I love this article even though I don’t agree with a major premise (because cities are locations- pieces of land that cannot die). But I agree (and have thought for years) that we need to have Bell Labs like companies. Google has an amazing citation of talent at X (formerly called Google X). They just need to do 2 things to supercharge it: (1) let anyone raise ideas and be allowed to bring their ideas into reality (right now that privilege belongs only to Google/Alphabet employees), and (2) allow research to be done even if it won’t be profitable.
The question I have for you is this: if companies became more like cities, what value would companies bring that universities don’t already bring?
Thanks! I think its partly a mindset, of being a place that encourages exploration vs one that focuses on optimising/maximising tangible output. Its the opposite of most management theories, where you dont focus on competitive advantage, or unique skillsets, but purely focus on being a talent attractor.
Re universities, they are pretty fantastic if looked at from company lens. Longevity, highly profitable. Their key issue is transience - the talent passes through for short periods of time, rather than remaining a destination - that's the big diff.
yea this is a good point. Amazon does a good job with this... investing millions into a smart fridge that may or may not flop miserably.
I think this think-and-work tank is great as long as incentives are aligned. Sounds almost like that one project in English class where you form your own groups and make whatever shit you want.. but with engineers and coders actually getting paid for results.
I love this article even though I don’t agree with a major premise (because cities are locations- pieces of land that cannot die). But I agree (and have thought for years) that we need to have Bell Labs like companies. Google has an amazing citation of talent at X (formerly called Google X). They just need to do 2 things to supercharge it: (1) let anyone raise ideas and be allowed to bring their ideas into reality (right now that privilege belongs only to Google/Alphabet employees), and (2) allow research to be done even if it won’t be profitable.
The question I have for you is this: if companies became more like cities, what value would companies bring that universities don’t already bring?
Thanks! I think its partly a mindset, of being a place that encourages exploration vs one that focuses on optimising/maximising tangible output. Its the opposite of most management theories, where you dont focus on competitive advantage, or unique skillsets, but purely focus on being a talent attractor.
Re universities, they are pretty fantastic if looked at from company lens. Longevity, highly profitable. Their key issue is transience - the talent passes through for short periods of time, rather than remaining a destination - that's the big diff.
yea this is a good point. Amazon does a good job with this... investing millions into a smart fridge that may or may not flop miserably.
I think this think-and-work tank is great as long as incentives are aligned. Sounds almost like that one project in English class where you form your own groups and make whatever shit you want.. but with engineers and coders actually getting paid for results.
Amazon, at least the bezos era, are probably the closest we've seen in their consistency of large bets and creating a platform for innovation.
True. Have you heard of CityDAO? They're buying land in Wyoming as a DAO and building a city. https://www.citydao.io/
Oh interesting! Looks quite intriguing for sure ...