Innovation Secrets of Steve Jobs

Steve job when returned to Apple after 12 years made a profound statement. “The cure for Apple is not cost-cutting; the cure for Apple is to innovate its way out of its current predicament.” As you are aware Apple was not in good financial status when Steve Jobs returned back to Apple. We all know what great things happened one after another. As The New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman once wrote, “The day of average is over. Average only guarantees below average results.” Steve Jobs never thought average thoughts. The seven fundamentals that Jobs used to achieve his success are available to any business leader in any field who hopes to create radical and magical transformation in their businesses.

Passion : Passion is what you love doing. Passion is everything. Innovation won’t happen without it. Steve Jobs passion was not create computers and gadgets. It was to create an experience. He was passionate about building tools to help people unleash their potential. He said one of his last major public presentations, “It’s the intersection of technology and liberal arts that makes our hearts sing.”

Create your legacy, make impact. Passion adds fuels to machine; vision directs the machine to its ultimate destination. In the mid-1970s personal computers were largely limited to hobbyists who assembled parts from kits. Jobs and co-founder Steve Wozniak had a vision to “put a computer in the hands of everyday people.” A bold, specific vision inspires them to set everything in motion. Steve Jobs once said the leaders role is to get best mind together, make a harmonized team and to keep them aligned toward achieving the vision.

Connect the dots: Creativity is connecting things. Steve Jobs believed that a broad set of experiences lead people to conclusions that others may get missed. Researchers found that innovators “associate” ideas from different fields and apply them to the product or service they’re working on. Those researchers could have saved themselves a lot of time by simply interviewing Steve Jobs, who used experiences to inspire his best ideas. Jobs didn’t always know where the dots would connect, but connect they did. Jobs took calligraphy in college; a course with no practical application to his life. It all came back later with Macintosh, the first computer with beautiful typeface, fonts, and calligraphy. In today’s world look at the successful organisations. They are at their best in connecting dots. They are not after creating products after products. They are coming out with creation of platforms wherein everyone gets connected and business is done.

Say "No". “Innovation comes from saying no to 1,000 things,” said Steve Jobs. When Jobs returned to Apple he dramatically reduced the number of products the company made so each product had an A-team. When Jobs introduced the iPhone in 2007 he pointed out that while other smartphone makers were adding features and buttons, the iPhone would remove them, making it simpler, cleaner, and user-friendly. Visit the Apple Website. When the company introduces a new product it doesn’t add the product image and content to a cluttered homepage. It removes clutter, focusing on the product it wants to highlight. Staying no gives you time to focus on what you can do rather than distracting from what you want to do.Keep at it and you will attain mastery.

Create “insanely great” experiences and meaningful journey. Steve Jobs never bench marked his products or stores with other competitors.  Apple Store was inspired by The Ritz-Carlton. Its all about creating experience for the customers. Create exceptional experiences for every customer, every time. This cannot be one-time activity. It has to be continuous.

Become a Great Storyteller. Steve Jobs mastered the art of storytelling. His presentation skills were refined over many years and hours and hours of practice. You can see his videos on new launches, every word, his body language, his tone, the presentation used to be flawless.

Sell Dreams. Steve Jobs was successful because he sold dreams, not products. When Jobs opened the first Apple Store he said the store was not meant to ‘sell computers.’ Instead it would ‘enrich lives.’ Nobody cares about your product. They care about themselves. He wanted to create tools and experiences which can enrich customer and add value in their life. Each action he used to take or to communicate was leading to one point and that is enriching values in every offering.