Book review: The Innovation Secrets of Steve Jobs

Emma de Vita reviews the new book by Carmine Gallo on the co-founder of Apple

If you haven’t heard of Steve Jobs, then you’ll certainly have heard of the business he co-founded and now heads: Apple.

Whether it’s iPhones, iPods or iPads, Apple’s covetable products have influenced modern life to an astonishing degree. How Jobs has pulled off such a success is the subject of this book, written by Carmine Gallo.

But what can the third sector manager learn from this Silicon Valley whizz-kid?

It all comes down to being able to have your team come up with fresh, creative, innovative ideas – this is the key to progress in the 21st century, it says.

Gallo gives seven “insanely different principles for breakthrough success”, including such ideas as “put a dent in the universe”.

This means, first of all, inspiring evangelists. These are people who buy into your vision of what your charity does and where it is headed. But you can’t do this without having an evangelical passion for your charity’s mission.

Another of the seven principles is “kick-start your brain”. To enable your team to be truly creative, get them to leave their comfort zones and encourage them to embrace the new – not to fear it. Who knows? You might have a genius on your hands…

Emma De Vita is books editor of Management Today