the answer to a single question: ‘Is there a way out?’ And we then go right to the endgame and ask: ‘What is the ideal way out of this problem for everyone?’
You need to become 100 per cent focused on trying to find that way out. If it’s a major problem, give it 100 per cent of your time and energy until it is sorted. Work night and day to resolve it, and try to delegate everything else that is going on. If, having done this, you fail to resolve the problem, then at least you know you’ve done everything in your power you can. Move on. If it means taking a hit, then take it on the chin. Don’t even think about it again.
As I write this the economy is deteriorating; it may be that some of you will be faced with this task in the near future. Good luck. And may the next chapter, which is all about innovation, give you some serviceable ideas.
5. Innovation
In 1986 I gave an interview to a British music paper. The headline was ‘BRANSON’S BOMBSHELL’. I said that we were planning to put every album and single on to a small portable computer box and that the listener would be able to buy it and play any record they wanted, listening through mini-headphones. I said it would revolutionise the music industry —and people believed me. I got frantic phone calls from some major record company bosses pleading with me not to launch such a device. They told me it would blow away the record industry. Then I pointed out the date. It was 1 April —April Fool’s Day. When the editor of the paper found out, he wasn’t amused.
Fifteen years later, Apple sold its first iPod.
Already, in this book, we’ve talked a lot about innovation.
Making changes and improvements is a natural part of business, and for sole traders and very small companies, the distinction between innovation and day-to-day delivery is barely noticeable and unimportant. It’s all just business, and creative, responsive, flexible business comes easier to you the smaller your operation.
Larger operations command more capital, and so, in theory at least, their range of possible actions is greater. But complexity soon gums up the works of an organisation as it expands. (One marvellously backhanded Chinese curse runs: ‘May you employ more than a hundred people.’)
This is the point at which entrepreneurial functions become separated from management functions. This makes a lot of sense — as you’ll see when we look at different forms of business leadership in the next chapter. However, the separation of day-to-day business from the motive energy that birthed the company does cause problems. Suddenly, innovating is seen as something extra, something special, something separated from the activities the company normally engages in. This is when niggles become endemic, intractable problems; morale declines; and the business begins to lose its way in the marketplace.
Virgin’s management style is unique, designed to both empower employees and avoid a culture of fear. A couple of other companies encourage new ideas even in their day-to-day operations. These are very different companies from Virgin, and I admire both of them immensely.
Since 1976, with design and ease-of-use its business mantra, Apple has simply kept inventing and improving. The sale of over 100 million iPods and three billion downloads from iTunes is proof of their success. While other businesses have been caught in the free fall of the record industry revolution, Apple has been able to fire up a new generation of listeners, not just with music but with podcasts, radio shows, TV shows, movies…
Steve Jobs and his colleague Steve Wozniak both had a passion for gadgets and began as electronic entrepreneurs in 1970. Six years later they were listed in the
He is seeking perfection all of the time, and from that original mouse-driven Apple Mac, through to the iPod and the revolutionary iPhone, he has pushed the frontiers of technology in a creative way. And Apple’s products have transformed people’s lives. On Apple’s campus at Cupertino in California, innovation is driven by a combination of perseverance at tackling large, intractable problems and, as a
By all accounts, Steve is a difficult man to work with because of his impossibly exacting standards, but his co-workers are filled with a sense of ‘messianic zeal’ to gain Steve’s approval for their work. He is meticulous about the details and zealous about protecting all the new features that give his business that vital edge. That’s leadership.
Apple is an iconic global brand that inspires emotional attachment. Yet the logo is only very subtly embossed on their products. Steve Jobs and his team know exactly how to design, manufacture and then deliver high-quality products to the market.
Steve immerses himself in the marketing campaigns and product launches himself — he has chosen to be both the manager and the entrepreneur, and in his case he has been successful playing both roles. He’s a rare animal. Perfecting the fine art of delegation is normally essential when you’re running a large company. Steve is more zealous than he needs to be, but it seems to work for him. It gives the public and investors confidence that the admiral is at the helm — with his hand firmly on the tiller. Steve has that rare business quality: the acute intelligence to see what the public wants. You can tell this by the way Pixar Animated Pictures, which he co- founded, has had a stream of blockbusters which have earned a stack of Academy Awards, including such successes as
While I acknowledge that Apple’s products have transformed lives — and you only have to walk along a street to see the ubiquitous white earpieces of the iPod — I reckon it is another ‘Invented-in-America’ brand that has made the most significant difference to the shape of our connected world. I have been asked: ‘What is the greatest business invention of the last fifty years?’ That’s a tough question because you need to factor in the mobile phone, DNA testing, the personal computer and the Internet, but I think the winner has to be Google’s powerful search engine.
Google has allowed ordinary people to find things out much more quickly. It has led to more immediate choice — and increased consumer power — and a freer flow of information, knowledge and ideas. It is far more than just a search engine — it has become an engine of change. Google’s mission is ‘to organise the world’s information and make it universally acceptable and useful’. That’s a noble ambition. It has allowed political, cultural and interest groups to flourish. It has brought the democratisation of information on to a global scale — something that was unthinkable just ten years ago. It has also brought a great deal of fun into our lives.
I’m honoured to be good friends with both Larry Page and Sergey Brin, the founders of Google. I was flattered to be asked to officiate at Larry and Lucy’s wedding on Necker. Larry and Sergey won’t mind me describing them as geeks — indeed, with them it’s a badge of honour — but they both have strong personalities. Their characters complement each other when they are working on a project. They get on very well and never, ever disagree with one another in front of staff, clients or investors. In the world of business, this requires remarkable self-discipline. If they have a disagreement, they will wait until everyone has gone out of the room and only then will they discuss the matter. They are bound together better than the best marriages, and their personal chemistry is an intrinsic part of their business success.
