Sometime in 1929 or thereabouts, a couple of men named John J. Raskob and Pierre S. du Pont had what was a truly big idea. Of course as with any truly big idea there were formidable obstacles to over come.
For one, they would have to push technology to its limits.
For another it was the heart of the Great Depression and capital was hard to come by, even for a couple of plutocrats, which they were.
It was their vision and they were men accustomed to getting what they wanted, so nothing was going to stop them.
They didn’t mess around with boards or committees and the plans were drawn up and approved in a couple of weeks.
In January 1930 they set to work in earnest.
One year and 45 days later on May 1st 1931, the ribbon was cut.
With the help of over 3000 workers, including hundreds of Mohawks mainly from Canada who built most of the iron work, the 102 storey Empire State Building was now the world’s tallest building.
It was a truly big idea.
But it wasn’t the really big idea.
The really big idea was the mast on the top of the building.
The mast was to function as a mooring for airships, a fairly popular form of transport until the tragic inferno that engulfed the Hindenburg in 1937.
The idea was passengers would embark, or disembark, from an airship terminal just an elevator ride from Fifth Avenue and the heart of Manhattan.
It was a brilliant idea, and it didn't work.
Records differ as to how many attempts were made in trials to moor an airship to the mast, but they all agree that the feat was never accomplished.
Ironically, one of the factors that prevented it was the updraft caused by the building itself.
So to some extent a truly big idea contributed to the failure of an even bigger idea.
Big ideas are like that, they’re risky.
They disrupt the status quo and sometimes they even kill each other.
So the next time anyone claims to have a big idea, then mentions your brand and some c-list celeb in the same breath, just say no and ask them to get dangerous.
