Big companies have trouble with innovation. Innovation is about bad ideas, or ideas that look like bad ideas. That's the fundamental thing.
Interpretation
Innovation often starts with ideas that seem poor or unviable, especially in large companies.
This quote emphasizes that the path to true innovation is often littered with ideas that may initially appear to be bad. In large companies, the bureaucratic structures can stifle creative thinking, making it harder for unconventional ideas to emerge and be explored, which is critical for true innovation.
In practice
This quote can be used in a corporate training session on fostering a culture of creativity.
As a company gets big, the information that informs decision-making gets massive. Depending upon the prism through which you view the business, your perspective will vary. If two people are in charge, this variance will cause conflict and delay.
You read these management books that say, 'These are the hard things about running a company.' But those aren't really the hard things. The hard things are when you have to layoff half your company, or you have to fire your best friend. Or you have to figure out a way not to go bankrupt.
Look - this is the terror of being a founder & CEO. It is all your fault. Every decision, every person you hire, every dumb thing you buy or do - ultimately, you're at the end.
Nobody knows how to be a CEO. It's something you have to learn. It's a very lonely job.
As long as people are clear on what they need to do and what's going on, you're very likely to succeed. When nobody is clear, then you're guaranteed to fail.
I emphasize to C.E.O.s, you have to have a story in the minds of the employees. It's hard to memorize objectives, but it's easy to remember a story.
It's so important for startups to get their culture right at the start. They need to feel unique and that they are on their own important mission in the world.
Cutting prices or putting things on sale is not sustainable business strategy.
Business is not just doing deals; business is having great products, doing great engineering, and providing tremendous service to customers. Finally, business is a cobweb of human relationships.
You say: "I'm a blue sky thinker." Investor thinks: "You have no business model, and you don't know how to ship."
If you understand cause and effect, it brings about a set of insights that leads you to a very different place. The knowledge will persuade you that the market isn't organized by customer category or by product category. If you understand the job that consumers need to complete, you can articulate all of the experiences in that job.
Starbucks represents something beyond a cup of coffee.
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