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BUSINESS PROFILE
The SINGLE-BIGGEST TAKEAWAY From Apple’s Runaway Success
Consider the iPod, for example. Sure, by now it may seem like an ancient piece of early 2000s technology, but as it became more and more ubiquitous in the marketplace, it forever altered the way we listen to music.
When Bob Noyce, founder of Intel and the “Henry Ford/Thomas Edison of Silicon Valley,” took Steve Jobs under his wing, Jobs was still a fresh face on the scene. He was a charming, yet unconventional, upstart in his early 20s. And even though he had a ceaseless hunger to innovate and drive technology forward, he was relatively unsure of how he might accomplish his goals. Over the course of several enlightening conversations with Jobs, Noyce outlined his vision for the future of what would later become Silicon Valley. He argued that, as the technological capabilities of manufacturers increased, so would the availability of computing power. Essentially, he told Jobs, as transistors constantly continued to get smaller and smaller, at a lower cost with less consumption of electricity, the devices we use would follow, shrinking in size while simultaneously becoming more intricate and advanced. Jobs said that, at that time early in his career, Noyce was giving him a “perspective [he] could only partially understand.” But this consistent technological progress would end up forming one of the pillars of Jobs’ — and his company, Apple’s — explosive success. Jobs knew if Noyce was right, a computer company would need to constantly innovate — not only to stay competitive, but to provide customers with tech that could transform their experience of the world. Jobs and Apple knew to truly influence the consumer marketplace on a fundamental level and improve the lives of their customers, they couldn’t simply react to what customers said they wanted. Instead, they’d have to define “needs that consumers didn’t know they had,” as Sam Gustin wrote in Time.
Of course, this is easier said than done. To pull off true innovation, a business needs to have an
As Gustin writes, “Americans might have been satisfied with
… their Sony Walkman analog tape decks, but that was before the iPod and iTunes,
which dramatically changed the music business and the way we interact with our music players.” The same goes for the iPhone, which
incredibly intimate understanding of their customer base and how they
navigate the world. In addition, they need to take risks and invest in products and services that push the envelope, while resisting the urge to be bleeding edge for the sake of it. The utility of Apple products lies not only in their futuristic features, but in their ease of use and consistent reliability. Always working to improving your businesses’ central offerings is vital, but you can’t stop there. Instead, you should spend time — real , meaningful man hours — drilling into your customers’ buried needs. And then, you must present the solutions to those needs in an irresistible manner. Steve Jobs is a divisive figure, but no one can argue that he followed the pack. You shouldn’t either. Complacency will never beat innovation. It’s easy to lean on processes, systems, and products that have served your business well in the past, but true success requires an adventure into uncomfortable, uncharted territory.
replaced clunky laptops and Blackberries with a truly portable device with endless capabilities.
“To pull off true innovation, A BUSINESS NEEDS TO HAVE AN INCREDIBLY INTIMATE UNDERSTANDING OF THEIR CUSTOMER BASE and how they navigate the world.”
There are millions of lessons to be learned from Apple and the legacy of Steve Jobs, but perhaps the most valuable is the company’s ability to address the most pressing needs of consumers before they even ask. This idea can stretch far beyond technology, embedding itself in the most basic practices of even the smallest of businesses.
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