The Real Story of How Innovation Works
A deeper dive into Steve Jobs, Apple, and the iPhone.
The iPhone has provided access to the entire world’s knowledge at our fingertips, given society an incredible amount of freedom and an unparalleled level of convenience. Not only has it given us this access, but this powerful technological innovation is beautifully designed, powerful and intuitive.
However, while the iPhone has permanently transformed society, it started off with humble beginnings. It might seem like an insurmountable task to replicate an innovation with the same level of impact, value, and scale as the iPhone again. I argue, however, that it is more accessible than we might initially think: we are just not looking at innovation the right way.
As a society, we have come to view successful innovation as consisting of monumental changes, big risks, and charismatic entrepreneurs putting it all on the line to make their vision come to life. This may have some truth to it, but is this truly how innovation works?
Let us find out together.
What is Innovation?
The most widely accepted definition of innovation comes from the late innovation guru Clayton Christensen. He describes innovation as falling into one of two buckets — sustaining or…
