Here is your quick list of all 50+ Moonshot Ways to turn radical ideas into reality
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I. Adopt a Moonshots Mindset
A mindset describes the mental attitude and beliefs a person brings to any situation. Having a moonshots mindset becomes core to making moonshot decisions and making moonshot ideas real. Leaders and teams who have a moonshot mindset take the long view, believe in doing the impossible, and seize opportunities. Here are six ways that underlie a mindset for moonshot innovation.
Way 1: Always focus on the long view
Way 2: Start from the almost impossible
Way 3: Never be surprised
Way 4: Fund for breakthroughs
Way 5: Plan to adopt shiny things
Way 6: Be an optimist
II. Feed Your Curiosity
Curiosity is essential for moonshot leaders and teams to ask the deeper questions and keep a sense of wonder about the world. Staying curious is a never-ending process. These six ways describe where to look for promising moonshot opportunities actively and intentionally, such as scouring widely across diverse sources like hard science fiction, esoteric technical material, and more.
Way 7: Filter the noise
Way 8: Collect a menagerie
Way 9: Devour hard science fiction
Way 10: Engage with esoteric STEM
Way 11: Find your challenge
Way 12: Consume research
III. Imagine a Better Tomorrow
A moonshot relies on a vision of a better tomorrow. It is not enough to talk of a better tomorrow; moonshot leaders and teams must inspire people to want to make it happen. These six ways explain different approaches to capture and communicate a moonshot opportunity so that leaders and teams can effectively engage others and help them understand why and when the moonshot is needed more than ever.
Way 13: Start by asking what if ... ?
Way 14: Anchor in a better future
Way 15: Trust that the future is not zero-sum
Way 16: Evangelize the future
Way 17: Push the boundaries of your work
Way 18: Be visionary
IV. Plan Your Stepping Stones
Moonshots take time to develop, so understanding how, when, and where to place stepping stones in the journey helps teams to manage their pace. These six ways offer some practical approaches in laying out a road map and staging various milestones, including how to anticipate future user needs and adopt bold metrics.
Way 19: Get ahead of your customers
Way 20: Look to tipping points
Way 21: Reason back
Way 22: Adopt bold metrics
Way 23: Plan for targets to evolve
Way 24: Be responsible visionaries
V. Invent the Future
Moonshots require a necessary step of invention to convert a concept into a workable solution. Although some experts say coming up with breakthrough ideas is the easy part of innovation, these six ways describe how to make the process a bit easier and more relevant to moonshot efforts.
Way 25: Make your ideas compete
Way 26: Do the hard part daily
Way 27: Go deep with emtech
Way 28: Get to action
Way 29: Build to learn
Way 30: Share proofs of concept early and often
VI. Make Big Bets
By making big bets, moonshot leaders focus on what matters most, and moonshot teams are given the permission to expand their long-term ambitions and produce extraordinary results. Because moonshots are full of unknowns and usually seen as high risk, these six ways address the mental state and techniques for prioritizing breakthrough efforts and knowing when, where, and how to wager wisely.
Way 31: Recruit a challenge board
Way 32: Build foundations
Way 33: Spread your bets
Way 34: Play games
Way 35: Double down on breakthroughs
Way 38: Time your bets
VII. Finance for Alpha
How should you be investing in moonshots? And if you are a moonshot team, how should you approach funding? These six ways specifically address investing in moonshots, including how to seed new fields and fund the handoffs.
Way 37: Invest in the future ecosystem
Way 38: Leverage knowledge discrepancies
Way 39: Seed new fields
Way 40: Develop perpetual pipelines
Way 41: Publish your moonshots metrics
Way 42: Fund the handoffs
VIII. Galvanize Your Team
Moonshot work relies on moonshot talent, so these six ways focus on how to find, reward, and keep the people needed.
Way 43: Be a talent magnet
Way 44: Foster a skunkworks culture
Way 45: Invite radical collaboration
Way 46: Chase brains
Way 47: Hire for unique skills
Way 48: Find your cluster
IX. Win the Future
These last six ways—and tipping us over 50 ways total—address setting the broader conditions involved in building a strategic position in the world, including using sandboxes and playing an infinite game when building moonshots.
Way 49: Practice winning
Way 50: Play to your advantage
Way 51: Use others' solutions as leverage
Way 52: Cannibalize your success
Way 53: Scale fast and slow
Way 54: Play an infinite game