Go Lean Commentary
Yes, this is a thing; “Moonshots” that is. This is defined as follows:
A moonshot, in a technology context, is an ambitious, exploratory and ground-breaking project undertaken without any expectation of near-term profitability or benefit and also, perhaps, without a full investigation of potential risks and benefits.
Google has adopted the term moonshot for its most innovative projects, many of which come out of the Google X, the company’s semi-secret lab. Google moonshots include Google Glass, Project Loon (a balloon-based Internet service project), the driverless car, augmented reality glasses, a neural network, robots for the manufacturing industry and Project Calico, a life extension project.
Here’s Google’s definition of a moonshot:
A project or proposal that:
- Addresses a huge problem
- Proposes a radical solution
- Uses breakthrough technology
The term “moonshot” derives from the Apollo 11 spaceflight project, which landed the first human on the moon in [July] 1969. “Moonshot” may also reference the earlier phrase “shoot for the moon” meaning aim for a lofty target.
Source: Retrieved July 17, 2019 from: https://whatis.techtarget.com/definition/moonshotSee this related VIDEO’s about “Moonshot thinking” in the Appendices below.
It is appropriate to discuss Moonshots this week; this is the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 11 blast-off and journey to the moon – July 16 to 20 – when the first man – Neil Armstrong – walked on the surface of that extra-terrestrial body. See VIDEO of a newscast from Miami, Florida here:
50th Anniversary Of Apollo 11’s Blast Off From Florida On Mission To The Moon
VIDEO – CBS4 July 16, 2019 5:15 Newscast – https://cbsloc.al/2lHIAwK
CAPE CANAVERAL (CBS4/CNN/AP) – On July 16th, fifty years ago, the Apollo 11 astronauts launched from the Kennedy Space Center on a historic mission to become the first people in history to walk on the moon.
The effort to pursue this Moonshot did not start that week (50 years ago); no, this was only when the quest was finally fulfilled. That quest began 8 years earlier, as envisioned by then-President John F. Kennedy at a speech in 1961. This historical event – and a lesson learned – is provided in the 2013 book Go Lean … Caribbean on Page 127 where this excerpt is detailed:
The Bottom Line on Kennedy’s Quest for the Moon
On 25 May 1961, US President John F. Kennedy announced his support for the American Space program’s “Apollo” missions and redefined the ultimate goal of the Space Race in an address to a special joint session of Congress: “I believe that this nation should commit itself to achieving the goal, before this decade is out, of landing a man on the moon and returning him safely to the earth”. His justification for the Moon Race was both that it was vital to national security and that it would focus the nation’s energies in other scientific and social fields. This quest was succeeded. At 10:56 pm EDT, on 20 July 1969, the first human (American Astronaut Neil Armstrong) ventured out of the Apollo 11 landing craft and set foot on the Moon declaring: “one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind“.
The Caribbean – regionally and the 30 member-states individually – need its own Moonshot collectively. The Go Lean book asserts that these highlights and headlines, entitled “10 Big Ideas … in the Caribbean Region” (Page 127), must be pursued as a regional “Moonshot”:
| 1 | Lean-in for the Caribbean Single Market & Economy Initiative: Caribbean Union Trade Federation (CU). |
| 2 | Currency Union / Single Currency – Introducing the Caribbean Dollar (C$) |
| 3 | Defense / Homeland Security Pact – To provide anti-crime, anti-terrorism, emergency & disaster management |
| 4 | Confederation Without Sovereignty – No need for full independence of member-states |
| 5 | Four Languages in Unison – Dutch, English, French & Spanish |
| 6 | Self-Governing Entities (SGE) – These centers of Economic Activities will be primary job creators |
| 7 | Virtual “Turnpike” Operations – Transit options to interconnect all lands like blood vessels in an organ |
| 8 | Cyber Caribbean – Internet Communications Technology can be a great equalizer |
| 9 | e-Learning – Versus – Studying Abroad – The status quo have resulted in a “brain drain” – time for a change |
| 10 | Cuba & Haiti – There are Marshall Plans that consider the reality of these states and the strategies to reform them |
This theme – modeling the nationwide commitment to pursue a grandiose accomplishment – aligns with many previous Go Lean commentaries; see a sample list here:
| http://www.goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=10513 | Transforming ‘Money’ Countrywide India launched a massive project to provide a digital identity to 1.1 billion people. Then they provided a pseudo-bank account for everyone and disbursed governments benefits there, followed by an e-Money product for each citizen to facilitate transfers & payments. |
| http://www.goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=6563 | Lessons from Iceland – Model of Recovery While at the precipice of economic disaster, this country deviated from the easy path and did the heavy lifting to reform and transform their economy. While not popular by foreign watchers, it worked; they now enjoy far greater success than their peer countries. Good job! |
| http://www.goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=2480 | A Lesson in History – Community Ethos of WW II The real history of the US during World War II was that the entire country postponed immediate gratification, endured hard sacrifices, and became convinced that their future (after the war) would be better than their past (before the war). Yes, we can as well. |
| http://www.goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=3490 | How One Entrepreneur Can Rally a Whole Community One person, a role model, can make a difference in transforming a whole community, so a “Moonshot” is viable anywhere with the proper leadership and messaging. |
| http://www.goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=833 | One currency, divergent economies The “Euro” Single Currency took heavy-lifting to launch – everything monetary-wise had to change for every member-states, but now they have the strongest, soundest currency in the world. |
The US did it – they fulfilled the vision of their slain President. This is proof-positive that with the proper motivation and messaging, the whole community can engage a national goal and work to get it done, despite obstacles, challenges and doubts. Societies can be reformed and transformed.
Yes, we can … in the Caribbean conceive, believe and achieve our own “Moonshots”. What is it that we want? Not much … just everything that should be accomplished and pursued by a matured democratic society; think:
- Economic progress – jobs, entrepreneurial opportunities, increased capital availability
- Security assurances – safer homeland and more optimized justice institutions
- Governing improvements – better delivery – including e-Government – of the implied Social Contract (where citizens surrender some of their freedoms and submit to the authority of the State in exchange for protection of remaining natural and legal rights) for basic services from the cradle to the grave.
We must compete better to keep our citizens here at home, rather than watch them flee the homeland for foreign shores. This has been our reality, but now we have a new vision.
Let’s lean-in to this vision, and our own “Moonshot”, this Go Lean roadmap. This is how-why-what-and-when we can make progress. This is how we can make our homeland a better place to live, work and play. 🙂
About the Book
The book Go Lean…Caribbean serves as a roadmap for the introduction and implementation of the technocratic Caribbean Union Trade Federation (CU), for the elevation of Caribbean society – for all member-states. This CU/Go Lean roadmap has these 3 prime directives:
- Optimization of the economic engines in order to grow the regional economy to $800 Billion and create 2.2 million new jobs.
- Establishment of a security apparatus to ensure public safety and protect the resultant economic engines.
- Improve Caribbean governance to support these engines, including a separation-of-powers between the member-states and CU federal agencies.
The Go Lean book provides 370-pages of turn-by-turn instructions on “how” to adopt new community ethos, plus the strategies, tactics, implementations and advocacies to execute so as to reboot, reform and transform the societal engines of Caribbean society.
Download the free e-Book of Go Lean … Caribbean – now!
Who We Are
The movement behind the Go Lean book – a non-partisan, apolitical, religiously-neutral Community Development Foundation chartered for the purpose of empowering and re-booting economic engines – stresses that reforming and transforming the Caribbean societal engines must be a regional pursuit. This was an early motivation for the roadmap, as pronounced in the opening Declaration of Interdependence (Pages 12 – 13):
xi. Whereas all men are entitled to the benefits of good governance in a free society, “new guards” must be enacted to dissuade the emergence of incompetence, corruption, nepotism and cronyism at the peril of the people’s best interest. The Federation must guarantee the executions of a social contract between government and the governed.
xvi. Whereas security of our homeland is inextricably linked to prosperity of the homeland, the economic and security interest of the region needs to be aligned under the same governance. Since economic crimes … can imperil the functioning of the wheels of commerce for all the citizenry, the accedence of this Federation must equip the security apparatus with the tools and techniques for predictive and proactive interdictions.
xxiv. Whereas a free market economy can be induced and spurred for continuous progress, the Federation must install the controls to better manage aspects of the economy: jobs, inflation, savings rate, investments and other economic principles. Thereby attracting direct foreign investment because of the stability and vibrancy of our economy.
Sign the petition to lean-in for this roadmap for the Caribbean Union Trade Federation.
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Appendix VIDEO A – What is Moonshot Thinking? By X, the Moonshot Factory – https://youtu.be/DeKZxd6_Hsk
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Published on Feb 12, 2017
- Category: Entertainment
- License: Creative Commons Attribution license (reuse allowed)
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Appendix VIDEO B – What goes on inside Google’s so-called Moonshot Factory? – https://youtu.be/uCCVaEMN8To
CBS This Morning
Published on Oct 14, 2017 – Self-driving cars, delivery drones and internet service delivered through floating balloons are just some of the projects that have come out of X, the secretive Google lab tasked with imagining and developing futuristic technologies. Atlantic magazine senior editor Derek Thompson went inside the lab and joins “CBS This Morning: Saturday” to discuss what else the company’s exceptional minds are envisioning.
- Category: News & Politics