Did you know that it was Google engineers and not the auto industry that started the race to produce a self-driving car? While the concept of an autonomous car dates back to at least the 1920’s, it was Google engineers that matched a well-documented human pain: driver error causes millions of traffic deaths, with the building blocks to a solution: Google Maps, Google Earth and Street View. Granted, the technology still has a ways to go before you and I can safely hit the road hands-off, but the point I’m driving here is about innovation. How can today’s leaders motivate employees to embrace the kind of thinking that gives great organizations like Google the first-mover advantage?
