4 ms·

I wonder if it would have made a difference for GM to have pursued more moonshots in automobiles and transportation in general over the last 50-60 years instead

I wonder if it would have made a difference for GM to have pursued more moonshots in automobiles and transportation in general over the last 50-60 years instead of just operational & profit/cost efficiencies and incremental product improvements.

delucain 12y ago
I too often find myself wondering this same thing. Anyone have any insight?
- csours 12y ago
  I work at GM and have read several books on the subject. GM DID pursue some moonshots - see below. In my opinion GM's great downfall was not pursuing continuous improvement. Top management had the belief that GM was the market leader and thus people would buy cars from the market leader. This led to all sorts of bad decisions in the service of running high-volume low quality vehicles. V-8-6-4 L62 Engine (variable cylinder usage): It ran rough and didn't work very well - Later efforts worked much better and go under the name Active Fuel Management EV1: some people loved it; it may have been before it's time Quadrasteer: All 4 wheels can turn. People who bought this option loved it; not enough people bought it.
csours 12y ago
GM definitely had that attitude at some point.[1][2] I think cynicism, infighting, poor incentives[3], and poor attitudes smothered all of that. In addition GM did a very poor job at improving the things you mention, especially product improvements. Toyota took a look at what GM was doing and trying to do, and then went and executed that vision with a very high level of excellence and urgency that GM was slow to respond to. I do think GM now makes a viable (and in some cases excellent) product. It just took them a very long time to get back to that mentality that they had in the 20s-50s. See also my other comment below. 1. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Futurama_(New_York_World's_Fair) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Futurama_(New_York_World's_Fair... 2. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1cRoaPLvQx0 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1cRoaPLvQx0 3. https://hbr.org/2014/08/do-your-companys-incentives-reward-bad-behavior/ https://hbr.org/2014/08/do-your-companys-incentives-reward-b... (link not working for me when I posted it.)

delucain 12y ago

I too often find myself wondering this same thing. Anyone have any insight?

csours 12y ago
I work at GM and have read several books on the subject. GM DID pursue some moonshots - see below. In my opinion GM's great downfall was not pursuing continuous improvement. Top management had the belief that GM was the market leader and thus people would buy cars from the market leader. This led to all sorts of bad decisions in the service of running high-volume low quality vehicles. V-8-6-4 L62 Engine (variable cylinder usage): It ran rough and didn't work very well - Later efforts worked much better and go under the name Active Fuel Management EV1: some people loved it; it may have been before it's time Quadrasteer: All 4 wheels can turn. People who bought this option loved it; not enough people bought it.

csours 12y ago

GM definitely had that attitude at some point.[1][2] I think cynicism, infighting, poor incentives[3], and poor attitudes smothered all of that. In addition GM did a very poor job at improving the things you mention, especially product improvements. Toyota took a look at what GM was doing and trying to do, and then went and executed that vision with a very high level of excellence and urgency that GM was slow to respond to. I do think GM now makes a viable (and in some cases excellent) product. It just took them a very long time to get back to that mentality that they had in the 20s-50s. See also my other comment below. 1. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Futurama_(New_York_World's_Fair) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Futurama_(New_York_World's_Fair... 2. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1cRoaPLvQx0 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1cRoaPLvQx0 3. https://hbr.org/2014/08/do-your-companys-incentives-reward-bad-behavior/ https://hbr.org/2014/08/do-your-companys-incentives-reward-b... (link not working for me when I posted it.)