Companies today, facing an environment of great uncertainty, need to embrace the idea of challenging traditional industry assumptions. This perspective of defying conventional wisdom goes hand-in-hand with the process of Blue Ocean Strategy, which is a systematic approach to turning unconventional ideas into winning strategies. This week, to provide some inspiration, we feature two examples of Defying Conventional Wisdom.
For our first example, we turn to the Aeroscraft, a large air ship (think of a flying Queen Mary II). Contrary to conventional wisdom of the air travel industry, the Aeroscraft has been designed for passengers who are more concerned with the journey than the destination.
From Flight Information Technology:
It's the Aeroscraft, and when it's completed, it will ferry pampered passengers across continents and oceans as they stroll leisurely about the one-acre cabin, or relax in their staterooms. Unlike its dirigible ancestors, the Aeroscraft is not lighter than air. It's 14 million cubic feet of helium hoist only two-thirds of the craft's weight. The rigid and surprisingly aerodynamic body, driven by huge rear-ward propellers, generates enough additional lift to keep the behemoth and its 400-ton payload aloft while cruising.
During takeoff and landing, six turbo-fan jet engines push the ship up or ease its descent. This two-football-fields-long airship is the brainchild of Igor Pasternak, whose privately-funded California firm, Worldwide Aeros Corporation, is in the early stages of developing a prototype and expects to have one completed by 2010.
[Image via Worldwide Aeros Corporation.]
