企業如何做出更好的選擇
公司做大之後，最危險的往往是當家的人對自己判斷的信心。判斷強，公司才有方向；判斷一旦變成不容質疑，公司就開始走下坡。同一種強勢，可以是成功的引擎，也可以是失敗的起點。
| 賈伯斯的專制 |
在開發消費型產品時，進度很容易因為「功能蔓延」而延宕，也就是說工程師不斷添加愈來愈多功能到產品上，不為什麼，就因為他們在技術上能夠做到，而賈伯斯很懂得避免這種常見的陷阱。他的出發點，從來就不是要在蘋果製造的產品裡盡量塞進各種花俏功能。相對地，他比較可能會刪減一些功能，盡量讓產品變得最簡單、最方便使用。
對於賈伯斯而言，任何設計的計畫都要以使用者體驗作為出發點，他的思考與行動都是高度顧客導向的。賈伯斯會靜下來思索，如何才能提供顧客優於現有的體驗，然後再整合一切必要的要素，以締造那樣的優越體驗。
如果讓工程師順著自己的本性去做，大多數人往往都會製造出擁有各種性能和功能的電子產品。這些產品很容易就變成沒人弄得懂的鬼東西，只有發明它們的人才懂得怎麼使用。你需要有人能夠清楚闡述某個產品的主要功能，並且堅守這個目標，而賈伯斯就特別擅長做這樣的事。他就像是個獨裁者或專制君主，等於是在發號施令，規範哪些功能該整合進去、哪些功能是多餘的。如果有某項產品太難用，賈伯斯會毫不遲疑指示要加以簡化，直到恰到好處為止。
| 失敗是最大的成功 |
自由市場的精髓就是持續的矯正──企業透過客戶喜好的回饋來調整它們的產品和服務。這在不斷變動或快速革新的市場上特別顯得真實。失敗可能代表組織正在為自己在未來取得成功開始進行必要的改變。
例如在矽谷，失敗的商業冒險行動會被認為是成年禮、學習經驗或邁向成功之路的步驟。他們的原則是如果你沒嘗到失敗，就不曾在任何領域的尖端做過嘗試。這樣的心態現在也正開始散播到其他市場。
對創新者而言，錯誤根本是不存在的。每一項失敗的努力都是向前踏進一步，因為它排除了另一個沒用的事物。如果你嘗試減少或消除錯誤，你可能會壓抑自己最有創意的進步。世界可說是屬於那些不讓失敗的焦慮壓抑自己創新努力的人。
失敗、失策、不完美及錯誤，就是革新的精髓所在。所有的這些努力都象徵著進步。當組織容忍錯誤並從中學習，它會變得更健全，更能處理未來將會犯下更多錯誤的模糊情勢。只要業務獲得高度成功，錯誤便不會停止。如果它沒有持續經常發生挫折，就無法演化而得以適應市場上發生的變化。組織對失敗的胃口和容忍度愈高愈好。
| 執行長的摩西陷阱 |
每當某家公司取得初步成功時，外界往往會歸功於公司執行長的明智抉擇。如果這位執行長登上所有商業雜誌的封面，並被譽為下一個摩西，那就更是如此。不幸的是，這會成為一大陷阱，使這家公司未來無法產生更多怪點子。
舉例來說，愛德溫．蘭德第一項驚人的成就，是成功開發寶麗來鏡頭。當時他並不知道，同一套技術未來將用於開發現在廣泛使用的LCD螢幕。蘭德也因寶麗來標誌性的拍立得相機，以即時顯影的發明者著稱。
可惜，蘭德開始相信關於自己的新聞稿內容，並堅信自己絕對不會犯錯。他花了10年、投入5億美元開發「Polavision」——一台35毫米的電影攝影機。寶麗來公司生產了20萬台Polavision攝影機後，才發現顧客不願購買。最終蘭德辭去了寶麗來執行長一職，並與他創辦的這家公司斷絕所有關係。
| Despotism |
When developing consumer products, it's very easy to let "feature creep" get in the way—where engineers keep on adding more and more features to products merely because they can rather than for any other rationale. Steve Jobs is very good at avoiding this all-too-common trap. He never sets out to cram as many bells and whistles as possible into the devices Apple makes. Instead, he's much more likely to pare back on features until the devices become as simple and as easy to use as possible.
For Jobs, the starting point for any design program is the user experience. He is highly customer-centric in his way of thinking and acting. Jobs sits down and thinks about how to offer customers a better experience than they currently enjoy and then brings together the components that are needed to deliver this superior experience.
Left to their own natural inclinations, most engineers would tend to develop electronics products that have all kinds of features and capabilities. These devices can easily end up being a confusing mess only the developers themselves understand. You need someone to clearly articulate what a product's primary function is and stick to it. Steve Jobs is particularly good at this. He acts like a dictator or despot and in effect lays down the law on what features should be incorporated and which features would be an overkill. If something is too hard to use, Jobs has no hesitation giving instructions for it to be simplified until he gets it right.
| Nothing Succeeds Like Failure |
The very essence of a free market is constant corrections – businesses fine-tune their products and services by getting feedback on what consumers like and what they don’t. This is especially true when the marketplace is in a state of flux or rapid evolution. Failures can mean the organization is starting to make the changes required to position itself for success in the future.
In Silicon Valley, for example, failed business ventures are considered to be rites of passage, learning experiences or steps on the road to success. They work on the principle if you haven’t failed, you have not tried to operate on the leading edge of any field. This mind-set is now starting to spread throughout other markets as well.
To an innovator, there is literally no such thing as a mistake. Every failed effort is a step forward because it eliminates one more thing that will not work. If you try to reduce or eliminate mistakes, you potentially stifle your most creative advances. The world literally belongs to those who don’t let anxiety about fouling up stifle their creative efforts.
Failures, miscues, imperfections and mistakes are the very essence of evolution. All of these efforts signify progress. When an organization tolerates and learns from its mistakes, it becomes more robust. It is better able to cope with the ambiguous situations of the future, where many more mistakes will yet be made. And the mistakes don’t stop once a business becomes highly successful. If it isn’t continuing to have regular setbacks, it isn’t evolving to match the changes occurring in the marketplace. The greater the organizations appetite for and tolerance of failure, the better.
Whenever a company has some initial success, there's a tendency for that success to go to the CEO's head. This is particularly true if the CEO makes the covers of all the business magazines and is hailed as the next Moses. Unfortunately, this is a trap when it comes to generating more loonshots in the future.
For example, Edwin Land's first stunning success was to develop Polaroid lenses. He didn't know it at the time but the same technology would in the future be used to develop LCD screens now in widespread use. Land is also well known as the creator of instant photography with his iconic Polaroid camera.
Unfortunately, Land started believing his own press releases and began to believe he was infallible. He committed ten years and half-a-billion-dollars to the development of Polavision – a 35-millimeter movie camera. His company produced 200,000 Polavision cameras before it established that customers would not buy it. Land eventually resigned as Polaroid's CEO and cut all ties to the company he had founded.
推薦書單
NO.295 賈伯斯的神奇思路
Inside Steve's Brain
by 里恩德．坎尼（Leander Kahney）
中文版：《賈伯斯在想什麼？》（臉譜 ，2009）
NO.636 失敗成功學
Whoever Makes the Most Mistakes Wins: The Paradox of Innovation
by 理查．法森（Richard Farson）
中文版：《犯錯最多的是最後贏家》（臉譜 ，2003）
NO.729 怪點子才厲害
Loonshots: How to Nurture the Crazy Ideas That Win Wars, Cure Diseases, and Transform Industries
by 薩菲．巴考（Safi Bahcall）
