‘Innovation Secrets of Steve Jobs: Insanely Different Principles for Breakthrough Success’ Carmine Gallo - Author
Mc Graw Hill – Publisher
Truth be told, I bought this book first - much earlier than its predecessor and companion book, and as I sat down to read this; Gallo makes reference to his other book. Now, he did not say anything about the other book being a prerequisite or anything – and to be fair, it wasn’t.
But two things made me decide to pause reading this book and finding the other right away. The first was I liked to know more about Steve’s presentation style; and two? Gallo wrote in a comfortable manner that I did not find any second thoughts wanting to read another book by him. So the fact that I’m blogging this review means I read the other book – then read this one as well… and yes, the other book’s review should be visible near this one as well.
Gallo begins by quoting Thomas Freidman of the New York Times ‘What the World Needs now is More Jobs – Steve Jobs’ , and I must say that the quote sets the tone nicely for the rest of the book.
So what did I learn? For starters, more about Steve’s life – and here I thought Gallo covered all his notes on Steve in the previous book. But more importantly, I did learn seven principles…. Some of which are really obvious – but surprisingly downplayed or trivially ignored by some people, present company included.
The Principles start with ‘Do What You Love’ – see what I mean with trivially ignored? The second is ‘Put a Dent in the Universe’ – Wow!!! This was a great insight, and honestly speaking, a bit daunting… but that’s it too… to find the courage to pursue and persevere in this principle. Third ‘Kick Start Your Brain’ came across as needing to think out of the box – again, something many pay lip service to… yet rarely do. Fourth is ‘Sell Dreams, not Products’ which is all about knowing your customers better than themselves. Fifth; ‘Say No to 1,000 Things’ which is all about focus… keeping it simple and sticking to the principle – not making things overly complicated. After all, complicated = confusing. Sixth? ‘Create Insanely Great Experiences’ - something Steve seems to be a master at. I mean, using the iPod came across as insanely easy… more so the iPad. Imagine the fact that a 2-year old could use the iPad? Amazing… Seventh, and last… ‘Master the Message’… keep it simple – in fact, keep it focused… Twitter-length focused.
These seven principles are really worth revisiting or reconsidering, and I have really enjoyed how Gallo gave us these cusps of wisdom. Before you think this book was all about Steve, Gallo gives us additional stories of other people who parallel Steve’s practice and beliefs in each principle… I suspect, just to show is mere mortals that we can do it too.
As I was reading this book, the world also received the announcement that Steve Jobs was taking a much needed leave – a medically related one at that. Here’s hoping Steve gets through this latest challenge to his health… after all I would like him to stay around longer – at least, for Gallo to write another book about him.
But seriously, get well Steve. Let us learn more from you.
To everyone else… get this book and place it beside Steven Covey’s 7 Habits books. It can stand shoulder to shoulder with such a tome, and I feel that they complement each other – even if they weren’t thought to be so.
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