A nimble approach to innovation

Business planners and economic prognosticators tend to look out to the future in a linear fashion, extrapolating from existing trends rather than factoring in innovations taking shape in plain view.

There is a reason for this: Although game-changing innovations have cropped up repeatedly throughout economic history, it has been notoriously hard to predict which ones will be embraced, and when, by a critical mass of businesses and consumers. The Internet emerged at the Advanced Research Projects Agency in 1968, for example, but had little impact until browser pioneer Netscape went public in 1995.

Many technologists think the Internet could have taken root, and begun boosting business and personal productivity, at least a decade earlier if the business world had been ready to adopt it.

By Robert Weisman, Globe Staff

Full Story: http://www.boston.com/business/technology/articles/2005/08/07/a_nimble_approach_to_innovation/