[LINK] Steve Jobs and the Innovator's Dilemma

[Craig Sanders]

On Wed, Oct 26, 2011 at 08:08:48PM +1100, Kim Holburn wrote:
> A fascinating article, not because of Steve Jobs but about hi-tech
> companies.  I had never heard of the Innovators dilemma.  I can
> see this dilemma (now that it's been pionted out) in many hi-tech
> companies.
>
> http://blogs.hbr.org/cs/2011/10/steve_jobs_solved_the_innovato.html
> 
> > Steve Jobs Solved the Innovator's Dilemma
> > 
> > 11:38 AM Monday October 24, 2011 
> > by James Allworth | Comments (View)
> >
> > In the lead up to today's release of the Steve Jobs biography,
> > there's been an increasing stream of news surrounding its
> > subject. As a business researcher, I was particularly interested in
> > this recent article that referenced from his biography a list of
> > Jobs's favorite books. There's one business book on this list, and
> > it "deeply influenced" Jobs. That book is The Innovator's Dilemma by
> > HBS Professor Clay Christensen.
> >
> > But what's most interesting to me isn't that The Innovator's Dilemma
> > was on that list. It's that Jobs solved the conundrum.

it's really only a conundrum to those focused obsessively on profits.
i.e. corporate management types.  the solution is obvious to anyone else.

it is something that pretty much every geek or engineer or tech
working in any tech company (or any company that creates products)
knows. most know it consciously. nearly all know it intuitively.  It's
the root cause of why geeks refer dimissively and contemptuously to
'bean-counters' and 'suits' and 'marketing droids' and think of them
(mostly accurately) as overtly hostile obstacles to success rather than
supporters or enablers of success.

Jobs didn't "solve the conundrum". he just did what any other geek would
do if they were in a position to actually make such decisions, and he
had the management skills and personal charisma to pull it off. google's
founders were also similarly fortunate.

however, google is becoming more mainstream corporate all the time, so
it's losing it's innovative product-focused edge.  Apple probably will
too unless the apple board have enough sense to appoint another geek
rather than a suit...which is unlikely because, being mostly suits,
they don't really get, like, understand, or trust geeks. so they'll
likely appoint someone just like themselves (a suit) and wonder why
apple starts declining.


craig

-- 
craig sanders <cas at taz.net.au>

BOFH excuse #37:

heavy gravity fluctuation, move computer to floor rapidly