3 Truths Re-Learned at the Site of Crowd-Solving’s “Big Bang”

My interest in open-innovation and crowd-solving began when I first heard the story of how a new type of focused innovation led to a dramatic improvement in seafaring.  The year was 1714.  Parliament enacted the “Longitude Act of 1714” to invite the public to compete to provide a solution to the universal problem of determining longitude while at sea.  They offered a prize of £20,000 (worth $12 million today) to whoever could determine longitude to an accuracy of half a degree after a six-week voyage from England to the West Indies. 

I first read about the challenge and its eventual solution in “Longitude”, by Dava Sobel.  In 2020 I wrote a book review of the book that you can read HERE.

Recently, I was in London and decided to visit Greenwich, the home of the Prime Meridian and the locus for Greenwich Mean Time.  It is a great daytrip from London.  I recommend getting there via riverboat on the Thames!

At the Royal Observatory in Greenwich, one can stand on the Prime Meridian (see Figure 1) and learn about its importance.  This was very interesting, as it has a direct impact on seafreight today.

Figure 1.  Prime Meridian in Greenwich, England.

The best part of the visit for me was the chance to see, in person, the first 4 versions of the ultimately winning solution of the Longitude Challenge (see Figure 2).  These iterations of what is now known as a “marine chronograph” were developed by one man, the British clockmaker John Harrison, over the period from 1714 to 1760 – an astonishing 46 years! 

                    H-1                                        H-2                               H-3                               H-4

 Figure 2.  Four Iterations of the Marine Chronograph.

Seeing these impressive engineering accomplishments in person was incredible to me.  But even more noteworthy than their engineering was the fact that a crowd-solving challenge was the catalyst that created the conditions to generate world-changing innovation.  I once again fell in love with the power of the global crowd!  For over 300 years, it has been bringing innovations to life.

The visit reminded me of three key aspects of crowd-solving that were true in the 1700s and are true today in the 2020s. 

1. A solution likely requires combining multiple individual innovations into one.   The four versions of the chronograph that were in the Royal Observatory each contained new innovations to solve unique problems of keeping accurate time while at sea.  The clocks had to deal with the universal problem of friction, the unsteady nature of the ocean and the corrosive salt air.  Each of these were unsolved problems in the early 1700s and Harrison had to invent solutions to each.  Surprisingly, some of his inventions, like the bi-metallic strip, are still used in thermostats and temperature-control devices today. My takeaway on this point is that a new solution leverages the innovations of many people who might each solve parts of the whole problem.  The best crowd-solvers are those who can bring these separate innovations together into one complete solution in a way that has not been done before. 

2. Innovation is iterative.  It took John Harrison four markedly different prototypes and 30+ years before he finally perfected enough of the solution to fulfill all of the requirements and win the prize.  It is easy to forget this truth when judging submissions for a crowd-solving challenge, but this is the reason that Seekers will often do follow-on challenges – to further refine promising ideas and move them closer to the ultimate objective.

3. High-impact solutions require multiple innovations of varying types.  The Harrison chronographs are a key tool in determining one’s longitude.  But alone, they are just a better clock.  They became revolutionary because they were used in conjunction with the Prime Meridian (in Greenwich) and Greenwich Mean Time to create a solution to the problem of longitude.  Here's how it works.  A ship determines solar noon at its location.  The chronograph knows solar noon in Greenwich England because it was set to Greenwich Mean Time when it was manufactured.  Knowing the time difference between the ship’s noon and GMT time at ship’s noon allowed a ship to know its exact longitude vis-à-vis the Prime Meridian because every hour of time difference is 15 degrees longitude.  Knowing the hours, minutes and seconds from GMT tells the ship how many degrees, minutes and seconds it is from the Prime Meridian.  Because maps are defined in reference to the Prime Meridian, the ship can know its exact longitudinal location.  The invention of a perfect clock combined with agreement on the Prime Meridian and Greenwich Mean Time are how the longitude problem was solved.  I think it is likely that other ‘big’ problems in today’s world may be solved with a combination of physical and standards-based innovation.