Innovation starts from the CEO, says co-founder of Apple

INNOVATION LEADERSHIP

By: Lee Xieli, Singapore

Singapore – Companies eager to groom more innovative talent to drive business should have the chief executive set the right corporate culture from the start, says Steve Wozniak, co-founder of Apple.


Wozniak, who founded Apple with Steve Jobs in 1976, said Jobs is a great CEO who encourages innovation right from the start. “Steve was so obviously excellent in everything. He can run every single division and every single aspect of the company.”

Wozniak added, “I was in charge of engineering because I don’t like conflict. I like to keep my feet on the ground and not step on other people’s toes and tell them, ‘Oh, the box should be a different colour, don’t you think?’”

The former engineer at Hewlett Packard told Human Resources leaving the tech company to co-found Apple was the best decision he has ever made in his life. Before he left, he had tried to persuade his former employer to pour resources into his idea at that time but they rejected him five times. “It’s a good thing they turned me down because they would have built a boring product for engineers that wouldn’t have changed the world.”

Wozniak said to the audience that the reason HP turned him down was because it could not find a way to head into a new business direction due to its company culture. “It used to be a type of company that did only one kind of thing so it is very difficult for it to do another kind [of product].”

To inspire an individual to think innovatively, Wozniak said there are different kinds of motivation such as rewards and punishment. “Rewards in business are your salary, job title, the number of houses you have, your cars, your clothing. These are the kinds of things that define the success you have or the standing you have in the society.”

But that alone will not spur an employee to take time out for business innovation. Wozniak said individuals must have their personal intrinsic rewards. “The rewards in your own head – I want to do something for my own reason – are 10 times as strong,” he said.

“You will work on it harder than anyone and sometimes that goal is what leads you to skills that make you better than anyone else in the world at what you do. That is very important in the process of innovation. You got to think that way.”

Woznia was speaking on innovation and creativity at the launch of the DRIVE (DRiving InnoVation Excellence) series by the Singapore Workforce Development Agency (WDA) and Next UTM, an initiative under NTUC LearningHub.

Designed for professionals, managers, executives and technicians (PMETs), the series will provide a knowledge-sharing platform for companies looking to build a more productive, high-performing work environment. Thought leaders and leading practitioners in the field of business excellence would be invited to share best practices during each DRIVE event.

Two new Workforce Skills Qualifications (WSQ) training programmes were also launched yesterday by Jospehine Teo, assistant secretary-general for NTUC.

The WSQ Certified Associate Operations Executive (AOE) programme will help participants address productivity gaps in their companies and develop “T-shaped” competencies in managing quality, people, processes and projects. The programme will train about 300 PMETs over a period of two years.

The WSQ Certified Productivity and Innovation Specialist (CPIS) programme aims to help employees with operational-level responsibilities foster innovation within their organisations. At least 450 workers are set to benefit from this programme annually.