How the Wright Brothers Invented the Airplane

In 1903 there was a race to build a flying machine. Many people were competing to receive funding for some sort of “start-up” to build the first controlled, powered and sustained human flight. One of them was Samuel Langley, a pioneer in aviation, astronomer, physicist and a successful scientist and entrepreneur. The other two were nothing that Samuel was: to the “expert” eye, they were nobody. Their names were Wilber and Orville Wright. Samuel Langley put a lot of money in the enterprise of inventing that flying machine. After several attempts, Langley was defeated by a self-funded and amateur design created by the unknown Wright brothers. How is it possible that the expert failed and the amateurs succeeded?

When people consider themselves as experts in any area, they are limiting themselves to their existing views. They think that they know all they need to know, that they attained a level of expertise that provides them with the possibility of solving the problems in their areas and, sometimes with a little bit of arrogance, they are close to possibilities that go beyond their knowledge. Oftentimes, this type of attitude results in those “experts” missing what could otherwise be very clear, but the lenses they are using are just too stained with their preconceptions. Another possibility is that they might try to give an explanation as to what they are observing, using what they already know to give sense to that observation, based on the way they think things are. This is the equivalent of solving the new problems that arise with the same approach that has been used in the past. Even Albert Einstein said that we cannot solve the problems that we create at the same level of thinking we had when we created them. Real expertise gives us a better service when it allows us to understand that what we know might not be true, and that we need to be open to new possible explanations or theories. A better approach would be using our expertise to let our beginner’s mind look at a problem or situation from multiple points of view, allowing a flexible and adaptive approach that lets us wonder, observe, question and learn with freshness, and then use our creative processes to solve those problems. And it is necessary to begin with the flexibility that comes with an open-mind.

Samuel Langley was defeated because he let his expertise interfere with the innovation process. He didn’t have a beginner’s mind and therefore tried to apply his old limiting preconceptions of the world of physics and astronomy to a problem that required a totally new perspective.

Samuel Langley and his failed attempt to fly

On the other hand, Wilbur and Orville Wright succeeded because they were able to see the challenge from a fresh mindset and explore additional ideas other than those that have been previously proposed. They didn’t try to solve the challenge by patching up old solutions, but by seeing the potential of various alternatives, some of them deemed crazy. This is the case of Disruptive Curiosity in action. Practicing a beginner’s mind, observing the situations with clean lenses, asking seemingly impertinent questions, even when they appear to be very crazy, and then applying previous or new knowledge to give an answer to that situation. This is actually the essence of science, because impertinent questions lead to us to find coherent answers.  

Usually, the most important breakthroughs and innovations are made by people who force themselves to see things from a dimension that is beyond expertise in order to find ways to create and innovate. These people are not afraid of the new, and they take the opportunity to learn from the new. That was the case of Wright Brothers.

The Wright Brothers were facing a new and unfamiliar situation and they had the opportunity to create something amazing out of it. Of course they used their previous knowledge. They were experts in mechanics because of their experience working with printing presses, motors and bicycles. What they were able to do much better than Langley was to connect the new problem and the questions they were asking to what they had previously learned. Their real breakthrough was the invention of a three-axis control that helped the pilots balance the aircraft and maintain equilibrium, keeping them in the air for a longer time and a longer distance. The Wright Brothers didn’t really know whether this was going to work or not. But as I said before, with their beginner’s mind they were able to understand that failure and mistakes are part of the possibilities and they were open to it. On the other hand, Langley was not. He believed that using the three-axis control was too complicated for a pilot and he didn’t follow that alternative.

Wright Brothers bike

In the entrepreneurial world, such as that of the Wright Brother and Samuel Langley, we are usually learning and creating in an environment that is unfamiliar to us. But it is precisely that environment that allows us to create something fascinating. The most powerful tool that has ever existed is within us, our brains. When we are creating something new, we are basically in the process of connecting information that we already know with new information. Therefore, a beginner’s mind is the perfect way to let our brains get more raw information that has been untouched by our ideas and preconceptions. Discovering and understanding raw information is an adventure of freedom. Our brains are instruments for preparation before action, and that preparation comes at the price of leaving our preconceptions on the side.

As the competition between Langley and the Wright Brothers shows, nothing is more comfortable, and dangerous, than what is familiar to us. Humans are creatures of habit and that is how we survived thousands of years during our evolution. It is comfortable to stay within our routines, within the boundaries of what is already known to us, particularly the boundaries set by our expertise. The problem is that in the realm of what is familiar to us, not many exciting things happen, never mind being able to design an airplane. Disruptive Curiosity awakens the dormant giant within us that brings more excitement and enjoyment of the things we do on a regular basis. The premise of Disruptive Curiosity is precisely having the possibility of disrupting the way things are by questioning from a fresh mind.

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 About the Author: Enrique Rubio is an HR Professional at the Inter-American Development Bank. He is an Electronic Engineer and a Fulbright scholar with an Executive Master’s Degree in Public Administration from Syracuse University. Enrique researches and writes about leadership and HR and seeks to explore the overlaps of productivity and leadership in the business and non-profit world. Enrique is also a competitive ultrarunner.

Twitter: @erubio_p

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