What is Success in Innovation

Divergent views exist on how to define innovation and measure success in innovation. However, this article contends simply that “innovation is the process of change that creates and grows wealth.” Accordingly, the purpose and key success metric of innovation is the creation of wealth. After examining various perspectives on innovation and justifying this view, this article shows how net cash flow is the best metric of wealth creation. It concludes with two notable innovation failures, involving wind turbines and electric cars.