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Kevin Surace: Steve Jobs Got Fired for Being Too Innovative. He Was Right All Along.

By Kevin Surace · Leadership · 2 min read

Steve Jobs is the epitome of disruptive innovation. He got fired for being too innovative. They brought him back and he was still too innovative. It just turned out he was right. He was right all along and they should have listened to him.

Key Points

Disruptive innovation means taking risks — stand up and say 'I know it's been done this way for 100 years, I've got a new idea and you're going to think I'm crazy'
Customers won't tell you the product they want — they'll tell you the slew of problems they have
Jobs got fired for being too innovative, came back to a nearly bankrupt company, and was right 75% of the time — and when right, right big

He got fired for being too innovative and they brought him back and he was still too innovative and it just turned out he was right. He was right all along.

Those Are the Ones I Want

Surace: We talk about disruptive innovation here a lot. And for us, disruptive innovation means we have to take risks. We take risks as a company. We take risks as individuals.

We want to encourage people to stand up at a meeting and go — hold it. I know it's been done this way for 100 years. I got this new idea and you're going to think I'm crazy. Those are the ones I want.

I know it's been done this way for 100 years. I got this new idea and you're going to think I'm crazy. Those are the ones I want.

They'll Tell You the Problems, Not the Products

Surace: We want to encourage customers to tell us what their problems are. I think, like Steve Jobs at Apple — we don't anticipate the customer's going to tell us the product that they want. They're going to tell us the slew of problems that they have. And then we can come up with the products that they want.

They're going to tell us the slew of problems they have. Then we can come up with the products they want.

Fired for Being Too Innovative

Surace: From a disruptive innovation standpoint, Steve Jobs is the epitome of it. He got fired for being too innovative and they brought him back and he was still too innovative — and it just turned out he was right. He was right all along and they should have listened to him.

But it was so innovative that it was disruptive, actually, to the organization. And finally he came back with a nearly bankrupt company, and now it didn't matter how disruptive you were to the organization. He might not be the gentlest, kindest manager — and it just doesn't matter.

He got fired for being too innovative. They brought him back. He was still too innovative. He was right all along.

When He's Right, He's Right Big

Surace: He's right 75% of the time. When he's right, he's right big. The iPad — an amazing 22 million sold or whatever it is already.

That's a once-in-a-lifetime find of a person that is so disruptive and got to be back in a place where they'd let him be that disruptive, regardless of what was going on in the organization.

Right 75% of the time. When he's right, he's right big. A once-in-a-lifetime find.