Starting from first principles

The core issue of multinationals trying to innovate is that they are rarely in the position of starting from first principles. They depend on legacy technology; they have factories already running, sales channels organized in a certain way, etc.

All this is fine and dandy when it allows an inherent competitive advantage and a moat to competitors. Until it doesn't, and it isn't anymore. This is known, of course, as the innovator's dilemma: your past successes become an obstacle for innovation.

In this video, Musk is quite clear (which is quite rare) about how he was thinking when launching Tesla.

Starting from a blank page with as less as prejudice about the market and the technology as possible is a rare opportunity.

How often do you create this space in your company?