Steve Jobs and Market Leader's Innovation Secrets for Breakthrough Success

The Topic of September seminar named “Steve Jobs and Market Leader's Innovation Secrets for Breakthrough Success”, which organized by An Executive Study Group under the Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK) and the Hong Kong Science and Technology Parks Corp (HKSTPC) on 23 September 2011.

Mr. Mark Lee (MBA, CUHK) presentation content included “Use Associations to Stimulate Ideas (聯繫)”, “Doubt About The Status Quo (否定)”, “Define What "I" Really Want (肯定)”, “Focus and Be Simple (簡單)”, “Learn From Unrelated Industries” and “Group Discussion”.

Firstly, Mr. Lee introduced the startup of Apple. Capital was not the most important but passion. Why the computer company named "Apple"? It was because Steve Jobs participated Meditation practices in here with apple orchard. Mr. Lee explained Apple store of Newton that an apple fell on his head, and he suddenly thought of the Universal Law of Gravitation).

Harvard scholars performed 3-year research project about "Associating Skill" which could leverage on diverse experience.

Steve Jobs said "Creativity is connecting things." It is "Associating Skill"!

The following cases were Apple I, Apple II and Macintosh.

Jobs' strategy of Apple I was to design for non-hobbyists and move to the mass market.

Jobs' strategy of Apple II was to turn computer into an appliance that everyday people would use and enjoy.

Jobs' strategy of Macintosh was to make a product like the first telephone and to make mass-market appliances.

Picasso said "Good artists copy, Great artists steal". It means to steal the spirit.

Steve Jobs emphasized Shoshin (初心) in Zen (禪) Buddhism. It means opening mind and suddenly thought. Mr. Lee said Harvard University purposed to training student had a mind to "Change the World". It indicated to reject the inertia. It could be use the questioning skill such as Why? Why not? What if? etc.

Then Mr. Lee quoted Henry Ford's statement to "Define What "I" Really Want" which was not led by customer. What would I want? The Big "I" could mean "I"nnovation.

Jobs emphasized that "we figure out what we want" because limitation of focus group and survey that "So you can't go out and ask people, you know, what's the next big thing?"

Using iPad as case study, Steve Jobs want a device to have to be far better at doing some key tasks, better than the laptop and better than a smartphone, ... etc.

Then Mr. Lee quoted Prof. Roberto Verganti that "Define a New Meaning in your Proposal". It means a good design to have a meaning behind.

When Steve Jobs revitalized Apple, he cut product offering from 350 to 10. It was found to be followed Prof. Michael Porter's strategic positioning.

Jobs Innovation was no system but process. Innovation come from Ad-hoc Interactions.

Jonathan Ive (Apple Design Guru) said to develop a very simple solution. The design objective was to get "design" out of the way. There were three stages.

Stage 1: Simple Problem with Simple Solutions

Stage 2: Complicate Problem with Complicated Solutions

Stage 3: Complicated Problem with Elegant and Simple Solutions

Following mobile phone evolution showed "Super-easy to use". The iPhone was only ONE button.

Mr. Lee said the Apple Store had a meaning behind. It was to introduce a new experiences for consumers such as no cashier, no sales people and "No commission", etc.

Finally, Mr. Lee quoted Prof. Clayton M. Christensen's "Disruptive Innovation" (An innovation that creates a new (and unexpected) market by applying a different set of values.) and Prof. Michael Porter's strategy (At general management's core is strategy: defining a company's unique position, making trade-offs, and forging fit among activities.) to be the conclusion.

After that talk, we had an exercise to pick two of the most difficult method to innovate and one of the easiest method for group discussion.

Reference:

The Centre for Logistics Technologies and Supply Chain Optimization, CUHK: http://www.logitsco.cuhk.edu.hk/

HKSTP - www.hkstp.org