Prof. Xavier Pavie : "It is urgent to question recent innovations"

Xavier Pavie is a Professor at ESSEC Business School, academic director of the Master in Management program in Singapore and of the iMagination center but also an associated researcher in the Philosophical research Institute of Paris Nanterre. In Executive Education, he is the director of the Advanced Certificate Strategic Management of Innovation and Services that he created almost 10 years ago. He just published L’innovation à l’épreuve de la philosophie (Presse Universitaire de France) , in which he recommends to rely on philosophy and spiritual exercises from ancient philosophy to promote a “responsible” innovation.

Your book brings two subjects together that would usually tend to be opposed: innovation and philosophy. Why did you choose to study these two?
Because recent innovations will have consequences that may be irreversible, it is consequently urgent to question them and there is no discipline more relevant than philosophy to do so. Philosophy offers an extremely strong critical eye, time-tested over thousands of years. It can be political, economic or even social, which endows it with a 360 vision of what is under study. Finally, philosophy can ben practiced in a positive and constructive angle – which explains the subtitle of my book: the choice of a humanely durable future? What can lead us to this future in terms of innovation is the right track of philosophy – the path towards wisdom, control over our passions, moderation and temperance.

Do we need to be afraid of the innovations that are difficult to apprehend today?
We are currently facing genetic manipulations, promises of transhumanism and nanotechnologies or the generalization of internet. For half a century, these breakthroughs have given us new powers as humanity got rid of two major constraints. The first one, both technical and scientific, has been removed by the convergence of what we call NBIC (for “Nanotechnology, Biotechnology, Information technology and Cognitive sciences”), which from now on gives us the ability to augment the human condition. Institutions, especially religious, previously maintained the second constraint, on a moral ground: trying to modify human kind and nature was condemned. However, even though the voices of the Church have not disappeared, scientists have stopped listening to them anymore on this specific topic. Furthermore, innovation now plays, for the most part, into a liberal world: it is considered a as a vector of growth and financed more and more by private structures. These factors are combined in a way that innovation becomes more and more anchored to what can be called a “paradigmatic” dimension.

What role do innovators play? Are they responsible for the possible deviations of their creations?
In our world where industrial competition is fierce, innovation is unavoidable. And the first responsible – the innovator – is the company’s director. He will be the one deciding whether to launch a product or a service on the market. It is a crucial choice, since innovation is the only real growth factor of the organization. But it is also a choice that can overcome them and, at the same time, overcome our human condition. When the entrepreneur Elon Musk [founder of Space X and CEO of Tesla Motors] talks about going to Mars, some might smile… Just like, a century ago, the perspective of an instant communication system allowed by what is now the Internet would have seemed ludicrous. Facing such high stakes, it is necessary for the innovator to take a sidestep before making decisions. That he is not solely constrained by its environment, but also able to find back the way to reflection, so that he implements a “responsible” innovation.

What impact must philosophy have towards innovation?
The priority of philosophy is to question, to understand and solve problems. Because transhumanism, cloning and globalization of financial systems through internet raise questions, philosophy must invite itself in. However, it does not exist in the current teaching of innovation. We never ask ourselves the purpose of a constant search for profit, nor who benefits from it (the majority? The shareholders? The environment?) – only the financial result matters. Between the initial objective of innovation and the way it is put in place, there is no more room for reflection and it is that specific lacking space that philosophers works to expand. But be mindful! Adding notions of philosophy and “ethics” on top of usual courses and especially accelerated courses in corporations will not do the trick. It would not work. So how do we enable todays’ students and participants to think about their actions and their consequences? This is where we must start. This education to responsibility must be early and constructive enough to become natural. In ancient philosophy, spiritual training was fundamental knowledge, a pillar to build, to know how to act and behave towards what is good. This disposition is burning news and we need to rethink spiritual exercises in our contemporary space including, especially, where innovating organizations are.

Learn more
Advanced Certificate Management Stratégique de l’Innovation et des Services 
L'innovation à l'épreuve de la philosophie