How we Foster a Stronger Culture of Innovation and Creativity in Cities
The world is changing faster than ever before, and this rapid pace is only accelerating. With breakthroughs in fields like robotics, artificial intelligence, climate change, web3, and gene editing, it’s easy to see why neighbourhoods are feeling the strain. For many, ignoring this change and hoping it will slow down feels like a tempting, albeit ineffective, response.
At Imagine Cities, we believe that the systems designed to help people thrive are under immense pressure. But here’s the good news: all is not lost. These systems don’t need to be discarded — they need an upgrade. The challenges facing neighbourhoods today are simply a natural part of progress, and beyond those challenges lie incredible opportunities to enable more people to thrive. Central to our vision is a commitment to innovation.
Innovation Isn’t Just About Technology
Innovation is fundamentally about finding new ways to solve problems. Some might ask: Can innovation really be applied to neighbourhoods? After all, they’re nothing like computers. While that’s true, here’s the thing: innovation practices have already been successfully applied in a range of unexpected environments. Take British Cycling, for example.
For over a century, British Cycling had been at the bottom of the cycling world. They hadn’t won an Olympic gold medal since 1908, nor had they triumphed in the legendary Tour de France. In fact, their lack of success was so notorious that top bike manufacturers refused to sell them bikes.
That all changed when Dave Brailsford was hired and introduced the concept of “the aggregation of marginal gains.” This approach focused on making small, incremental improvements that, when added up over time, leads to transformative change. From redesigning bike seats for comfort, to applying rubbing alcohol on tires for better grip, to even experimenting with mattress quality for better sleep, every little change made a huge impact.
The results were extraordinary. By the 2008 Olympics, British Cycling had won 60% of all available gold medals. By 2012, they had set nine Olympic records and seven world records. And they went on to win the Tour de France multiple times in 2015, 2016, and 2017. It wasn’t a massive, singular breakthrough — it was a series of small innovations that built on each other, leads to monumental success.
While British Cycling’s story is about sports, the principles of innovation are universal. From the culinary world to home renovation, fashion, and even comedy, innovation is a vital tool for success. Comedians, for example, are always refining their acts through experimentation and feedback before they take their shows on the road.
The Power of Product-Market Fit
In recent decades, innovation practices have evolved dramatically. One key driver of this evolution? The venture capital industry’s need to make smarter, quicker decisions to maximize returns. To succeed, investors must identify startups that are more likely to find their “product-market fit” — the sweet spot where a product meets the needs of its market perfectly.
Startups don’t have endless funds. Without product-market fit, their runway is short — meaning they need to demonstrate success quickly or face failure. This has led to a culture of ruthless decision-making in the startup world, which has become critical for survival. The results speak for themselves: the most successful startups have become some of the wealthiest and most influential organizations on the planet.
Why Most Ideas Fail
Despite all the capital and attention devoted to innovation, most ideas fail. In fact, statistics show that failure is the norm, not the exception. According to Startup Genome, 90% of startups fail. In Canada, the odds of a business surviving for ten years in the goods-producing sector are just over 50%. For service-based businesses, it’s even lower at 35%. Similarly, MIT reports that 95% of new products launched each year don’t succeed while other studies show that 72% of new products miss their profit targets.
The bottom line: ideas are costly, and failure is expensive. So how do we reduce the number of failures? By honing the skills, knowledge, and experience needed to identify opportunities that are more likely to succeed. By cultivating talent and innovation expertise, we can minimize the failure rate and create more efficient, productive businesses and neighbourhoods.
At Imagine Cities, we’ve developed our “Adaptive Leadership” course to help neighbourhood leaders, organizations, and businesses access similar innovation tactics that have driven success in top performing sports teams, restaurants, comedians, startups, and beyond. Combined with our digital tools and events, we aim to unleash a new era of impact that empowers more neighbourhoods to thrive.
Innovation as a Nation-Building Exercise
Innovation has been the driving force behind every major industrial revolution. Whether it was the invention of the spinning jenny, the combustion engine, computers, or now artificial intelligence, innovation has been at the heart of progress.
In Canada, the government recognizes that innovation is essential for competitiveness, economic growth, and creating good jobs. In their publication Building a Nation of Innovators, they emphasize that innovation is key to improving life for all Canadians. Between 2019 and 2024, Canada invested $950 million in innovation “Superclusters” to spark growth and create new jobs. By 2029, they aim to create 50,000 jobs and spur $50 billion in economic growth. Innovation is not just about progress — it’s a nation-building endeavour.
Embedding Innovation in Our Neighbourhoods
The Bank of Canada has pointed out that one of the central challenges facing Canada’s productivity is a lack of access to impactful education and training in innovation. Simply put, we need to create more opportunities for people to develop their innovation skills.
At Imagine Cities, our digital tools do more than just solve problems — they provide residents with access to a platform where they can not only learn about innovation and hone their skills through practice. By making innovation accessible to all, we’re providing a mechanism for residents to build and maintain thriving neighbourhoods for the long term while also developing skills for the new economy.
If you’re a leader in your neighbourhood organization, business, government agency, or post-secondary institution, we invite you to explore how you can participate in this nation-building movement with our organization.
Contact us at lab@imaginecities.com to learn more.
