Say No by Default
Businessweek Interview:
Q: How do you systematize innovation?A: The system is that there is no system. That doesn’t mean we don’t have process. Apple is a very disciplined company, and we have great processes. But that’s not what it’s about. Process makes you more efficient.
But innovation comes from people meeting up in the hallways or calling each other at 10:30 at night with a new idea, or because they realized something that shoots holes in how we’ve been thinking about a problem. It’s ad hoc meetings of six people called by someone who thinks he has figured out the coolest new thing ever and who wants to know what other people think of his idea.
And it comes from saying no to 1,000 things to make sure we don’t get on the wrong track or try to do too much. We’re always thinking about new markets we could enter, but it’s only by saying no that you can concentrate on the things that are really important.
“Always say no default. Make features and ideas beg to be made, beg to be included, beg to be pursued. You’ll know when they need to be.”
– Signal vs. Noise
Tags: 37signals, apple, businessweek, innovation, signal vs. noise, steve jobs
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