I continue to marvel at the level of genius apparent in the new inventions being given birth to in Europe and USA in particular. Such as this clever “next level” solar energy product.
Increasingly the feeling I am getting is that on many fronts New Zealand’s level of innovation is generally falling behind that of other countries; and I can’t help but think that a lot of this has to do with the amount of ‘red tape’ that all industries in N.Z. are now wrapped-in.
I believe that we’ve successfully suffocated “creativity” and “innovation” in N.Z. – a direct consequence of being over-zealous in creating legislation, regulations and policies at virtually every level and in every corner of N.Z. society. More than that, I think we’ve successfully created more rules that serve to “prohibit/ restrict” versus those that “enable” along the way; and this tendency to create rules that “deny” opportunity is having a dire effect on the level and frequency of innovation unfolding in N.Z. now.
I have heard a good number of clever business people remarking that they now prefer to “work with what they have” (i.e. maintain the status quo where their product/ service offer is concerned) simply for the reason that they believe that any attempts to veer/ deviate from what they currently do will be met with a brick wall of legislative/ regulatory/ policy resistance and restriction.
Why is New Zealand so intent on putting “glass ceilings” over the top of people who used to have a track record of leading the world where invention and innovation is concerned ? Do we not see that these ceilings are serving to discourage innovation; and if innovation is not permitted to shine then we have successfully shut-down a major avenue for Kiwi businesses to achieve growth and for new employment opportunities to be created.