The Invisible Mentor

Posts Tagged ‘Innovation’

In the recent webinar, “Innovate the Steve Jobs Way: 7 Insanely Different Principles for Breakthrough Success,” Carmine Gallo shared seven principles for innovation which he learned from studying Steve Jobs for many years. The webinar was a prelude to his book The Innovation Secrets of Steve Jobs: Insanely Different Principles for Breakthrough Success. I found it extremely useful to attend the webinar before reading the book and I combined what I learned in the webinar with what I learned from the book. I have also expanded what I wrote in a previous blog post. The book provides concrete examples of how Steve Jobs innovates and the author conducted several interviews with former Apple employees.

To support what he says in the book, Carmine Gallo also looked at what other innovators were successfully doing.  He defines innovation as, “A new way of doing things that result in positive change.” How can you innovate the way you do your job? What innovations are occurring in other industries that you can transfer to yours?

Carmine Gallo has identified seven principles to guide innovation based on what he has learned from studying Steve Jobs, the Co-founder and CEO of Apple. The Innovation Secrets of Steve Jobs has 15 chapters, an introductory one and two chapters devoted to each principle. Though the book presents a lot of information on the way Steve Jobs approaches innovation, there are many examples of others who are innovating in similar ways and achieving success.

Principle One: Do What You Love

Passion is everything, and it keeps you going when you face inevitable setbacks. Be obsessed and improve the areas that you love. To achieve success, passion is not enough – follow your obsessions, tailor them to your skills, and focus on what you can make money from. What is your calling and your destiny? How can you change the world?

A simple formula is Success = Passion + Skills + Market Demand

Principle Two: Put a Dent in the Universe

Innovation doesn’t take place in a vacuum. Have a vision, because innovation cannot occur without one. What’s the bigger picture and how can you share your vision with enthusiasts who will make your vision a reality. How is your product or service going to change the world? How can you leave the world a better place than you found it?  How can you make your customers’ lives better?

Margaret Mead’s quote, “A small group of thoughtful people could change the world. Indeed, it’s the only thing that ever has,” encapsulates this principle.

Principle Three: Kick Start Your Brain

Seek our new and novel experiences, and bombard your brain with them. Who is doing something remarkable that you can learn from? Steve Jobs studied the Four Seasons Hotel and Mercedes Benz because they are aces when it comes to remarkable customer experiences. Jobs introduced a Concierge Service in the Apple Store based on what he learned from observing the Four Seasons Hotel.

A critical part of this principle is to make connections among disparate things and force yourself outside of your physical and mental comfort zone. To live a vision requires creative thinking which requires immersion in novel experiences.

New experiences expand the way you think. Surround yourself with people from different cultures. Experiment, and try new things. What are two things that you can do differently to improve the way in which you deliver your product or service?

Principle Four: Sell Dreams Not Products

Understand your customers, and help them to fulfill their dreams. Get to know them better than they know themselves. How can you change your customers’ worlds? Create remarkable customer experiences and market that.

Your customers often do not know what they want, so be a linchpin as marketing guru Seth Godin says and anticipate what they need before they do. It’s a twist to the concept of build it and they will come, to build it and convince them that they should come.

Principle 5: Say No to 1,000 Things

Take the road less traveled. Remove distractions so you can focus on the core product. Eliminate distractions from the customer experience. Don’t spread yourself too thin, and go for simplicity. Steve Job told Nike’s CEO  Mark Parker, ”Get rid of the crappy stuff and focus on the good stuff.” Go for simplicity and elegance.

Simplify and focus on your product and service offerings. What are you best at? What is one thing that you do extremely well? Focus on it and simplify.

Principle Six: Create Insanely Great Experiences

Create emotional connections with your customers. What are five ways you can enrich the lives of your customers? What relationships are you forming with your customers? Look outside your industry for examples. Create memorable experiences so you have rabid fans. Before you innovate, hold your customer in your mind’s eye, and proceed from there.

Principle: Master the Message

Effectively communicate your vision. Innovate around the way you communicate the vision. What are master presenters and communicators doing? Emulate them. Be a great storyteller, and be consistent in your messaging.

I enjoyed reading The Innovation Secrets of Steve Jobs: Insanely Different Principles for Breakthrough Success because I had to stop several times and think about what I was reading. The many examples demonstrated how others were using these seven principles with great success, and I understood how I could use them as well. I also learned about innovative products that others were delivering.

For instance, DNA 11 creates art with their customer’s DNA and became a multi-million dollar business in five years. The owners Adrian Salamunovic and Nazim Ahmed didn’t conduct focus group interviews to decide if there was a need for their product, they created the product then created the demand for it. They also noticed that some of their customers were asking for art with their pets’ DNA, so they offered that to other customers who might not have thought of that.

What Carmine Gallo has shown in his book is that innovation does not necessarily mean crating something radically new. Sometimes it is simply doing something in an entirely new way. This is a practical book written in a clear manner. I recommend The Innovation Secrets of Steve Jobs: Insanely Different Principles for Breakthrough Success.

How can you use this information? What do you have to add to the conversation? Let’s keep the conversation flowing, please let me know your thoughts in the comments section below. Many readers read this blog from other sites, so why don’t you pop over to The Invisible Mentor and subscribe (top on the right hand side) by email or RSS Feed.

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Further Reading

Review: The Nordstrom Way to Customer Service Excellence

How to Build a Business by Doing These 10 Things

Review of How to Build an Empire on an Orange Crate by Honest Ed Mirvish

Review: Four Seasons: The Story of a Business Philosophy by Isadore Sharp

The Swiss Family Robinson by Johann David Wyss is really about innovation and making lemonade when life dishes out lemons. First published in 1812, the story is about a Swiss pastor and his family (wife and four sons) who survive a shipwreck and create a new way of life on an unexplored island in the East Indies.

While reading, be mindful of the time the book was written, and focus on the lessons that can be gleaned instead. This family was very inventive and demonstrated that there is truth to the adage that we are hindered only by our imagination. They repurposed a lot of materials to survive. For example, they built a raft from empty barrels, made rubber shoes from the sap of a tree, constructed a tent from the sails of the ship, a tree house from sails and wood from the ship, a bridge from planks and beams loosened from the shipwreck, and utensils from calabash.

The pastor allowed his children to think independently and experiment to find their own solutions. “…As we went along I often tasted my [sugar] cane; Fritz tried to do the same, but found he could not extract any juice. ‘How is this, father?’ he said. ‘Think a little,’ I replied, ‘and I am sure you will find the reason; you do not yet employ the right means.’ He soon discovered that he must make a small hole above the knot of the cane to let in the air…”

He was also open to suggestions from his family and had a willingness to attempt something new. But, as the adventures unfolded, I constantly wondered if these people experienced any colossal failures. They faced many challenges – “The manufacture of a spinning-wheel and reel was by no means an easy task, but by dint of study and perseverance…,” and “…But so many difficulties presented themselves, that had it not been for the strong desire I felt to have in my possession such a beautiful vessel, it is more than probable I should not have attempted the undertaking…” – and overcame them, but does anyone ever go through life without experiencing major failures?

The family, especially the father, tried to anticipate obstacles and eventualities to mitigate risks, which is a good practice to follow, but I was extremely weary of their ability to control the outcome of so many things. For the story to work for me, it was important for me to know the father’s background. He was obviously very knowledgeable and well read. He knew about many things: architecture, plants and animals, but where did all this knowledge come from and where did he find the time to acquire that wealth on knowledge? how can one person know so much about so many different things, especially back then?

Too many questions and not enough answers so I decided to let it go and focus on some great ideas in the Swiss Family Robinson.

11 Great Ideas

1. Praise people especially children on a job well done
2. Make time to eat at least one meal each day with family to check in with each other
3. Small successes lead to bigger successes
4. To get to where you want to go you have to put in the time
5. Vary the way you do things – travel a different route to work once in a while, eat foods from different cultures, develop different processes for the way you do something
6. Take time to admire nature’s bounty
7. Through trial and error we will finally get it right
8. An obstacle or challenge is an opportunity in disguise
9. Give thanks, even for the smallest thing
10. Understanding the end goal makes even the toughest journey worthwhile
11. Practice forgiveness

I didn’t like many aspects of the book including the children’s eagerness to kill animals, but I learned a lot of lessons, appreciated the reminder about being grateful for everything. I believed The Swiss Family Robinson was worth my time reading. Necessity is indeed the mother of invention!