Wander Part II: Who matters as much as where when starting moonshots
Part II for finding your next moonshot idea
In our last newsletter issue, we discussed the proven value of “walking when talking” when finding a moonshot idea.* The next question to consider is…
Who are you bringing on your next walk?
Who matters as much as where when starting moonshots.
Part II: Who joins you on a moonshot discovery walk
Many organizations – often the bigger and older an organization is – overlook their employees as a source of possible moonshot ideas. Employees can be hidden right in front of management because these people might seem too obvious or even too easy. In reality, the people on your team may already know what is the real moonshot as they face the execution challenges on a regular basis.
Find the people in your tribe who feed you new ideas, excite you with their energy, and/or provoke you in positive ways. Invite one of them out for a short stroll. While wandering together, ask this person what he or she would do as a wild goal – to be different, to change things, to achieve the almost impossible. Then really listen.
And if you are not in a company, consider the people in your professional and social circles. Who challenges your beliefs most? Invite this person on a similar walk.
One person we would have loved to have walked and talked with is Mary Golda Ross. Ross was the first known Native American female engineer and the first female engineer in the history of American aerospace company Lockheed – though she came to her engineering degree later in life. In addition, she was on the founding team and only woman on staff (besides the secretary) of the renowned Skunk Works project at Lockheed, which built several of the world’s most experimental aircraft and breakthrough technologies at an impossible speed. Based on her life’s experiences, we expect Ross would have brought a unique perspective at the start of the space race.
* We describe the wander activity more in a secret bonus chapter, which is not in the book Building Moonshots.
Wander and listen
This section highlights some examples of moonshot thinking and doing all around us and links them to specific Moonshot Ways from our Building Moonshots book. (Note that indented text highlighted by a blue line are direct quotes from each article.)
Financial Times
August 28, 2023
India’s digital finance moonshot
When Narendra Modi proclaimed “the dawn of the new India” last week, the prime minister was hailing his nation’s debut moon landing. But the pronouncement could equally have related to India’s growing confidence in the vanguard of financial innovation.
▶️ Moonshot Way 18: Be visionary
▶️ Moonshot Way 37: Invest in the future ecosystem
Financial Times
August 26, 2023
Taking ‘bold’ bets: new UK agency prepares to fund breakthrough technologies
A new UK government agency set up to transform science by supporting high-risk, high-reward research is emerging from stealth mode… “ARIA is meant to operate on a decadal timescale and our budget allocation for four or five is enough to get started and achieve some early proof points that ARIA is working.”
▶️ Moonshot Way 4: Fund for breakthroughs
EuroNews
August 17, 2023
NASA is working on batteries that could make long-haul electric flights a reality
...it could be a long time before we see the technology actually being used. But NASA’s recent breakthroughs in increasing the discharge rate of solid-state batteries have removed some of the roadblocks previously standing in the way of electric planes.
▶️ Moonshot Way 1: Always focus on the long view
Foreign Policy
June 19, 2023
The Infinite Possibilities of Afrofuturism
…early on in both the exhibition and its companion book, one runs up against a conflict: Is Afrofuturism a distinctly African American practice? … I wondered what it would be like for a 10-year-old to experience an exhibition like this, how transformative it could be to their sense of self, to their spirit.
▶️ Moonshot Way 16: Evangelize the future
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