F. Scott Fitzgerald once said that the “test of a first-rate mind is the ability to hold two diametrically opposed ideas in your head at the same time.” With this quote in mind, I’d now like to ask you to hold on to my earlier advice of ”Thinking 10X, Not 10%” while also appreciating the beauty of gaining a 10% improvement.
More specifically, earlier this week, Netflix awarded a $1 million prize to a group of researchers who developed an algorithm that lead the company to improve their movie recommendations to their customers by 10%. The result—in the form of increased sales—will more than offset the cost of the prize.
I mention this example because there are so many other industries that could increase productivity by awarding a prize. The most famous example is Gold Corp which earned millions by allowing outsiders to access their mining data in research of new gold reserves. One industry, in particular, that should employ this device is the oil industry.
Just today I came across this article suggesting researchers are trying to employ nanotechnology to help the oil industry increase oil production from existing wells by 10%. Now I’m a big fan of nanotechnology helping the oil industry, but the industry should follow Netflix’s example and award a prize to any researcher (or group of researchers) who can increase the yield by 10% (while keeping the cost of discovering that oil within certain parameters—i.e. $60-a-barrel). What do they have to lose?
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