What Walter Isaacson Could Not Tell You About Steve Jobs

When Walter Isaacson, the biographer of Steve Jobs, was asked what lessons he learned from Jobs about innovation, he said, “You’ll have to talk with Professor Clayton Christensen about that. I’m just a biographer; I’m not an innovation expert.”

Unfortunately, Professor Christensen passed away before anyone asked him. But never fear, I can provide you with at least a partial explanation for Steve Jobs phenomenal success at innovation.

Most leaders and innovation teams think that innovation is inherently risky and messy. Not true.

Yes, many organizations experience a lot of risk, messiness, and high failure rates. But that is due to how innovation is being executed, not because innovation is inherently risky and messy.

Innovation should never be a guessing game. Leaders deserve to know exactly what their target customers want before they generate solution ideas.

Steve Jobs understood this. In this short video (2:50), he explains how to execute innovation in a repeatable manner, right in line with the jobs-to-be-done (JTBD) approach. (He also is masterful at handling a hostile question).

“You’ve got to start with the customer experience and work backwards to the technology. You can’t start with the technology and try to figure out where you’re going to try to sell it.” – Steve Jobs

Innovation is not risky or messy when you know how to master the front end. Steve Jobs knew how to do it 25 years ago. You can do it with JTBD today.

Are you satisfied with your ability to differentiate, innovate, and grow in a repeatable manner? If not, let’s talk. Not everyone is a good candidate for JTBD. But if you are, it can be a game-changer. Email me some times that work for you or schedule directly with me here.

And in the meantime, you can download this free PDF on How the Jobs-to-be-Done Approach Delivers Dramatically Better Results.