ABSTRACT
Entrepreneurs drive the creative aspect of the process. The seek new opportunities, create new markets, and along the way, destroy old business models. For example, Edison’s electricity distribution system drove gas lights into extinction. Automobiles and tractors eliminated horses from streets and farmland. Electric refrigerators made ice making largely obsolete. Electronic books (e-books) will have made paper books belong to museums, and so on. We take for granted that technologies, while consistently bringing us free lunch, come and go. The primary purpose of this chapter is to show the connection between innovation-driven growth and patterns of system evolution. To help determine the right timing for introducing creative solutions, we will explore in detail when, how, and why problems emerge in the system.
