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I am fascinated by the idea of “Dark Matter”, a substance which is invisible but is thought to constitute the vast majority of mass in the universe. It cannot be measured directly, but its presence can be inferred by the gravitational effects it exerts on everything around it. This strikes me as being a lot like innovation. Although it is now believed to be the most important driving force in economic growth, economists cannot measure it directly. It is observed primarily for how it appears to pull and push virtually everything else. Economists have devised a variety of ways to measure it indirectly which is one reason we spend so much effort analyzing patenting, R&D spending, and a lot of other things. This is why measurement is so important to progress in managing innovation. Until we can directly measure the most important economic aspects of innovation (such as gaining visibility into the markets for ideas, IP, and innovation) it will simply remain “dark matter”. That’s why I say, if you can’t measure IP, you can’t manage IP.

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