Most innovation programs only focus on one side of the problem – the generation of ideas. But unless you also provide and develop champions and sponsors of ideas, the level of innovation results will be minimal.
In James Surowiecki’s best-selling book, The wisdom of crowds he shares a number of examples of double-sided innovation. (We summarized his book as Wise over at Book Rapper)
At the turn of the 20th Century, there were more than 500 car manufacturers putting out a wide range of solutions. These included steam-driven cars, electric powered cars and cars running on gasoline combustion engines.
Whilst the auto market totalled a mere 15,000 cars in 1900, the expectation of what was possible if the car could be mass-produced at an affordable price sparked a significant interest.
The diverse approaches were clearly driven by the size of the potential reward for success.
And, the diversity of approaches was built on the premise that a clear definition of what a car should be like hadn’t been worked out as yet. It displays how experimentation and exploring of alternatives is a crucial part of the development of any idea – and especially a complex machine like a motor car.
It’s an interesting shift from a wide range of choices to a monoculture of ‘this is how you build a car’.
Further, this historical situation shines a peculiar light on the current transformation of the motor car away from gasoline/petrol to new electrically charged and battery dependent models. Our notions of ‘what is a car’ are under question once more.
It’s clear in this early battle that the combustion engine won, reigning supreme for over a century. Now, the impact of millions of cars worldwide has been called into question in the light of pollution, city-wide smog and ultimately climate change.
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