A Team for All Time

Wilbur and Orville Wright,
Kitty Hawk North Carolina.
December 17th, 1903, 10:35 AM

They were bright, ambitious, and for all practical purposes they were married to their work. However, at the core of the Wright brothers partnership - and what truly fueled their stunning success, was a rare and intense focus on creative problem solving. Both were skilled inventors and practical engineers, although Wilbur tended to be more of the creative designer, while Orville was more of the hands-on engineer. This complimentary division of skills is found in many successful duos, but the Wright brothers, having literally spent their entire lives in each other’s company - had an almost supernatural ability for tackling both productive work while also channeling creative inspiration.

One of their most unique design routines was to fiercely debate various engineering decisions, and then halfway through - switch sides and take the opposing point of view. Not only did this help sharpen the overall thought process, but it insured that none of their disagreements ever spilled over into personal animosity. Behind this ability to productively argue stood a core sense of shared effort, trust and equity. Author Mark Eppler in his book The Wright Way, calls this principle, “Force Multiplication, the Principle of Team Equity” in which trust, effort, profits, power and honor were all shared.

Eppler also highlights a second pillar for their success: Relentless Preparation. The brothers grew up in a very literate household - their father was a Baptist minister, and their mother was very mechanically minded. This combination led to both a well-read breadth and appreciation for scientific trends as well as a very hands-on practicality. With the benefit of hindsight, it was perhaps the perfect scenario for raising two of the world’s greatest inventors. As they narrowed their focus on achieving human powered flight, they logged countless hours working on kites, gliders, wings, propellers, engines and wind-tunnels to insure that their tests in Kitty Hawk would be successful.

Their third core success principle was Meticulous Measurement. Not content to accept the prevailing dogma surrounding flight, they continuously tested and measured their own inventions and carefully logged each success and failure. This attention to detail was not only part of their natural inclinations, but it was driven by the knowledge that failure to have accurate measurements could lead to catastrophic test failure and even death.

The fruits of this cooperation and intense problem-solving focus are of course legendary. On the evening of December 17th, Orville sent a terse but no doubt emotional telegram to his father:

"Success four flights Thursday morning all against twenty-one mile per hour wind started from level with engine power alone average speed through air thirty-one miles longest 57 seconds inform press home Christmas. Orville Wright."

Their initial success at Kitty Hawk was by no means the end of their creative journey together, and the following years would see countless more challenges and setbacks. However, the creative working partnership they had forged - built on Team Equity, Relentless Preparation, and Meticulous Measure - held strong - eventually leading to both national and international acclaim for their incredible aeronautical achievements!