'Innovation - is it Science or Art?'

Innovation is mainly a product of creativity but can it be measured scientifically and therefore improved? In this article Robert Bates and Anna Bruns from RSA, a leading company in life sciences executive search and interim management, discuss recent research which shows how this can be achieved.

In recent times new drug development has shown a substantial decline in the number of approved drugs for human use. The pharma pipelines are drying up. Threats to global health are not going away and therefore creative solutions are needed. If R&D departments could scientifically monitor and, where necessary, take measures to improve the Willingness to Innovate (WTI), they could ensure that teams and companies reach their full potential for the sake of profit and collective wellbeing.

“Innovation,” says Apple co-founder Steve Jobs, “distinguishes between a leader and a follower.” And it’s certainly been the cornerstone of his company’s success. In fact, if we look hard enough, we’ll see that innovation is critical to any company’s long-term prosperity. This is especially and explicitly true in the pharmaceutical and life sciences industries where R&D accounts for a large proportion of invested time, money and manpower. Moving forward, innovation will only become increasingly important.