Innovation has not always been celebrated. Once viewed with suspicion, it gradually evolved from a threat to tradition into a driver of progress, reshaping industries. Let's explore the shift from creative destruction to a pragmatic, purpose-driven approach to innovation — one that emphasizes collaboration, real-world problem-solving, and responsible technological advancement.
December 2, 2025
A brief history of innovation
The history of innovation has not always been a pleasant one. For a long time, much attention and effort was given to precisely preserving the past. In Ancient Greece and Rome, the idea of innovation was normally viewed with suspicion, with major changes considered dangerous to society, especially in breaking with tradition.
Beginning with the Renaissance and through the Enlightenment, with its focus on empiricism and reason, the concept shifted, though the word itself continued to carry a negative connotation: innovation slowly became a path to discovery and progress, a way to improve society. Before long, two industrial revolutions took place, and the functional steam engine emerged (1712), eventually giving way to the diesel engine (1897) — each altering that era’s production and transportation landscape. However, it was not until later in the 20th century, after the Second World War, that innovation as we currently understand it came into being; no longer a sporadic individual effort, a rogue inventor, it became systematized as corporations began heavily investing research and development to gain or maintain a competitive advantage.
Moving into the current century, innovation has become nearly synonymous with technological advancement, no longer considered a threat but rather an essential strategy for growth.
The theory of creative destruction
Let’s step back for a moment into the 20th century for a moment to examine an important, and rather well-known, concept: creative destruction. First introduced by the economist Joseph Schumpeter, it is the traditional view for what innovation entails. Creative destruction is disruptive, characterized by its radical individualism and intentional dismantling of established processes to implement newer — generally more efficient — ones at the cost of destroying part of what it is trying to improve upon. The invention of the diesel engine, for example, all but eliminated the market for steam engines, as much as the PC replaced typewriters. Those who are better able to harness and apply the new methods and technologies will succeed; those who cannot will likely fail.
Invention does not necessarily equate with innovation; think of the myriad products that, while unique, are rather useless in a practical sense, if not entertaining. New ideas, products, or services that are novel and useful are innovative. The process of innovation requires a high degree of creativity and risk-taking combined with the capacity to turn a new idea into a practical solution. This practical solution must then be brought to the market, put to the test, where it will be validated — or not — by the customer.
Now we can jump back into the 21st century.
What innovation means for us
We say that we take a “pragmatic approach to innovation.” Pragmatism is situational and problem-driven — marking a stark contrast between the previous section’s theory and this one’s practice. The pragmatic approach sees innovation within the context of the group, a collaborative effort to bring new ideas, materials, and technologies to life not solely for the sake of innovation, but because they serve a practical purpose, are embedded within a society and responsive to its needs.
New technologies — which may appear less glorious than inventing the diesel engine (or more recently, the electric vehicle) — nonetheless push the boundaries of production towards what we can call the “new innovation” which is quickly evolving/adapting to incorporate concepts like sustainability and social responsibility. Energy efficiency and recyclability are the orders of the day and attempts at innovating must now take them into account. This direction in which innovation has been moving highlights the importance of hands-on experience in solving real-world problems and continual investment in research and development.
Is it sustainable?
Current consumer trends and legislation are pushing for more sustainability and “green” initiatives. To face the question head on, however, requires an honest reflection on what it means, in terms of production, to be sustainable, i.e., able to be maintained at a certain rate — a rate that inevitably increases each year. The concept has become inextricably linked to product lifecycles and the circular economy, thus to its quality (long-term durability and efficiency) and eventual ability to be recycled.
No production process can reach 100% efficiency. Some may approach that level, thanks to newer technologies, but nothing escapes the fundamentals of thermodynamics. True innovations will need to mitigate the impact that production has on the environment, to render the processes “more sustainable” than previous iterations. Optimizing energy efficiency and heating, and finding ways to recycle and reuse waste products: these are where new innovations will emerge, and what our R&D team is focused on.
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