History is a marvelous teacher if we pay attention. 60 years ago a set of pioneers embarked on a journey that would change our perspective forever.
They were deemed “The Mercury Seven.”
How exactly you might ask did they impact our lives? They gave us an example of achieving targeted innovation. With the Cold War heating up and the Soviets sending the first person into space, President Kennedy challenged the nation to an audacious, impossible goal. Without knowing the real specifics, he set the nation on a crazy path ahead.We should set our sight on “achieving the goal, before this decade is out, of landing a man on the Moon and returning him safely to earth.” How could we do it? What was the plan? Did he create an 8 year Gantt chart with mapped dependencies? Did he analyze all the factors, weigh the risks, create a probability matrix?Related:
Are Your People Struggling With Innovation?Related:
How to Ignite Corporate InnovationHe did not. He called us to our better selves and challenged us to use our ability to innovate in real time. He recognized that there is something inside us that doesn’t need to know all the factors and weigh all the risks to commit to a goal. There is a future out there waiting for us to discover it. And planning how we get there in time certain isn’t the most important factor in achieving it. Committing in the face of uncertainty is.
