About a year ago, a blogger I had never met posted something online that he called “An Innovation Matrix”. I thought the blogger had a really original idea — something that took innovation both deeper and beyond the Blue Ocean thesis. I encouraged him, certainly guided him, and — every now and then — challenged [...]
Tag Archives | Steve Jobs
8 Dangers of Collaboration
Most of what is written about collaboration is positive. Even hip. Collaboration is championed enthusiastically by the Enterprise 2.0 experts, as well as leading thinkers like Don Tapscott as the crucial approach for the 21st century. Collaboration creates once-elusive “buy-in, or “empowerment”, improves problem solving, increases creativity, is key to innovation at companies like Legos, [...]
Be Your Own Hero
When I was growing up, I looked for a savior in just about everyone. There were too many fruitless visits from child protective services. There were too many police cars that arrived to “quiet things down” only to let them flare up again the next day. There were too many visits to the hospital ….The [...]
Steve Jobs’ Legacy: Design Your Own Life
While there are many things worth celebrating of Steve Jobs’ life, the greatest gift Steve gave us is a way to design our own lives. Steve Jobs was known for being a design god who sweated experience, and pixels and, well, everything. “Design,” he once said, “is a funny word. Some people think design means [...]
Are you a Rebel or a Leader?
Everyone was being so agreeable. The CEO nodded, the VPs agreed, the Directors were polished in their reviews. All the content was “good,” the timelines “reasonable,” the budgets “sufficient.” We were in a meeting to review the roadmap for the company’s new product. And it had all the hallmarks of a Potemkin village. I wanted [...]
Entrepreneurs at Heart
Most of us don’t call ourselves entrepreneurs unless we have founded our own business, and are quite possibly seeking additional investment to grow a nascent idea into a big idea. And perhaps that is a good sign. It is not our title that defines us; rather it is what we do and how we go [...]
Apple’s Startup Culture
At the recent All Things D conference, Steve Jobs described Apple’s (AAPL) culture as “that of a startup.” Why? Is it because he is nostalgic, yearning to rebuild the company he founded nearly 35 years ago? Is he reflecting a passion for the innovation and entrepreneurship so often inherent in startups? Or is he saying [...]