We live in a business world that increasingly worships the great tribal god innovation, lyrically hailing it not just as a desired, but as a necessary, condition of a company’s survival and growth. This highly agitated confidence in the liberating efficacy of innovation has in some places become an article of faith almost as strong as the Natchez Indian’s consuming faith in the deity of the sun. Man creates gods according to his needs. Significantly, the businessman’s new demigod and the Natchez’s more venerable and historic god make identical promises. They both promise renewal and life.
A version of this article appeared in the September 1966 issue of Harvard Business Review.
