Loonshots
Safi Bahcall

Summary

A great look into how ideas that change the world often are rejected using multiple real world examples.

Rating: 4/5

Notes

You need to separate the early innovators from the soldiers who grow it

Love your artists and soldiers equally

In order for any loonshot to be successful, it must go through at least 3 deaths (possible more)

Learn to investigate a false fail from a true fail

The best project champions are fluent in artist-speak and soldier-speak who need to bring both sides together

Listen to the suck with curiosity (LSC) which means no matter how much someone attacks your failure, learn to investigate it with an open mind

Continuously ask yourself why didn’t something work with curiosity

Nurturing the s-type (small-type) loonshots is more important than the P-loonshots (which are more glitzy/glamorous)

• Small changes in strategy are what makes huge differences

Don’t fall into the trap when ideas advance based on a leader, not the feedback b/w soldiers and creatives (always ask the people doing it)

Manage the transfer rather than the technology and always evolve with other people’s feedback

The richer stories in history are down to genius and serendipity

Change from an outcome mindset to a system mindset where instead of asking why you made a decision, analyze how

Separate the phases, create dynamic equilibrium and spread a system mindset

In finance, terrorism, etc. the power of 2.5x is a significant pattern

Dunbar’s number of 150 is integral and the threshold to get people together

Give people autonomy and soft equity so that there incentive isn’t just money

Open innovation is the key to the future because everyone wins

Creative talent responds best to feedback from their peers

Use ‘disruptive innovation’ to analyze history, nurture loonshots to test beliefs

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