Five Forces of Complexity and Change

Langdon Morris examines five forces of innovation in his book, The Innovation Formula: technology, science, culture, the human population, and climate change. The convergence of these five trends defines the modern world and the market environment. Morris argues that understanding these forces is critical to designing an organization’s innovation process, as the pace of change and complexity is only increasing. The article dives into the first force, technology, as it drives digital disruption and digitization of every industry. The rise of digital markets has led to winner-takes-all markets, where leading firms consolidate power and lock out competitors. Morris also touches on the consequences of digitization in the energy, printing, advertising, music, and manufacturing industries. In addition to technology, Morris discusses the other forces of innovation and how they interact with one another to impact societal and economic changes.