Let's talk about way outside.
You have not given us the context. So we can only guess.
I think he is using "way" in the casual American sense of "much".
I think by "outside", he means "outside of the norm".
The context may be that he is saying, "In science, we are always looking for breakthroughs. To do that we need to think outside of the norm. Even the most original minds, however, find it hard to break through the norm in a major way. Even if we try hard, our "outside of the norm thinking" usually progresses only by very small steps."
You have seen the context. Is that what he wants to say?