Loonshots: How to Nurture the Crazy Ideas That Win Wars, Cure Diseases, and Transform Industries

by Safi Bahcall

“When asked what it takes to win a Nobel Prize, Crick said, ‘Oh it’s very simple. My secret had been I know what to ignore.’”

the weak link was not the supply of new ideas. It was the transfer of those ideas to the field.

he understood the need for separating and sheltering radical ideas—the need for a department of loonshots run by loons, free to explore the bizarre.

the breakthroughs that change our world are born from the marriage of genius and serendipity.

Luck is the residue of design.

People responsible for developing high-risk, early-stage ideas (call them “artists”) need to be sheltered from the “soldiers” responsible for the already-successful, steady-growth part of an organization.

Efficiency systems such as Six Sigma or Total Quality Management might help franchise projects, but they will suffocate artists.

Many companies, however, especially when faced with a crisis, try to legislate creativity and innovation everywhere (“The CEO must be the CIO—the Chief Innovation Officer!”). This usually results in chaos,

overcoming the urge to defend and dismiss when attacked and instead investigating failure with an open mind.

Contrarian answers, with confidence, create very attractive investments.

People say, “There’s no way that could ever work.” And then it does.

While the individual man is an insoluble puzzle, in the aggregate he becomes a mathematical certainty.

We want to benefit from the wisdom of crowds while reducing the risk of market crashes. We want to benefit from a plurality of beliefs while reducing the risk of religious wars.

team size plays the same role in organizations that temperature does for liquids and solids.