… with very few exceptions, man-made technologies evolve from previous man-made technologies and are not invented from scratch. This is a key characteristic with evolutionary systems: the move to the adjacent possible step.
Perhaps I’m exaggerating – after all, there was a moment when the Wright Brothers’ Flyer became airborne on the 17th of December 1903. Surely this was a sudden breakthrough moment?
No – far from it. Once you know the story, nothing could be more gradual. The flight that day lasted for a few seconds – it was barely more than a hop. It would not have been possible without a stiff headwind, and it was preceded by a failed attempt. It came after several years of hard slog, experimentation and learning, in which very gradually all the pieces necessary for powered flight came together.
…
The genius of the Wright Brothers was precisely that they realised they were in an incremental, iterative process, and did not expect to build a flying machine at the first attempt.
And the Kittyhawk moment came before several more years of hard slog, tinkering and re-tinkering, til the Wrights new how to keep aloft for hours, how to take off without a headwind, how to turn and how to land.
The closer you examine the history of the aeroplane, the more gradual it looks.
Matt Ridley – How Innovation Works
What are you building? Do not expect to build a flying machine at first attempt – look for the adjacent possible step.
More on innovation:
Matt Ridley: 15 principles of innovation
Efosa Ojomo on market-creating innovation
Marks and Spencer as disruptive innovators
Marc Andreesen on networks of innovation
… and on “Scenius”
César Hidalgo on the importance of trust in networks of innovation
Astro Teller on planning, experimentation and innovation
Resource: Clayton Christensen on disruptive innovation
Zen Hae on cross-pollination, imitation and innovation
The innovation in your head…
W. Brian Arthur on combinatorial innovation
Seeds (2): bikes, planes and automobiles
Hybrids (2): combinations and connections