An idea so crazy, it just might work
I admit to being a bit of a Google fanboy. I love the technology, the suite of apps, Google’s growing commitment to the education market. but that isn’t my favorite part about Google. I have the utmost respect for their approach to innovation, the dedication to the talent that they have, and allowing “crazy” to take root and flourish into full-fledged projects (and sometimes to fail spectacularly).
Internet on . . . balloons! Why not?
One of Google’s newest “out there” projects is Project Loon, a balloon-based mesh network circling the earth on the high altitude air currents in the Stratosphere while beaming down internet connectivity to the billions of people on earth who don’t get internet connectivity. . Google is thinking big. These balloons will hoist solar powered platforms 20 kilometers into the sky, and deliver internet (not fast internet) to people who are too remote for traditional connectivity.
The takeaway?
Apart from the cool experimental technology that the rest of us get to ooh and ah over. The lesson I take from Google, is first to hire people who will be creative and come up with new ideas and then to empower your people to try those ideas, even if they sometimes fail. Innovation, whether in education, or in business is not about succeeding every time, but having the guts to take calculated risks and then figure out best-practices, and share those experiences.
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