Nurturing the Crazy Ideas That Change the World - an Interview with Safi Bahcall
Safi Bahcall
Why do so many ideas die in the lab? Why do smart people working in groups kill innovation? How is the “fail fast, fail forward” mantra the wrong approach to creating solutions to the world’s biggest problems? Perhaps there is a better approach to curing diseases, transforming industries, and developing the next life-changing technology. According to Safi Bahcall, “Loonshots” - crazy ideas, when nurtured correctly, could change the world - can be developed in any organization with the right structure, culture, balance, and incentives.
In this interview, Safi talks about “Loonshots” - what are they, how can we encourage them, and how they change the world. Safi dives into how good ideas are often killed by great teams and how we can develop the skills to nurture and encourage “Loonshots” in our own organizations. Safi also discusses the importance of company culture, understanding the roles of different employees, and the importance of anticipating and learning from failure.
Safi worked for three years as a consultant for McKinsey before co-founding a biotechnology company that developed new drugs for treating cancer. Safi regularly speaks with senior executives about how to implement the ideas in his bestselling book Loonshots: How to Nurture the Crazy Ideas That Win Wars, Cure Diseases, and Transform Industries.
Topics Discussed: Inspiration for entrepreneurs, running a biotech company, ideas that changed our species, defining a “Loonshot,” why good teams kill great ideas, how culture shapes behavior, phase separation and dynamic equilibrium, managing risk, artists vs soldiers in the company, facilitating communication between artists and soldiers, competencies needed to manage innovative ideas and their innovators, discovering radar technology, strategic vs product “Loonshots,” the fall of Pam Am, pioneering ideas from American Airlines, using incentives to drive desired outcomes, failure
People, Organizations, and Resources Mentioned: President Obama, Vannevar Bush Report, Microsoft, Nazi Germany, William “Deke” Parsons, Pan American World Airways, American Airlines, Coca-Cola, Juan Trippe, Bob Crandall, Judah Folkman, Boston Children’s Hospital, Sir James Black.
You can learn more about Safi Bahcall and his book Loonshots at www.loonshots.com.
To order your copy of Loonshots: How to Nurture the Crazy Ideas that Win Wars, Cure Diseases, and Transform Industries - click here.
“In the 1970s when airline deregulation hit, Juan Trippe was flying these big planes - these 747s - with no passengers. Fuel costs went up, deregulation hit, and all these start-ups that were cheaper, faster, better came. Pan Am and 300 airlines, went bankrupt. There was only one airline that did not go bankrupt through deregulation, and that was American Airlines.”
-Safi Bahcall describing Pan Am’s focus on product “Loonshots” compared to American Airlines focus on strategic “Loonshots”