Lessons Learned from the Innovators - Report Example

Lessons Learnt From Innovations

The term innovation is the process of translating an idea into a good or service that creates value for which consumers will pay. Steve Jobs, a legendary entrepreneur who lived to be envied by entrepreneurs of his time and the generations to come. Steve Jobs has been particularly remembered by a discovered of all time, Apple, which he confounded from his parents’ garage, in a state of bankruptcy, and transformed it into one of the most valuable companies (Isaacson, 2012). Steve Jobs was one of the key people who helped in the transformation of industries, such as; personal computing, music, phones and many others. Managers can, therefore, learn lessons about the fundamental skills that enabled Steve Jobs to become one of the America's great innovators.

Focus

Jobs was an entrepreneur who was fully determined at accomplishing quality and not quantity. When his Apple team was at a was in the process of producing dozens of different versions of Macintosh, Jobs conducted a series product review session and made a statement that changed the focus of his team; “Deciding what not to do is as important as deciding what to do”( Isaacson, 2012). The skill of focusing is what enabled Jobs to filter out what he considered to as distractions. This is simply, concentrating on what you are best.

Another sentiment is “focus on what you want and get rid of the rest because they are what is dragging you behind”, was Jobs’ advice to Larry Page, a rival from Google. A manager can be successful by selecting the key areas and majoring on them (Isaacson, 2012). A manager can be successful by not necessarily investing in a wide variety determining the key area to fully invest into. A manager should, therefore, prioritize on few project so as to obtain quality, rather than on quantity, which is less appealing.

Simplify

Steve Jobs once stated that, “Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication” (Isaacson, 2012). Jobs noted that a product should defer to the users in a friendly way, rather than being challenging to them. Simplicity entails getting to understand the underlying challenges and the means of finding their solutions. When a manager sticks to simplicity, a manager will be able to stick to developing their institution. Any manager should seek the ways that are will make their organization attain its goals, rather than the methods that result in people having a perception that an issue is so impossible to attain (Isaacson, 2014). It is therefore clear that perfection is achieved, not when there is nothing to supplement but when there is nothing to take away.

Take Responsibility End to End

This strategy is all about taking control and taking responsibility. This is a strategy that is aimed at making the experience of the user great (Isaacson, 2012). Management through end to end ensures comprehensive completion of work and is typically managed within a specified timeframe. The end to end is a strategy that does not aim at maximizing short term of the fulfilling user experience. This is a concept of taking responsibility and focusing on our circle of influence. Since the customers do not buy just the product but also the experience of doing business with the company, it's evidently clear that the managers should integrate technology to help them take control of their area of specialization.

When Behind, Leapfrog

For a company to be considered innovative it need not only to comes up with new ideas first, but also be able to catchup with others when left behind (Isaacson, 2012). A leader should therefore not concentrate in building an organization that is fast and successful, but also consider putting in place systems in place that will help it how it will leapfrog if it found itself lagging behind.

Put Products Before Profits

Steve Jobs once remarked that, “don’t concentrate about the price, just concentrate on what the product can do” (Isaacson, 2012). This statement gives us the idea that Jobs was not only driven by making profits but at obtaining quality, no matter the cost. Through this passionate dedication to the product, the Apple company was able to establish loyal customer and a powerful brand. A leader should, therefore, concentrate on producing a quality product, the profits, on the other hand, will take care of themselves.

Don’t be a Slave to Focus Groups

When a team player of Macintosh team asked Steve if it is necessary to do a market review to establish customers needs, Steve replied, “no, the customers don’t know what they want until we’ve shown them” (Isaacson, 2012). Jobs Steve then replied, “our task is to read things that are not yet formed”. This, therefore, means that a leader should deploy intuition and instinct to determine what if best for the institution and its customers.

Bend Reality

Jobs had the ability to push his colleagues to do the impossible, called the reality distortion field. “You did the impossible because you did not realize it was impossible”, the statement that Jobs used to encourage an employee who had won an award for standing up to him (Isaacson, 2012). A leader has, therefore, a role in choosing a leadership style that will inspire people to overcome extraordinary challenges.

Impute

“Steve Jobs knew that people have the tendency to form an opinion about a product or a company on the basis of how it is presented or packaged. This implies that people do judge the book by its cover” (Isaacson, 2012). A leader should, therefore, aim at grooming his organization and his people since the impression is also an important quality.

Push for Perfection

Steve Jobs was a leader who pushed his team to achieve perfection and made them proud of it. “Real artists sign their work”, and “I want it to be as beautiful as possible, even if it is inside the box” (Isaacson, 2012), were the statements that Steve used to encourage his employees to achieve perfection. A leader should, therefore, encourage his people to achieve perfection and appreciate them for attaining it.

Tolerate only “A” Players

Steve was interested in working with the best and wanted to avoid what he called “the bozo explosion”, a situation where a leader is so polite that mediocre people feel comfortable to stick around. He also remarked that “I’ve learned over the years that when you have really good people, you don’t have to baby them” (Isaacson, 2012). A leader may sometime be brutally honest to for an organization to run as it should.

Engage Face-to-Face

Jobs was a strong believer in face to face meetings. “There’s a temptation in our networked age to think that ideas can be developed by email and I-chat”, was something that he referred to as being crazy (Isaacson, 2012). The face to face meeting with the leader and the employees is therefore likely to generate more innovative ideas.

“Know the Big Picture and the Details”

Jobs had a grand vision that the personal computer should become a “digital hub” for managing all of the user’s music, videos, photos, and content (Isaacson, 2012). This got Apple into the personal-device business with the iPod and then the iPad. A leader should, therefore, have the combination of vision, a detailed path on how to deliver the vision and how to know how to inspire others towards a bigger picture.

Combine the Humanities with Sciences

Steve Jobs made this statement to illustrate the importance of incorporating creativity to humanities and technology, “I always thought of myself as a humanities person as a kid, but I liked electronics” (Isaacson, 2012).

Stay Hungry, Stay Foolish

Steve Jobs ones remarked, “the people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world are the ones who do” (Isaacson, 2012). Steve Jobs also made this statement “be a rebel, think different” (Isaacson, 2012), which he meant as an encouragement to people who wanted to be successful.

The Qualities and Skills that Today’s School Innovators Need

A school innovator should be a good coach who empowers his team and does not micromanage (Hostetter , 2014). They are the people who should be good communicators with a clear vision and strategy on how to help the people achieve career development. A school developer should be a person who is productive and results-oriented. They are the people whose main goal is to others being successful (Hostetter, 2014). A school innovator should, more importantly, have technical skills that will help him advice and much more lead his team to success.

The Support that Innovators Need

Training

Without proper training, it can be difficult for entrepreneurs to navigate complex business processes (Isaacson, 2012). Training may include may include guiding them in the customer discovery process.

Teamwork

A leader should work with a competent team that is able to identify gaps in the market and the market in the gap (Isaacson, 2012). A team worth working with is the one that is able to generate ideas, identify gaps in the market and strive at dominating the market.

Internship

The internship is a stage that will equip them with courage and knowledge on how to manage their own organization (Isaacson, 2012). Through the internship, the innovators are able to get the exposure and knowledge from their mentors.

Coaching

Coaching can help a leader to increase focus and capacity, reduce overwhelm and dependency, and drive both engagement and impact (Isaacson, 2012). Coaching is a move that will the leader to effectively manage employees to deliver results.

Best Practices for Fostering Innovations

Encourage Transparency

A leader can foster innovation by creating an environment that recognizes the person responsible for the ideas (Giles, 2016). This will also make the people feel like they are recognized for the contributions they are making.

Nurture Growth

A leader should be committed to training and helping other people to become the next generation leaders (Giles, 2016). When a leader is committed to the growth of others, the employees are motivated to reciprocate by expressing their gratitude or by going an extra mile.

Empower Others to Self-organize

This is achievable by providing clear direction while allowing employees to organize their time and work (Giles, 2016). A leader can empower the employees by distributing power throughout the organization, enabling the employees to make decisions on their own.

Foster a Sense of Connection and Belonging

A sense of belonging has an impact on the productivity and the emotional well- being of an employee (Giles, 2016). A sense of belonging is achieved through the leader involving employees in the process of setting goals and recognizing the contributions of each team member.