To spur innovation, firms, govt policies must be flexible

Regarding this week’s Talking Point, “Are we an innovation nation?”, I believe Singapore can work on three major areas to build an innovation culture.

First, we should start with the young. While our educational system has been successful in science and mathematics, we can encourage more hands-on application, so students can better relate what they have learnt from books to context.

Understanding how a problem is solved, instead of memorising formulas, will improve their problem-solving skills.

Questioning conventional knowledge, instead of accepting scientific theories as facts, will drive their curiosity to search for new knowledge and make discoveries.

Second, while our economic growth has been successful, with a stable supply of competent, obedient and hardworking employees, we can do better by empowering them to make decisions as well as being willing to listen to their feedback.

It is the best way for companies to leap to the next growth level, which no amount of productivity increments can achieve.

Companies must be more open-minded, instead of only fixing jobs to a routine with rules to follow.

Finally, existing government policies must also be made adaptable to keep up with our fast-changing society.

Work stress and survival worries often kill creativity. Many citizens with a decades-long housing loan would not risk rocking the boat either.

On the other hand, having everything safe and comfortable would put us in passive mode and kill our drive to be innovative and our willingness to change.

To strike a balance between a stable society and risk-taking will not be easy.

However, we cannot afford to not do anything and remain at status quo if our nation is to retain its competitive edge and progress.