Fifty years ago this month, Neil Armstrong took “one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.”
Putting a man on the moon stands out as one of the most audacious acts of achievement ever attempted by humans. The moon landing was the pinnacle of a period of amazing innovation. America’s space program inspired generations to dream big, take risks and innovate new ways to solve problems.
But while the moon landing was a fantastic success, it was built on previous failures and challenges. Innovation happens when there’s a problem to be solved.
The successful mission of Apollo 11 was preceded by a nearly endless string of challenges, ranging from engineering problems to be solved to budget pressures to competition from the Soviet Union. The greatest failure of all was the loss of the entire Apollo 1 crew in a cabin fire during testing for that mission.
After that disastrous mission, the American space program could have folded. Leaders might have retreated, concluding that the goal was out of reach or too risky. But they instead persevered, deciding that “failure is not an option.”
Innovation is one of our greatest strengths at ECT Services. Here’s how we approach innovation:
- Keep the customer first. Customers trust
us to help them solve problems because we’ve invested in building genuine
relationships with them.
- Know the tools you have at your disposal. In
an iconic scene from the
movie Apollo 13, the mission control team on the ground scrambles to figure
out a way to fix the air ventilation system on the space capsule when the ship
becomes disabled tens of thousands of miles into space. One of the engineers
dumps a seemingly random pile of objects onto a table before his team. The
objects represent all the resources astronauts have aboard their disabled ship.
The engineer sets forth the challenge: “We have to find a way to make this
fit into the hole for this, using nothing but that.”
The engineers set to work, and come up with an epic kludge that includes the cover off the flight manual. The contraption works, and the astronauts are saved.
Innovation begins with the resources at hand. Our VR Tenant solution is a great example of innovation that started with a deep understanding of the equipment at hand and how it works.
- Stay focused on the goal. President John F. Kennedy set forth a clear, compelling goal: Get a man to the moon, and bring him back safely. The goals for our customers are different – achieve greater efficiency, keep this building secure – but they are just as important to our customers, and to us. It may not be landing on the moon, but it matters greatly to a child waiting at home that their parent returns safely from work each day. It matters greatly that we leave behind a cleaner planet because we helped maximize a facility’s energy efficiency. It matters greatly that works of art are preserved for posterity because we created a system that carefully controls their climate.
Need a strong partner to help you overcome a challenge and reach a goal? We can help. Call (800) 567-1180 for a consultation today.