When was the last time we heard of a Pakistani business doing something different? Something which has not been done before? My memory fails me, perhaps for my age, and I would happily stand corrected. But in over 30 years of partaking in and observing our businesses and companies, I can’t recall any time we had provided the world with a new idea, a business model, a strategy, or anything. Perhaps, as individuals, we feel it is enough of a risk to be living and working in Pakistan and therefore why do something different in work or business? The modus operandi is to survive.

However, I contend that Innovation needs to be at the centre of our businesses, the driving force, so to speak. If your organization cannot continuously reinvent itself, it will gradually become extinct. I understand that this subject deals mostly with ambiguity whereas, as leaders, we are always trying to create more certainty in our business. This creates tension and anxiety in our decisions. But then, this is exactly the kind of uncertainty our leaders should be trained to deal with. We should be able to place bold bets in the face of uncertain outcomes and should be able to persevere with our decisions.

Take any of the global giants today and you will find this to be the common factor in their success. Could Tesla, Apple, Google, Amazon and many other businesses exist without their leaders making a high-risk bet on a new technology, a different business model or creating a new market?

Given innovation’s critical importance in driving growth, it is a subject worth spending time over. When we imagine Pakistani businesses, think of the largest sectors such as textiles, banking, chemicals, or even information........

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