Innovation Across the Lifespan

Innovation is often imagined as the domain of the young—the hoodie-clad prodigy in a garage disrupting an industry overnight. Yet evidence tells a richer story. Research from entrepreneurship, psychology, and organisational science reveals that innovation capacity does not simply decline with age. Instead, it reorganises across the life course, drawing on accumulated experience, social and emotional skills, and the ability to collaborate in complex environments (Azoulay et al., 2020; Ng & Feldman, 2008, 2013). In other words, creative potential evolves rather than evaporates with time. This chapter explores how innovation unfolds across the lifespan. It integrates findings from three disciplines: entrepreneurship research on founder age and firm performance, lifespan psychology on motivation and cognition, and organisational studies on learning, diversity, and collective intelligence. These perspectives challenge the myth that innovation belongs only to the young. They show how societies can build age-diverse innovation ecosystems that expand opportunity, boost productivity, and enhance wellbeing.