Sequencing Apple's DNA

20Overcoming Common Blocking Points

“Reality leaves a lot to the imagination.”

John Lennon

Why is it that, after almost four decades, no other company as specific as Apple seems to exist? Have we still not learned how to churn out several of those superinnovating and super-competing firms? After all, top-notch innovators are not such a rare breed… are they? Or are there more obstacles than we expected which prevent us from having them?

The previous chapters have attempted to evidence those “nuggets” or genes that appear to underpin the advent of such a company. But what are the obstacles along the way? This chapter attempts to highlight a few of them.

20.1. The need for an innovation molecule

Most firms have learned to work in innovation, which means they strive to produce advanced results, or sometimes avail themselves of some innovation process that leads to such results. Apple seems to work on innovation:

1. 1) by permanently seeking the gradient path in lieu of a priori innovative results – this grants a formidable anticipation capacity;
2. 2) by subordinating its catalog to this gradient process. This happens by stepwise incrementing the intermediary prototypes long before they are plunged in the market;
3. 3) by capitalizing on the impressive gap created as a result, which entails being careful not cannibalizing previous gaps, hence refraining from changing the rules too often.

This builds a metaprocess that agglomerates the genes into an irresistible innovation molecule, ...