Lee Fleming and Olav Sorenson
By placing a premium on predictability in their product development efforts, companies create a technology landscape that’s easier to navigate–-but one that may produce fewer true breakthroughs.
Harvard Business Review, September 2001: 2-3
Lee Fleming and Olav Sorenson
This paper develops a theory of invention by drawing on complex adaptive systems theory. We see invention as a process of recombinant search over technology landscapes. This framing suggests that inventors might face a ‘complexity catastrophe’ when they attempt to combine highly interdependent technologies. Our empirical analysis of patent citation rates supports this expectation. Our results also suggest, however, that the process of invention differs in important ways from biological evolution. We discuss the implications of these findings for research on technological evolution, industrial change, and technology strategy.