What is the difference between creators and maintainers? Why are they both necessary? And why there should be a fair balance between the two for a thriving society?

I once attended a comedy night with friends, and during the performance the comedian started playfully roasting careers. He flat out stated that "South African engineers aren't engineers really, but maintainers." His reason was that "they don't invent new things but maintain existing systems made overseas."

That's an ouch right? Especially when you're an engineer. But he isn't the only one with this view. Many of my non-technical friends think so too. In contrast, there are many engineers in SA that innovate and invent products. The reason why this view about SA engineers is prevalent is because the gap between creators and maintainers is huge.

In South Africa, the number of engineers that do maintenance far exceeds that of engineers that invent products (i.e. creators).

Creators are innovators and inventors, while maintainers ensure that the 'invented' continue being functional. They both play a critical role. Creators introduce novel products that advance society. While maintainers are responsible for the sustainability of these products so that they continue to benefit society.

The problem arises when maintainers exceed creators by high margins. This gap is responsible for technological lag or deficiency in innovation. This is crucial to observe, particularly in the information age, because the introduction of new concepts guarantees a thriving economy. Deficiency in innovation can be identified by copy-and-paste spin-off schemes¹, high unemployment rates, and lack of technological products to export.

It's close to impossible to alleviate high unemployment rates without the right tool to create businesses and jobs. That tool is innovation. When there is a fair balance between creators and maintainers, society experiences a surplus of innovation and inventions. This surplus creates new businesses and job opportunities since more human resources are sought to support them.

In conclusion, a balance between creators and maintainers guarantees a thriving and sustainable economy.

Now the question becomes: How to close the gap between creators and maintainers? The obvious answer is to develop more creators. This is easier said than done because it requires a hefty investment. You're probably thinking investment in the educational system, incubators, or business supporting systems. While you're mostly correct, I'd argue ambition. What do I mean? I explain this further in the article called Innovation is risky.

1. copy-and-paste spin-off schemes are crude tactics of imitating other people's innovation and/or inventions, by slightly amending them and then rebrand as originally yours.