The Hyperloop Concept: How to Effectively Accelerate Your Business

Sometimes, the best way to innovate is to look outside your area of expertise for inspiration. There are plenty of examples of this, but one of the best that comes to mind is the “hyperloop” concept. For context, a hyperloop is a super high-speed transportation system where people can travel using a hovering pod inside a vacuum tube. It works by “removing the two things that slow down regular vehicles: friction and air resistance.” The train pods hover due to magnetic levitation. For example, with two sets of magnets, one will repel and push the train off the track, and another will move the floating train ahead. The removal of air resistance and the propelling and pushing of the magnets allow pods to move at tremendous speeds (up to 760 mph) and with incredible efficiency. 

If you look at the hyperloop model as a way to improve operations and bolster efficiency, it’s easy to see how it can apply in a larger business sense. The critical business takeaway from the hyperloop concept is that if you’re looking to accelerate and grow your business, you must remove the barriers and resistance that inhibit it while repelling what you don’t need. This approach can be categorized into three overarching goals: removing friction, eliminating air resistance, and creating a magnetic attraction. 

Removing Friction

Eliminating friction is the first and most obvious step for building a hyperloop. The best way for a business to achieve this is to build teams that work well together and are a good fit within your company’s culture. Conflict within a company’s teams tends to come from employees’ issues with the company culture. Sometimes this comes from hiring people who just aren’t a good fit (you need people who are skilled, motivated, and have a collaborative mindset), while other times you might have a culture that encourages bad behavior (it might encourage an aversion to risk or keep teams siloed off from one another). Either way, you must build your culture and workforce to best reflect your goals and values. This doesn’t just count for your average employees either: if senior leaders and middle managers fail to follow brand values, employees will quickly follow their example. Without proper guidance and modeling from top leadership, employees can lose trust in the company, which can suck the motivation out of even the most dedicated employee. 

Eliminating Air Resistance 

Closely related to the removal of friction, a hyperloop also requires one to eliminate air resistance. In business terms, this goes hand-in-hand with providing proper support for your team. After all, even if you have the best employees for your company’s culture, you also need to provide the proper support if you want them to meet their full potential. The best way to accomplish this is to adopt a more “open book” management style. Keep employees in the loop instead of only providing vital info on a “need to know” basis. 

High-performing teams need clearly defined goals, roles, and responsibilities to perform to their fullest potential, so business leaders need to take the initiative by setting a clear vision and mission to follow. This includes keeping your employees engaged and involved, and empowering team members with decision-making authority when possible so that they know the strategy you’re working to enact and how they fit into it. Too often, businesses have lofty goals. As a result, they leave workers in the dark, which leaves them feeling detached and uninterested. Getting them more directly involved in your goals provides much-needed guidance and empowerment.

Creating a Magnetic Attraction

Similar to needing magnets for a hyperloop to function properly, you also need a “magnetic” effect to attract the right talent for your company. Achieving this requires investing in things workers are seeking. It is critical to note these priorities have undergone major shifts over the pandemic and the emergence of the Great Resignation. To appeal to employees, leaders need to foster a culture of mentoring, learning, and resilience, creating ample opportunities for personal and professional growth. By providing the freedom and resources for employees to grow inside an organization, leaders can both attract new talent and mitigate the risk of employees seeking "greener pastures" beyond it.

Truly innovative business leaders know that looking outside your industry can be an excellent source of inspiration. While a hyperloop might seem far removed from your area of expertise, it can still serve as a model for a better and more supportive business model. By prioritizing the elimination of friction and resistance, along with creating “magnetic” elements to attract top talent, business leaders can ensure that they have the right people for the job and can perform to their fullest potential.