I'm skeptical of whether there can be a theory of innovation. Innovation means a novel movement in state space toward some new maximum in the fitness landscape.

I'm skeptical of whether there can be a theory of innovation. Innovation means a novel movement in state space toward some new maximum in the fitness landscape. Each movement is going to be different. Each innovation is a unique thing. A theory of innovation would be like a theory of adaptation. You can say vague general things like "adaptations occur because of natural selection" but you could never formulate a theory specifying the exact sequence of concrete changes or events leading to an adaptation.