Creating Defining Innovations—Great Ideas Overcoming Inertia: Guest Editor’s Introduction

Abstract

The Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory (APL) has embarked on a decade-long strategic effort to enhance its level of innovation in an increasingly turbulent world. These initiatives and associated critical contributions reflect a vibrant organization that can look to its future with excitement. Through these pursuits, APL staff members have learned that just having great ideas is not enough. Good ideas are almost never immediately appreciated; persistence is needed to implement those innovative ideas in the face of inertia to maintain the status quo. This article first reviews APL’s efforts to overcome inertia in achieving some of its defining innovations. It recalls the persistence and deep expertise that APL has pursued to establish these inflection points in history. It then introduces the variety of articles in this special issue looking toward APL at its centennial in 2042. The expectation is that the breakthroughs these articles describe represent the Lab’s future defining innovations.