The Michigan Central campus (see dots #5016 & 5017) includes several streets where the owners have been given permission to experiment free from regulations. This allows for speedier innovation trials, without the time lag to secure permits and approval from the city.
One use of this latitude involves piloting a test strip where wireless charging capabilities are placed underground so electric vehicles can charge their batteries without stopping. Currently, it only encompasses several blocks, but the hope is that it could have greater adoption in the future. The American Automobile Association (AAA) notes that “range anxiety keeps 60% of consumers from considering electric vehicles despite their environmental benefits,” so underground charging is an experiment to overcome that hesitation.
How can you adopt your organization’s policies as Detroit has done to provide more freedom and flexibility in the innovation process? Let your thinkers, artists, and engineers spend their time on creating rather than on navigating internal or external bureaucracy.
