest inventors and entrepreneurs, conditions are ideal to pounce on a business opportunity. . . .

The most memorable crucible in modern history is, of course, the Great Depression. During that era, several firms made huge bets that changed their fortunes and those of the country: Du Pont told one of its star scientists, Wallace Carothers, to set aside basic research and pursue potentially profitable innovation. What he came up with was nylon, the first synthetic fabric, revolutionizing the way Americans parachuted, carpeted, and panty-hosed. As IBM’s rivals cut R&D, founder Thomas Watson built a new research center. Douglas Aircraft debuted the DC-3, which within four years was carrying 90 percent of commercial airline passengers. A slew of competing inventors created television. . . .

This doesn’t mean that big new ideas emerge because of turmoil—in fact, the data shows no relationship between major breakthroughs and economic conditions. But the benefit of a global money drought is that competition tends to vaporize. And for some, the stress of tough times has an amazing way of concentrating the mind on the way forward.

The whole thing is well worth reading, especially if (a) you’re working for a company that has some resources but has been sitting on the sidelines out of fear, or (b) you just need some cheering up about where the commercial world might be headed once the dust settles from the current recession.