Steve Jobs Didn’t Want an iPhone
Apple’s iPhone currently makes up more than 50% of the market share. iPhones have changed the way we manage our lives and have spurred many new innovations in the tech industry. Most of us will forever connect the iPhone to Steve Jobs. But did you know that Steve Jobs was against the idea of the iPhone?
I am reading Think Again by Adam Grant. The iPhone was used as an example of how we avoid “thinking differently”. Steve Jobs was worried that the iPhone would cannibalize the iPod. Steve Jobs feared that introducing phone functionality to the iPod, would make the iPod obsolete!
In economics, this is called creative destruction. The term is used to explain how the introduction of new innovations make previous products obsolete. The introduction of streaming service made DVDs worthless. Netflix evolved, while Blockbuster succumbed to the innovation.
Like Netflix, Apple was able to introduce the iPhone as an added value and increase the price consumers pay for their product. A group of researchers and designers had to convince Steve Jobs that adding phone functionality to the iPod was a good thing.
What changes are you resisting because you are worried that it would take away from what you are already doing? Is it possible that these changes can actually improve what you do and increase your value to the world?
The Takeaway
Innovation is important part of economic growth
Are you keeping yourself from finding innovation?
Listen to your team. Diverse perspectives help you gain new ideas.
