Big companies have trouble with innovation. Innovation is about bad ideas, or ideas that look like bad ideas. That's the fundamental thing.
Interpretation
Innovation often starts with ideas that seem poor or unviable, especially in large companies.
This quote emphasizes that the path to true innovation is often littered with ideas that may initially appear to be bad. In large companies, the bureaucratic structures can stifle creative thinking, making it harder for unconventional ideas to emerge and be explored, which is critical for true innovation.
In practice
This quote can be used in a corporate training session on fostering a culture of creativity.
As a company gets big, the information that informs decision-making gets massive. Depending upon the prism through which you view the business, your perspective will vary. If two people are in charge, this variance will cause conflict and delay.
You read these management books that say, 'These are the hard things about running a company.' But those aren't really the hard things. The hard things are when you have to layoff half your company, or you have to fire your best friend. Or you have to figure out a way not to go bankrupt.
Look - this is the terror of being a founder & CEO. It is all your fault. Every decision, every person you hire, every dumb thing you buy or do - ultimately, you're at the end.
Nobody knows how to be a CEO. It's something you have to learn. It's a very lonely job.
As long as people are clear on what they need to do and what's going on, you're very likely to succeed. When nobody is clear, then you're guaranteed to fail.
I emphasize to C.E.O.s, you have to have a story in the minds of the employees. It's hard to memorize objectives, but it's easy to remember a story.
When an entrant competitor attacks the low end of any market, the rational reaction of the incumbent firms is to abandon rather than defend it - because the low end is the least profitable of their possible investments.
I strongly believe the business of a business is to improve the world.
If you aren't committed to diversity of thought, you have no business launching a startup.
I think that, too many times, business has been seen as acting in its narrow self-interest rather than, essentially, contributing more broadly to society. I think a lot of that is unintentional; I don't think that many managers are deliberately trying to be unethical or are not trying to be sensitive to social needs.
I don't know why the word 'solopreneur' is in our lexicon. Nobody can physically do it all by themselves, and more importantly, why would they want to? Being the sales team, the HR department, management, and production all by yourself is terrible. Period.
Each individual should work for himself. People will not sacrifice themselves for the company. They come to work at the company to enjoy themselves.
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