BUCKING THE CROWD
July 16, 2008 – 9:32 amFor starters, consider a great idea that would never have become reality if a CEO had not been its sole champion: the Sony Walkman. In Chapter 2, we discussed the nonlinear thinking—the leap—that led to this revolutionary personal technology. In this chapter, we consider the man behind the brand—and how his unrelenting enthusiasm was essential to the product’s success. If Akio Morita had not pushed it, our streets and beaches might still be clogged with boom boxes. . . .
Years after the Walkman had become a phenomenal success, Norio Ohga (successor to Akio Morita) had this to say about its development: “When they showed it to me . . . I was preoccupied with CDs and optical laser technology, which was much more difficult and more interesting. Frankly, I couldn’t see why Sony should make a product that was boring technically. And that is the major difference between me and Mr. Morita. He had the merchant’s intuition that allowed him to see what it would become. If it had been up to me, it never would have happened.”5 Ohga didn’t understand at that time how this seemingly boring piece of creative thinking could be applied to his business.
So convinced was Morita that putting together a portable tape player with miniature headphones had huge potential as a Sony product that he adopted the idea as a kind of personal crusade. He instructed Sony technicians to strip the company’s compact tape recorder of its recording capabilities and speaker, replace them with a stereo amplifier, design lightweight headphones that would still maintain high-quality sound—and do all that so cheaply that teenagers could afford the product.
Taken from : “Leap” A Revolution in Creative Business Strategy
