Re-reading Seth Godins little gem “Triibes” during the week, I again came across the term “sheepwalking” to describe the pervasive impact on most people of the status quo.
Last week I was chatting to a mate about a book he is writing offering some ideas on the commercialisation of scientific IP by Australia’s largely publicly funded research agencies, whose record in this regard leaves a lot to be desired.
As a scientist who “sold out” and ran companies, and then went back to the scientific world after 25 years, he is in a great position to bring insight to the table. His descriptions of the power of the status quo in these organisations, and the reaction of those who live in them are exemplars of Sheepwalking.
Australia is supposed to be the lucky country, and it has been, our track record in inventing stuff is great, commercialising it has been a bit of a problem, but unless we get our act together in the race to commercialise knowledge, organisations like CSIRO will become shepherds keeping a few nerds employed at public expense.
