Commentary: What the Wright brothers teach the sea freight world about cross-industry pollination

The inspiration for the key inventions necessary to control flight were literally overhead and all around. Wright began a concentrated study of multiple species of birds and how they maintain equilibrium while in flight. His decision to learn from birds and ultimately imitate them was the original advance that led directly to successful flight a few years later.

Once the brothers had mastered controlled flight in a glider, they needed to add self-propulsion to the machine. This required the invention of an aerial propeller and a light engine that could turn the propeller. For the propeller, the Wright brothers used the marine propeller as a starting point and innovated from there. For the engine, they used an auto engine as a starting point and worked to make it substantially lighter for their purposes.

The plane was ready for initial marketing purposes by 1905 and actually received orders by 1908. Its success generated countless imitators so that multiple different designs were available in Europe and America within a short time. Progress was rapid and led to the famous Lindbergh solo flight across the Atlantic in 1927, less than 25 years after the first flight had occurred.

Three lessons for sea freight

1. Process. McCullough makes it clear that Wilbur Wright’s innovation process contributed mightily to the results. Wright leveraged all known research and then used the power of cross-fertilization of ideas to solve all three of the major technical challenges. His study of bird flight led to his breakthrough ideas for control of flight. He used the expertise of the marine propulsion industry and the automobile industry to generate rapid solutions to the other two major technical hurdles.

The sea freight industry has long-term unsolved challenges like zero-carbon propulsion and electronic bills of lading. Looking for out-of-industry analogies to stimulate new thinking could lead to dramatic breakthroughs.

2. People. It is astonishing that a core group of just four people could solve a problem that had never been achieved before. Wilbur Wright is an acknowledged genius, but that does not fully explain his results. The design of the core team and the complementary roles played by each member were likely vitally important to the end result.

Creating a few small teams with exceptional members and challenging them to try new methods for innovation might lead to exciting outcomes.

3. Prolific progress. McCullough spends the last part of the book describing how quickly the Wright brothers’ innovations were adopted globally and led to prolific innovation. In only 25 years, humankind went from being earthbound to flying across the Atlantic.

A major breakthrough on an important sea freight problem is likely to lead to a similar outcome. The sea freight industry has a track record of rapid adoption of good ideas. When a breakthrough idea is developed, it is quite reasonable to expect that it will rapidly spread through the entire industry and deliver global benefit.

The challenge for the sea freight industry is to create the environment for breakthrough innovation. The experiences of the Wright brothers can provide inspiration and instruction.