Let’s talk about choo choos.
Passenger rail is an systemically efficient method for moving people around. I was recently in Germany, and it’s a wonderfully practical and pleasant method of getting from somewhere to somewhere else.
As long as you’re near a station. And the place you are going is near a station. And you don’t want to go anywhere the train doesn’t go. The cost to create new rail infrastructure to new places is very high.
Roads with automobiles are also an effective method for moving people around, but systemically much less efficient. However, the cost to add new infrastructure to new places is relatively inexpensive.
Roads are less efficient as a system but optimize for individual flexibility. Trains are the opposite — efficient as a system but rigid for individuals.
We see this trade-off everywhere. Healthcare. Education. Business processes. Even relationships.
When you’re making something, do you design for the system or for the individual? The answer depends on who you’re trying to serve.
Step one is to get clear about who you’re trying to serve.
