Jonathan Bays is a consultant in McKinsey’s New York office; and Paul Jansen is a principal in McKinsey’s San Francisco office.
Back in the 18th century, the inability to accurately measure the longitude of a ship’s position made transoceanic voyages high-risk ventures—for investors as well as sailors. The answer? In 1714, the British government offered a cash award of £20,000 to anyone who could develop a way of precisely determining a ship’s longitude. Nearly 300 years later, prizes meant to spark solutions to complex problems are experiencing a renaissance.
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