Entrepreneurship is not “Rocket Science”

In the space age of the 1960s — and ever since — the phrase “it’s not rocket science” has meant that something is not complex and doesn’t require a high IQ. I’d like to re-define the phrase.

When rockets are launched, years of planning and research goes into a single event. Every single millisecond is planned, charted, and calculated to make sure that nothing goes wrong. Entire committees will convene to decide the most minute detail of the launch, with countless calculations going on behind the scenes to make sure the all decisions are based on fact.

Even then, accidents happen and the outcome is never certain. People make mistakes. Calculations are wrong. And “unknown unknowns” will sometimes cause catastrophe.

When a rocket launch is successful, it’s because 10,000 things didn’t go wrong. For high risk plans, that’s about as good as you can ask for.

Car racing, however, is perhaps the complete opposite of “rocket science”. Sure, the equipment is high tech and pushing the boundaries of engineering, but the general philosophy is different. A driver and his team KNOW that 10,000 things will go wrong, and they design their vehicle and systems accordingly.

Race car crews are perhaps the most highly-coordinated teams in any industry. We used to send our consulting clients to “Pit Crew U” to learn how to create lean and efficient operating teams. Sure they are impressively efficient at changing tires and refilling fuel in record time, but they can also diagnose and fix problems in blinding speed. These experts know that nothing is guaranteed in their sport, and they spend night and day practicing to deal with anything.

Which Type Are You?

I always cringe when people talk about setting multi-year plans for startups. You really just don’t know what’s going to come along once the race starts. But the best entrepreneurs set their strategy on learning, adapting, and getting really good at doing pit stops before they go back out there for another lap.

I can’t think of a company that started and succeeded like a rocket launch, but there are plenty that went through a number of pit stops and then focused all efforts on speed once they hit the straightaway and blew the competition away. Which type of entrepreneur are you?