The simple recipe for Steve Jobs ' success, sticking to two questions

Original address: http://www.aipingce.com/article-22939-1.html

Jobs ' recipe for success was simple, and his success and stubbornness came from that. Creativity is not a product of talent, subconscious and opportunity, but the result of thought, a series of repetitive thinking processes for problems and solutions. The best solutions tend to solve most of the problems, and this conclusion was recorded by psychologist Karl Duncker in the 1930 's:

“... Action is a series of actions that have a purpose and a plan. This is a structure without a ' definition ', which is the most basic and primitive experience of mankind. Like these questions, ' Why doesn ' t it work (why doesn't it work)? ' Or, ' What's should I change to make it work (what should be changed to fix it)? ' "

In 2007, Jobs introduced Apple's new product, the IPhone, saying:

"The most advanced mobile phone is called a smartphone. They are really smarter than regular phones, but they are also harder to use. Whether or not this is necessary, these phones always carry a keyboard. How to solve this problem? 20 years ago we had the answer when we made the computer. All you need to do is replace these buttons with a huge screen. But you can't always run around with a mouse, so we'll use a stylus. However, you do not need these. Put these tools away and forget about them, we need a few fingers. ”

Jobs ' way of thinking follows the Duncker theory:

problem: The smarter The phone is, the more difficult it is because they always have a keyboard.

Solution: A large screen and an operating device.

question: What kind of operating device?

Solution: Mouse.

problem: walking around with a mouse is not convenient.

Solution: Stylus

problem: pen is too easy to lose

Solution: manipulate with your fingers

Despite the high price tag, Apple sold 155 million handsets in the first five years of its mobile phone, including 07 4 million, 08 14 million, 09 29 million, 10 40 million and 11 82 million. How did they do that?

I used to be a research consultant for a mobile phone manufacturer for a few years. Whenever manufacturers send the latest mobile phone, I and other consultants will invariably feel that the new mobile phone usage is more complex than its previous generation. At the time, it was not a secret that Apple could build a cell phone, but it was never a problem because Apple didn't have the experience of making a phone. A few months later, when the IPhone was on sale, the research group and the manufacturers had a meeting. I asked them what they thought of the IPhone, the chief engineer said, "The phone's microphone sucks."

This is not wildest words is a truth, it conveys such a message, the company believes that the smartphone is ultimately a mobile phone, just a bit more function. They started making mobile phones a long time ago and have been very successful. For this company, a good call quality equals a good phone, and the other features are just extras.

And Apple is a computer manufacturer. In Mr Jobs's words, a smartphone is not a mobile phone, but a computer that can be put in a pocket and can make a phone call. Making computers was a difficult problem that Apple had "solved" 20 years ago. So Apple's lack of experience in making a phone is not a problem, and it's a problem that handset makers don't build computers. The company I served was once a leader in the industry, but in the end it saw a large loss of market share and was finally sold in 2007.

"Why doesn ' t it work?" is a very easy to overlook problem, because it is too simple. The chief engineer refused to think about the problem. His logic is: As long as sales are growing, the customer has no complaints, which means there is no problem.

Sales + consumer = no problem, it's a deadly prescription, and a lot of big companies are dying on this recipe. Complacency is a powerful enemy, "there is no need to solve the problem" is a ridiculous argument. No matter how good the sales performance is, but how satisfied the customer is, there is always something that can be done better. ask questions and think about the answer for innovation is like breathing, as long as the process is repeated, innovation will not suffocate.

"Why doesn's it work?" to create a direction. For jobs and Apple, the key issue at the time was not to look for answers but to see the crux of the problem: the keyboard made it hard for smartphones to use. Everything else is the same.

Apple was not the only manufacturer that made the phone, and LG previously posted a big-screen phone like the iPhone. LG Prada is an all-touch mobile phone that has been awarded the design award and sold 1 million units. When Apple's design was revealed, other manufacturers made a number of similar models within a few months. These manufacturers have the potential to design an "iPhone", but none of them do. They can't do it to their own products, "why doesn's it work?"

At a design meeting in Aspen, Colorado, in 1983, as early as the advent of personal computers, Steve was dancing to a crowd of listeners about his visionary ideas: "Portable computers with Radios", "e-mail" and "E-maps". At the time of the Apple computer like Shepherd and IBM, such as the competition, sales is the most powerful weapon. Apple, 1981 and 1982, has a higher sales volume than anyone else and expects to reach 10 million sales in 1986. But Mr Jobs, who is optimistic, has his concerns:

"Now the computer looks like rubbish. Excellent designers are in the car and construction industry, and few are designing computers. Our sales will reach 10 million units in 1986. Whether it is good-looking or ugly, these things will be placed in the Office, school and everyone's home. We either seize the opportunity to design them better, or add a few more rubbish to the rubbish heap. By 1986 or 1987, people spend more time on these machines than they spend on cars. Industrial design, software design and computers will get a lot of attention, at least not less than in the automotive industry today. ”

28 Years later, Walt Mossberg, the Wall Street Journal's technology columnist, described a discussion shortly before Mr. Jobs's death, saying:

"Last minute he was talking about some revolutionary ideas, and the next minute he started criticizing Apple products for flaws, from color to curves to icons. ”

Steve Jobs can not think of others, not because of talent, enthusiasm or foresight, but he is never satisfied with the status quo, to do his whole life to ask, "why doesn t it work?"

The simple recipe for Steve Jobs ' success, sticking to two questions