the
innovative LEDGER
An e-Newsletter from The Innovative Edge™ Inc.
Vol.
8, No. 5 - May 2008
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Just Some Misunderstanding
By Jeff Govendo
Amazon
CEO Jeff Bezos, in a recent interview in Business Week focusing on
innovation, made this thoughtful remark: "I believe you have
to be willing to be misunderstood if you're going to innovate."
We
all know the story of Mr. Bezos and Amazon. Now in its 14th year –
in Internet years an “old-timer” – Amazon was among
the first major e-commerce sites, and the first whose only presence
was on the Web. For about half of its existence, it has been unprofitable
or barely in the black, making Mr. Bezos the target of skepticism
or outright scorn by investors; yet this has been tempered by
a mix of curiosity and fascination with his every move. Amazon has
survived through a number of economic swings, and seen hundreds of
other e-commerce companies start up, founder, then disappear from
the cyber-market.
Through
it all, Amazon has never stopped innovating and trying new things.
They pioneered one-click merchandise ordering to simplify the
process for customers. They created a way for customers to feel good
about avoiding shipping charges, still the bane of many a virtual
shopping experience. Amazon was among the first to invite and post
customer reviews – good and bad alike – about books and
then all its products. And now they have ventured into their first
hardware product, the Kindle electronic book reader, to a chorus of
naysayers who insist that the reading public will never embrace such
a device.
Presumably
Mr. Bezos was thinking about investors when he made his "misunderstood"
comment. Wall Street folks, for the most part, like to understand
what they're investing millions of other people's hard-earned dollars
in (the subprime debacle notwithstanding), so mavericks like the Jeff
Bezoses of the world are not necessarily their favored personality
types (until they turn profitable, of course, which Amazon has).
But
there are others who don't quite understand innovators either.
Like their bosses, for instance. Or maybe their teachers. Or those
pundits whose job it is to predict what will work and what will not.
Or anyone who is simply uncomfortable with the untidiness of creative
thought. They don’t understand that the newer and more untested
the idea, the less familiar-sounding or neatly packaged it's apt to
be. They have trouble with the ambiguity; the “not knowing”
where an idea might lead.
Yet,
every breakthrough concept, whether it changes the way things are
done across the planet, or simply within the confines of a small company,
starts with such ideas. Without them, we move forward, but always
in baby steps, never leaps.
So
we need Jeff Bezos and others of his ilk to keep thinking, to keep
trying and keep talking, even if they’re not always understood.
And as long as they make news, I’ll keep writing about them,
for that’s why this newsletter exists.
I
hope you understand.
