I've been reading Walter Isaacson's book on Steve Jobs and it reminded me of an article I wrote in 2005 for CMO Magazine. The iPod had just become popular and Steve Jobs was doing his usual thing.
Published in CMO Magazine
August, 2005
By Joseph M. Perello
“Joe, you’re being unreasonable,” were words I often heard my parents say when I would ask for permission to do something new.
I’ve always been comfortable being the first one in; taking risks, battling critics, dealing with and recovering from (but never accepting) temporary set-backs. Perhaps it comes so naturally to me because, as the oldest of three, most things I embarked upon growing up (with permission or otherwise) were firsts in our family. There was never a road map or a precedent.
It is clear to me that innovation requires creativity, dedication, leadership, the right resources and enough facts. It also requires being unreasonable and expecting unreasonable things to happen. George Bernard Shaw summed it up very well when he said, "…all progress depends on the unreasonable man."
It was unreasonable to think Steve Jobs could fit 10,000 songs on something smaller than a wallet, create the perfect vehicle to switch PC users to MACs and revolutionize the entire music industry. Alas, he and his team did, because they were unreasonable.
Innovation is often making unprecedented connections. It requires thinking differently and following through on a well-thought out plan. It is art, science and discipline. It is often taking on the right risks and always having faith in the future. Vision and optimism are at its core.
Innovating in business is merely a matter of choosing to stay in business. Becoming a great business requires constant innovation on a systematic scale. The business climate today demands it – and everyone benefits from it. Hopefully, global competition will continue to fuel innovation here in the U.S.
Although innovating in government is more difficult, it is guided by the same principles. In my current job, I once again find myself creating something new with no road map - this time as part of the Bloomberg Administration where innovation is not optional but demanded. As a result New York City is a better place and our office has flourished.
Most critics thought our model - which applies marketing principles from the sports and entertainment industries to promote NYC without using tax dollars - would not work. However, we were not discouraged by temporary set-backs and have succeeded in creating an entirely new revenue model for the City, a new medium for advertisers and a new way to recruit tourists and business to NYC - all without using taxpayer revenue. Along the way, we have helped make NYC a better place to live, work and visit. We have funded entire sports programs in the schools, programming in Parks, helped recruit new films and events, provided tens of millions of dollars in new media for the City to communicate with the World and delivered a surplus to the City.
It is amazing what you can do when an entire organization is unreasonable. Unreasonable things get done.
Joseph M. Perello is the first Chief Marketing Officer for the City of New York and the President of NYC Marketing. The organization, a not-for-profit public benefit corporation, is the City’s central agency for sponsorship, licensing, media and marketing. Its mission is to generate revenue, support City agencies and promote New York City for tourism and economic development.
