We celebrate successful innovation but rarely look back at the failures. Since Apple is a great example of successful innovation it is good to remember that not all things they tried were a big success.
- The Apple QuickTake 100, one of the first commercial digital cameras.
- The Newton, one of the very first smart pen-based computers.
- Cyberdog an OpenDoc-based suite of internet applications.
- Activity Based Computing.
- The Hockey Puck Mouse.
- The Macintosh Portable.
- Pippin, a gaming console and PC.
- G4 Cube.
- ROKR Phone
- OpenDoc, a multi-platform software componentry framework standard.
- The Apple Lisa.
In fact as I sit in my office today, surrounded by Apple products and working on a Mac, I am reminded that the Mac itself almost failed and was saved only by the fortuitous arrival of Adobe’s development of Postscript and Canon’s introduction of low-cost laser printing. Poor targeting, bad marketing, and internal politics all conspired against the Mac and enabled the Microsoft infused IBM PC to become the dominant personal computer.
There are three types of people in the world:
- People that are afraid to fail so they never try anything new
- People that fail at something and then just give up.
- People that fail often when trying new things and go on to become successful because of those failures.
Which one are you?
Well done Charles – I’d forgotten about the Lisa….and, while risk maybe four letters long – it is in taking calculated risks without a debilitating fear of failure that separate the great leaders from the mediocre.