The Impact Centre: Do Canadians Lack the Grit Needed to be Successful Innovators

TORONTO, ON--(Marketwired - February 24, 2016) - A study released by the Impact Centre at the University of Toronto has shown that Canadians lag their American counterparts in their ability to persevere towards successful conclusions when trying to innovate.

"The Impact Centre is undertaking research to understand why we lag much of the developed world in our capacity to innovate," said study author and Impact Centre Senior Fellow Charles Plant.

Grit is particularly important in innovation because the time it takes to get from an idea to a product in the market is long. It is also fraught with setbacks, delays, and roadblocks that can only be overcome with grit. Nowhere is this more important than in the commercialization of science.

Major findings:

• Americans don't get as discouraged when people tell them something is impossible.
• Canadians give up more easily.
• Canadians are more discouraged by bad news.

And regardless of age, employment position or gender of the respondent, the gap between attitudes in the two countries is similar. Americans just have more grit, a greater ability to persevere and be successful at innovating.

Whether this is why Canada lags much of the rest of the developed world at innovation and why we have trouble scaling companies is yet to be determined. More research is needed in this area to tie attitudes to successful innovation.

Read the full 13-page report:

http://www.impactcentre.ca/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/160208-Thinking-Inside-the-Box.pdf

About The Impact Centre at The University of Toronto

The Impact Centre strives to bring science to society.

We believe that science is the foundation for a better quality of life. Research, invention, and innovation are considered among the key contributors to economic development and sustainability of communities in Canada and around the world.

Our vision is to be a place where you can connect with exceptional research, talent, innovative companies, and government to create products and services that benefit society.

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