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WHY VISIONARY CEOS NEVER HAVE VISIONARY SUCCESSORS
WHY VISIONARY CEOSNEVER HAVE VISIONARY
SUCCESSORS
Steve BlankSilicon Valley serial-entrepreneur and academician
The Author
The full article is available at Harvard Business Review
Technology commercialization managerExploit Technologies Pte Ltd (ETPL)Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR, Singapore)
B. Eng & Ph.d (Engineering)Nanyang Technological University Singapore
M.B.A.INSEADFontainebleau, France
Presentation by
LI Wei
Microsoft entered the 21st century as thedominant software provider for computing devices
16 years later, that dominance is looking threadbare
Apple, the dominant tech firm for the mobile era, is at risk of making
THE SAME MISTAKES
Microsoft
STEVE BALLMER
If you think the job of a CEO is …
Ballmer did aSPECTACULAR Job
In 14 years, he tripled Microsoft’s sales to
x3 $78 BILLION
But if the purpose of the company is itsLONG-TERM SURVIVAL
FAILUREHe was a
SHORT-TERM GAINS LONG-TERM OPPORTUNITIES
VS
HE MISSED
5MOST IMPORTANT TECHNOLOGY TRENDS
HE MISSED
5MOST IMPORTANT TECHNOLOGY TRENDS
Search Engine
LOSING TO GOOGLE
1
HE MISSED
5MOST IMPORTANT TECHNOLOGY TRENDS
Smart Phones
LOSING TO APPLE
2
HE MISSED
5MOST IMPORTANT TECHNOLOGY TRENDS
Mobile Operating Systems
LOSING TO GOOGLE/APPLE
3
HE MISSED
5MOST IMPORTANT TECHNOLOGY TRENDS
Media
LOSING TO APPLE/NETFLIX
4
HE MISSED
5MOST IMPORTANT TECHNOLOGY TRENDS
Cloud
LOSING TO AMAZON
5
A very smart CEO missed ALL of these?
It wasn’t that Microsoft didn’t have smart engineers and those projects
The problem was that Ballmer organized the
company around execution of its
current strengths
Windows & OfficeBusinesses
Projects not directly related to those activities never got seriousRESOURCE OR ATTENTION
Apple
TIM COOK
One of the strengths ofvisionary CEOs is that they build
WORLD-CLASS OPERATING EXECUTIVES
but they unconsciously force out WORLD-CLASS INNOVATORS
STEVE JOBS PUT STRONG OPERATING EXECUTIVES TO
TRANSLATED HIS VISION INTO PLANS, PROCESS AND PROCEDURES
When visionary founders depart …
When visionary founders depart …
The operating executives start to run the company
When visionary founders depart …
The operating executives start to run the company
With the blessing of the ex-CEO
They get rid of …
HAOS
They value …
STABILITY / PROCESS / REPEATABLE EXECUTION
It often starts a
CREATIVE DEATH
Creative people start to leave,
Creative people start to leave, and other executors are put into more senior roles
They hire more process people, which in turn forces out the remaining creative talent
By 2016, Tim Cook has doubled Apple’s revenues to
$200 billion
Yet in 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016 …
The iPhone continues its4S 5 5S 5C 6 6 plus 6s 6s plus 7 7 plus
INCREMENTAL IMPROVEMENTS
Yet in 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016 …
APPLEDISRUPT BUT THE WORLD IS ABOUT TO
in the same way that Microsoft was disrupted under Ballmer
APPLE BRILLIANTLY MASTERED PRODUCT DESIGN TO POWER THE IPHONE TO DOMINANCE
But Google and Amazon are betting that the next of wave will be … AI-DIRECTED
SERVICES
It’s not that Apple doesn’t have exciting things going on in their labs
The problem is …
A SUPPLY CHAIN CEO
A SUPPLY CHAIN CEOwho lacks a passion for products and has yet to
articulate a personal vision of Apple
Without that …
TO BRING THOSE INNOVATIONS TO MARKET ILL-EQUIPPEDHe is …
To conclude …
Steve Jobs and Bill Gates shared the
SAME BLIND SPOT
They suggested …
EXECUTIONEXECUTIVESAS THEIR SUCCESSORS
FOR WORLD-CLASS OPERATION
EXECUTIVES PASSIONFOR PRODUCT AND MARKET INSIGHT
They confused …
Yet these two talents are not the same
FOR WORLD-CLASS OPERATION
EXECUTIVES PASSIONFOR PRODUCT AND MARKET INSIGHT
For long-term survival in markets that change rapidly, one is FAR MORE IMPORTANT than the other
