Although The Innovation Secrets of Steve Jobs just launched in the United States, my previous book, The Presentation Secrets of Steve Jobs, continues to attract followers around the world. This month it was published in Italian.
The weekly magazine, Panorama Economy, featured it in their management section. Panorama Economy is part of Italy’s best selling magazine, Panorama, with a weekly circulation of 400,000.
Since you probably don’t speak Italian, here are the English answers to some of the questions Panorama asked:
Question 1: In the book, you insist on the importance to “do what you love” and you use a lot the word “passion”. Do you think that there are more difficulties in doing this, now that most companies are facing a state of recession? How can managers be inspired by Steve Jobs in maintaining their focus on passion, not being pressed by everyday economic problems?
Answer: Passion is everything. Passion is contagious. Dig deep to identify what it is about your company that you are truly passionate about, and share those ideas with your staff constantly. People want meaning in their lives and if you’re leading a team or managing a department, it’s up to you to inspire them through the way your company’s vision and the passion you have for the product or service.
Question 2: I’ve found extremely interesting your idea that “innovation means eliminating what’s not necessary”: don’t you think it’s quite a revolutionary approach, while companies are pressed to imitate the competitors and launch, launch, launch, new, unnecessary products or brands, just because they have to be there?
Answer: And now you know why, even though I wrote the book about Steve Jobs and innovation, I do not believe that everyone can innovate like Apple. It takes courage to be innovative and not everyone has it. It takes courage to reduce the number of products you offer as Steve Jobs did when he returned to Apple in 1997 (it was close to bankruptcy at the time). It takes courage to reduce the number of words on a slide to one as Steve Jobs often does. It takes courage to design a product so simple to use that a 2-year old can enjoy it like the iPad. Simplify everything; your products, your website and your communications.