Whenever pundits compare Apple with Microsoft, they like to say Apple is a "leap forward" company and Microsoft is a more of an "incremental advances" company. It is meant to be an observation, but often sounds like one is being positioned over the other.
"Leap forward" innovations are exciting...and rare in comparison to incremental advances. (The "leap forward" is not a "fast-forward" model by the way. Steve Jobs drew the concept for the iPad on a table napkin...30 years ago.) Any real leaps require people with vision and tenacity to see it to fruition.
It is a good thing that most everything is incremental, since if our entire known way of doing things changed too frequently, we would all live in constant shock. It also would mean that we would accept each leap forward as perfect rather than what it truly is... something that CAN and WILL be improved upon...incrementally.
Most of us are stuck (comfortably) in the incremental advances segment.... and should be thankful that we are. It is not hard to image the internal disruption that occurs at a company that is focused too heavily on "big leap forward" innovation. When you work on a global scale, getting the "next best thing" to all the relevant markets is an incremental advance in itself.
It is somewhat amusing that (because leaps forward are rare) marketers are always trying to position those tiny incremental improvements as if they were. "Incremental advance" companies pressure their workers to try and be "leap forward" innovative when they only intend to fund incremental advances.... a strategy that will either be constantly ridiculed by the internal masses, or all the true innovators will go to companies where they actually mean that. That's not to say that innovation always cost money; but it does cost resources if you intend to get everyone involved to "think different".
The Bible says "there is nothing new under the sun" (Ecclesiastes 1:9)...a truth we would be wise to remember. We can take comfort in knowing it is always new to someone, though, even if it isn't a leap forward. Incremental advances are here to stay. After all, the tortoise did beat the hare.
"Leap forward" innovations are exciting...and rare in comparison to incremental advances. (The "leap forward" is not a "fast-forward" model by the way. Steve Jobs drew the concept for the iPad on a table napkin...30 years ago.) Any real leaps require people with vision and tenacity to see it to fruition.
It is a good thing that most everything is incremental, since if our entire known way of doing things changed too frequently, we would all live in constant shock. It also would mean that we would accept each leap forward as perfect rather than what it truly is... something that CAN and WILL be improved upon...incrementally.
Most of us are stuck (comfortably) in the incremental advances segment.... and should be thankful that we are. It is not hard to image the internal disruption that occurs at a company that is focused too heavily on "big leap forward" innovation. When you work on a global scale, getting the "next best thing" to all the relevant markets is an incremental advance in itself.
It is somewhat amusing that (because leaps forward are rare) marketers are always trying to position those tiny incremental improvements as if they were. "Incremental advance" companies pressure their workers to try and be "leap forward" innovative when they only intend to fund incremental advances.... a strategy that will either be constantly ridiculed by the internal masses, or all the true innovators will go to companies where they actually mean that. That's not to say that innovation always cost money; but it does cost resources if you intend to get everyone involved to "think different".
The Bible says "there is nothing new under the sun" (Ecclesiastes 1:9)...a truth we would be wise to remember. We can take comfort in knowing it is always new to someone, though, even if it isn't a leap forward. Incremental advances are here to stay. After all, the tortoise did beat the hare.
No comments:
Post a Comment