Building Moonshots

TAMARA CARLETON, PHD, is an international expert in radical innovation. She is the CEO of Innovation Leadership Group, teaches at several top-ranked business schools and technical universities around the world, and is the creator of practical tools that help teams innovate, like the Playbook for Strategic Foresight and Innovation. WILLIAM COCKAYNE, PHD, is a techno-optimistic leader with a passion for transforming science fiction into reality. For twenty years, he taught students at Stanford University how teams imagine, invent, and ship the future. He is an expert in converting blue-sky thinking into brass tacks.

• Introduction 1Section I Ways to Adopt a Moonshots Mindset 7Way 1 Always Focus on the Long View 9Way 2 Start from the Almost Impossible 13Way 3 Never Be Surprised 19Way 4 Fund for Breakthroughs 25Way 5 Plan to Adopt Shiny Things 31Way 6 Be an Optimist 39Section II Ways to Feed Your Curiosity 45Way 7 Filter the Noise 47Way 8 Collect a Menagerie 51Way 9 Devour Hard Science Fiction 57Way 10 Engage with Esoteric STEM 63Way 11 Find Your Challenge 69Way 12 Consume Research 75Section III Ways to Imagine a Better Tomorrow 81Way 13 Start by Asking What If ? 83Way 14 Anchor in a Better Future 87Way 15 Trust That the Future Is Not Zero- Sum 93Way 16 Evangelize the Future 99Way 17 Push the Boundaries of Your Work 105Way 18 Be Visionary 111Section IV Ways to Plan Your Stepping Stones 117Way 19 Get Ahead of Your Customers 119Way 20 Look to Tipping Points 123Way 21 Reason Back 129Way 22 Adopt Bold Metrics 135Way 23 Plan for Targets to Evolve 141Way 24 Be Responsible Visionaries 147Section V Ways to Invent the Future 153Way 25 Make Your Ideas Compete 155Way 26 Do the Hard Part Daily 159Way 27 Go Deep with Emtech 165Way 28 Get to Action 171Way 29 Build to Learn 177Way 30 Share Proofs of Concept Early and Often 183Section VI Ways to Make Big Bets 189Way 31 Recruit a Challenge Board 191Way 32 Build Foundations 195Way 33 Spread Your Bets 201Way 34 Play Games 207Way 35 Double Down on Breakthroughs 215Way 36 Time Your Bets 223Section VII Ways to Finance for Alpha 229Way 37 Invest in the Future Ecosystem 231Way 38 Leverage Knowledge Discrepancies 235Way 39 Seed New Fields 241Way 40 Develop Perpetual Pipelines 247Way 41 Publish Your Moonshots Metrics 253Way 42 Fund the Handoffs 259Section VIII Ways to Galvanize Your Team 265Way 43 Be a Talent Magnet 267Way 44 Foster a Skunkworks Culture 273Way 45 Invite Radical Collaboration 279Way 46 Chase Brains 283Way 47 Hire for Unique Skills 289Way 48 Find Your Cluster 295Section IX Ways to Win the Future 301Way 49 Practice Winning 303Way 50 Play to Your Advantage 309Way 51 Use Others’ Solutions as Leverage 315Way 52 Cannibalize Your Success 321Way 53 Scale Fast and Slow 325Way 54 Play an Infinite Game 331About the Authors 337Index 339