Visioneering - Making Vision Reality - Lesson from Walt Disney and Werner Von Braun

Walt Disney and Werner Von Braun

At the end of World War II, Werner Von Braun was secreted, along with most of his scientific team, to the White Sands Proving Grounds in New Mexico, then Huntsville, Alabama, to work on rocketry for the U.S., based primarily on his A-4 design and the V2 rocket -echoes of which were seen in the Redstone launch vehicle, and even, in the massive Saturn V. While in the service of the Nazis, Von Braun was arrested for being "too theoretical" and "not contributing enough" to the tactical Nazi war effort. A particular critiscm was the lack of progress on artillery rockets needed for the Wermacht. So, the infamous V2 factory at Peenemunde was placed under the control of the SS.

If you read the books he wrote in the early 1950's - you can see that his vision for the space program, including a well-thought out trip to Mars, was readily apparent - even though the government was not yet sold on the idea of space travel. Only the success of the Sputnik program and Yuri Gagarin propelled the U.S. into action. As advanced and detailed as his thinking was at the time, it is surprising to see how relatively little has been achieved in manned space flight since the 1970's.

Frustrated by bureaucratic inertia, Von Braun took his ideas to the people, first through his books, then through television in a unique partnership with Walt Disney. Though some scientists viewed his actions as showboating, in the end, the direct approach carried the day, and achieved faster change, bringing about the vision that incremental scientific change, working under the tenets of accepted doctrine, could not. This reminds of the oft-quoted Thomas Kuhn.

Today, Von Braun would be writing a blog, selling his ideas directly. Brainspeed is one of the important facets of performance that you need to improve, directly related as it is to both cognitive performance and longevity.