John Kao, CEO, Edgemakers

“What are key elements of American culture that make up the ‘secret sauce’ of innovation? For a start, forgiveness of failure, tolerance of risk, and an appetite for apparently off-the-wall ideas. In Silicon Valley, the saying goes that if you haven’t failed at least once or twice, you’re not trying hard enough.”

Linda Weiss, professor emeritus, University of Sydney

“One of the most striking aspects of America’s innovation culture is the belief that nothing lies beyond human power to achieve, that science and technology can solve most problems, and that change invariably leads to better outcomes.”

Shamim M. Momin, director, Los Angeles Nomadic Division

“America is a nation that celebrates its founding on individual freedom and struggle against oppressive systems of belief. It makes sense that, in order to provide each person the opportunity to pull himself or herself up by the bootstraps and succeed on one’s own merits, innovation—literally ‘a new method, idea, or product’—would be the avenue to that success.”