ARE YOU A GATES OR A JOBS?
I want to continue my look at creativity and innovation by focusing on understanding what I am calling the “innovation arc” for individuals and extending it corporate-wide. Understanding innovation arcs — which I define as the process a person or company takes to reach their innovation potential — directly impacts how one manages a business life cycle and hiring practices. Innovation and creativity are strongly correlated, and we can learn from the research done by art historians. For example, Old Masters and Young Geniuses: The Two Life Cycles of Artistic Creativity by David Galenson states the following about creativity:
There have been two very different types of artist in the modern era. These two types are distinguished not by their importance — since both are prominently represented among the greatest artists of the era — but instead by the methods by which they arrive at their major contributions. In other words, innovators either use “aesthetically motivated experimentation” or “conceptual execution.”
Let’s work off of this idea and label those innovators that are “motivated (by) experimentation” as “experimenters” and those who are motivated by “conceptual execution” as “conceptors.” An experimenter (greater open-mode operator) tinkers with her craft for a while until she arrives at her innovation; the journey is more important than a destination. A conceptor (greater closed-mode operator) is laser-focused on an innovation concept and destination, and he will arrive at his innovation in less time; the journey matters little. Many great artists can be found in both camps:
- Conceptors — Microsoft, Bill Gates, Netflix, Twitter, Google
- Experimenters — Apple, Steve Jobs, P&G, Amazon, Facebook
Why is it important to understand the labels of conceptors and experimenters? Let’s look at the drawbacks of each. The conceptor will reach his innovation in a short time and have a lot of difficulty shifting points-of-view, but it is because the very nature of his genius is the narrow focus on a chosen concept. The experimenter has the opposite issue: She doesn’t know where she is going, so it will take time to master her craft and discover her innovation. (If an experimenter finds an innovation, it is often only appreciated posthumously).
It is important to know how you relate to your creativity. For example, Steve Jobs wanted to be the conceptor early in his career, which is obvious if you look at the products Apple produced in the 80’s; however, his true nature is as an experimenter — look at the way he worked with Steve Wozniak before Apple, his schooling philosophy, and how he mastered his innovation style by experimenting in different business after his ousting from Apple. His troubles with Apple, first time around, happened because he wanted to swing too far from his natural talents as an experimenter. The lesson here is to learn is to understand your nature but also dip your toe into the other pool to learn the limitation for your innovation arc.
On other side of the coin is Bill Gates. He is a great conceptor that was able to ride his concept, Microsoft, to the top of the world. Still, we can see, post-Gates, that Microsoft wants to become an experimenter like Apple and is having trouble shedding its conceptor heritage. The corporate culture can be difficult to separate from its founder’s natural tendencies, but this needs to happen. The ideal company is able to flow from innovation arc to innovation arc in a planned way. Microsoft is forcing itself to be an experimenter in a bid to become relevant again as the world shifts from traditional PCs. The transition from conceptor to experimenter can be one of the more difficult arc transitions because of the fundamental differences in philosophy. Google is an interesting case of a serial conceptor, working with several deeply different conceptor arcs together. Google might seem like an experimenter on the surface, but the lack of mastery in their various arcs demonstrates a conceptor approach.
We are in the age of conceptor companies. This is obvious when you learn that the average age of a company listed in the S&P 500 index has decreased from 67 years in the 1920’s to just 15 years today. The idea is king, and mastery is waning right now. Many of the younger companies must start to hire experimenters to supplement their force of conceptors if they want to last. The larger companies that are buying up these conceptor companies and planning to create long-term value from them are destined to fail nine times out of ten, unless they plan the transition from the conceptor (founders) to the experimenters. By understanding the role you play in your company’s innovation arc plans, you can make sure you are in the right place at the right time and certify your and your company’s success.
Originally published in 2013 on the Electronic Ink Blog
