Diagnosed more than 20 years ago, the productivity problem that hinders the growth of the Quebec economy does not seem to be going away, even though its origin has been clearly identified: Quebec companies invest little, they have a lower propensity to innovate, and many of them rely on the relative weakness of the Canadian currency to ensure their competitiveness. In order to reverse this trend, we must therefore try to understand why Quebec companies are slow to change their behaviour. Part of the answer may well lie with the leaders of Quebec SMEs. With proportionately fewer university graduates, Quebec managers have a lower propensity to innovate, which would explain in part Quebec's lagging productivity.