The Anti- Moonshot Factory
short post today on something that really spoke to me…
Over the years, I’ve worked with many product teams (and leaders) that are obsessed with the idea of a “moonshot” - they are basically betting the farm on a 10x feature. There are of course 10x innovations all the time, and many a company and career has been made off these. But the idea that you can systematically churn out 10x moonshots, or even pull 1 off without a track record of doing so, just doesn’t compute for me. Not that I’ve sat down and surveyed the biggest product innovators, but my read on such breakthroughs is that they were always preceded by tons of “failures” and moments of learning that were not obvious in the moment.
One of my favorite exchanges around product innovation and how much the consumer will simplify the process to comprehend it is this question someone posed to Charles Eames:
"Charles was once asked, 'Did you think of the Eames chair in a flash?' He replied, 'Yes, sort of a 30-year flash."
The reason I resonate so strongly with this quote is that I’m a firm believer in 1% better, every day. It all adds up and pays off somehow / someday down the road. As long as you’re confident you’re going in the right direction, intellectual rigor, solid decisions, and a learning mindset will get you where you need to go; if a step-function jump happens along the way, it’s more good habits compounding vs moonshot manifesting.
I’d love to hear from readers about their attempts at moonshots - please chime in via comments👇. And if you enjoyed this post, please consider subscribing.
further reading / references
I love Blue Origin’s motto: “step by step, ferociously”
a lot of actions / decisions compound - 2 of my favorites are knowledge accumulation and product rigor
this post is not intended to say that visioning / strategy are pointless - some thoughts on how to do that in an intentional way in an audio episode here
my other favorite quote (other than the Eames one) is this Jacob Riss observation about the stonecutter’s journey and how every step matter
childish drawing / interpretation
