Something Light
does history repeat?
INNOVATION / HISTORY / EGO
The Inspiration
So what brought the inspiration of tonight’s post? About six months ago I went down to my basement storage and tool room. I flicked the switch and was met by the pause we all contended with due to the CFLs of the last fifteen years. Long ago we had replaced the last of our Edison incandescent bulbs as we made the upgrade to Light Emitting Diodes (LED) lighting throughout our home. The CFL was a short-lived but superior solution to the incandescent bulb. They used 70% less electricity and lasted longer (I think the last of ours was still working after about ten years in the storage room). The warmup period was the challenge and stood starkly against the delayed gratification that we all seem to abhor. It is a tribute to how fast our world changes compared to the past that CFL bulbs are now largely obsolete with the rapid efficiency and cost improvements of LED bulbs.
The Setup
When I was in high school, I enjoyed geography and history classes. It has undoubtedly led to a life-long love of history for me. In school, we stressed names and dates and most everything “happened” at a particular time and we did not spend an enormous amount of time focusing on how things came to be. I am sure that if I had pursued studies in those areas, the method and approach would have changed. I think that very similarly, we simply associated that Eli Whitney invented the cotton gin and it was not particularly important to consider what inspired him and how he came to develop what he did. This creates the narrative of the heroic breakthrough, or “the man ahead of his time” approach to change. Some people ascribe an apple falling on the head of Isaac Newton as leading to his breakthrough insights on gravity. The same sort of allegory befalls history when we retell the tale of George Washington chopping down a cherry tree and admitting his error.
While these may be useful tricks to get us to remember people or events, I think that we are part of a continuous wave of change and the forces around us shape what the next breakthrough or challenge is. Having a collective sense of what the current areas of focus are is an important input to where our world goes next. There are times when nations, families, businesses, and frankly any organizing unit face a reckoning that something must change.
So how slow were things in the “good old days”. For frequent readers or those that know me I am not particularly nostalgic. My school of thought is the heroic characters of any age visualize the future and take chances on new ideas. My favorite working example of the point I am trying to make is the era of Edison and Tesla. Each of them is critical to moving the ball forward but they are not that similar although many may generically describe them as inventors. I think that pop culture wants to know who wins the battle of Godzilla vs. Kong. If you are interested in that sort of thing, this is the wrong post.
Thomas Alva Edison
When it comes to Edison, many of his life-changing inventions were ideas that others around the world were pursuing or had already produced. Edison organized innovation and created an approach to generating breakthroughs. He sought simplification and componentization of his ideas. His innovations were often subtle improvements on existing inventions. He is largely responsible for creating the innovation lab mentality that carried General Electric (which he founded) for almost 100 years as a place synonymous with innovation.
My favorite conclusion about Edison and Tesla is they were similar in one way. They were VERY HARD to work with. While his name is synonymous with GE, Edison was forced out as chairman VERY EARLY in the company's history. He was no fun to work with and could not give up on one of his own bad ideas.
I thought about this recently as GE is in the news as a firm destined to be parted out and perhaps even disappear. The warning signs have always existed for companies that cannot adapt to new ideas or changes. I find it interesting that as of 2018, there are no longer ANY OF THE ORIGINAL DOW JONES INDUSTRIALS (30 STOCKS) still in the index. GE was the last of the exits, joining the recent de-listing of AT&T, Sears, and General Motors. While shells of their former selves and still in existence, at some point, they all lost their way.
Nikola Tesla
While they are in no way related, it is ironic that almost 75 years after Nikola Tesla died, his inspirational name copped by Elon Musk is amongst the most valued firms on earth. Nikola Tesla, in his time, did not have the everyday impact of Thomas Edison while alive. Many of his ideas were visionary and it would take many decades for some of his visions to be realized. While it is best to remain cautious as history is rarely accurate when assessed on the recent past, most insights about Elon Musk is that he is much more of an Edison than a Tesla. Only time will bear out whether that is an accurate assessment.
So what are the legacies of the men? 75 years is enough time to begin to assess the history. Edison created the modern approach to incremental innovation. Tesla meanwhile, envisioned and demonstrated the modern world’s power and communication systems. I remember from a book about Tesla that as his life was in decline and he was living a lonely life in a hotel in New York, he would venture out and navigate his wireless-controlled boat in Central Park in the 1930s and 1940s. What I know is my children in the early 2000s LOVED their radio-controlled toys and their existence owed a debt to Nikola Tesla nearly eighty years before! A man of a different time.
Incremental Change vs Transformation
Tesla was once employed by Edison and in many ways, they were both egocentric men. I think when we see behaviors in those around us that are similar to some of our own we become angered by that. As Tesla’s stock rose, it is generally agreed that Edison offered Tesla a reward of $50,000 to improve his dynamos. When Tesla achieved the goal, Edison said he was joking and offered a $10 per week raise. Their conflict would grow through the years.
When Tesla allied with Westinghouse and electricity was emerging, Edison was in the DC camp while Tesla was in the AC camp. As alternating current emerged as the superior solution, the conflict between the men grew. It reached its zenith at the 1892-93 Columbian Exposition in Chicago. This was the coming-out party for American innovation. In a pitched battle, the exposition chose Westinghouse over Edison to electrify the grounds. At this point, Edison, enraged, refused to license the incandescent bulbs that would accompany the alternating current circuitry pioneered by Westinghouse and Tesla. In the short time that remained before the Exposition would open, Tesla managed to develop fluorescent lighting so as not to infringe on the incandescent bulb patents. These bulbs, with nominal improvements, would become the compact fluorescent lights (CFLs) we would apply as a society in the early 2000s on the road to LEDs.
Does History Repeat?
While history has not yet been written for the current age, it is interesting that Elon Musk, the richest man in the world, spends an inordinate amount of time attacking people who have created new and innovative competitors to Tesla Motors. In many ways, people like R J Scaringe (Rivian) and Peter Rawlinson (Lucid Motors) may turn out to be the Nikola Tesla-type nemesis to Elon Musk. It is also interesting that Mr. Rawlinson, in some circles, was instrumental in the creation of the original Tesla Model 3 and moved on over creative differences with Musk. Musk cannot resist demeaning Mr. Rawlinson and denies he played any significant role at Tesla. Shakespeare might say “Elon, thou protesteth too much”. Only time will tell if history is repeating itself.
Ignore the Noise, Embrace the Change
I imagine that some of you have fully embraced the move to LED lighting. It is sad, but indicative of the times that even the adoption of new lighting standards has been embraced as something people might argue about and descend into politics. For me, it is sad when politicians step into fields about which they know very little. The currency of a politician is persuasion, so explaining something you don’t understand for the purpose of persuasion is very likely to sacrifice accuracy. Change is so hard for people and there will always be opportunists who hop on “the crazy bandwagon” to create controversy where there is none.
At least in my case, my energy company provides rebates for purchasing EnergyStar bulbs. The rebates offset a SIGNIFICANT part of the cost difference. For bulbs in our home that remain on only two hours per day, when the rebate is considered and our local utility rate, the bulb pays for itself in a bit less than 3 months and claims a useful life of closer to ten years instead of the incandescent approximate one year life. The rate that which prices are dropping reminds me of computers and flash drives. We live in amazing times. The crazy crowd focused on (1) dangerous gases and then (2) poor quality light and now (3) is down to expense. With no place to seek shelter, I am sure they will focus on “government control and freedom”. This is an interesting and repeating pattern. Let your mind ponder it so you might learn to ignore the charlatan.
I believe that all of the life-transforming things ahead for us are threatened most by the tendency of people to FEAR change. It is sort of the way our brains work. Change can upend us if we do not work to learn to embrace it. It is wrong to think this is the first time that resistance has existed. It is the human condition. One of these evenings I plan to write about how “progress” can upend us if we are not careful. It is not the event, but rather our response to the event. In a world in which there will be increasingly more change events, we all must learn to adapt. It is so important that we keep people educated to grasp all that is ahead. As we specialize, it has become impossible for people to understand all of it. Trust in the expertise and responsible presentation of the facts is up to those with the expertise not to manipulate. The requirement is always more centered on trust. Trust requires leadership. That is what we should seek. Here is a propaganda poster from around 1900. The fear of electricity was everywhere. I am glad there wasn’t Facebook in those days!
If you are interested in this story about Edison and Tesla, the movie The Current Wars was quite “illuminating”. Their story is wonderful as enough time has passed to make judgments and even better, learn a lesson or two. The music was easy tonight.
26+
Great post. The fear of change is also true in the biomedical field. Doctors and hospitals don’t want to spend the money or take the time to train on/with innovative medical devices or robots which would ultimately save everyone involved, including the patient, money and recovery time.