There is a famous tech story about Steve Jobs related to innovation.
One day he walked over to a developer’s desk and placed a manila envelope on it. Then he said to the developer, “Make me a computer that fits that.”
What came out of that moment?
The Macbook Air.
Your Manila envelope
I have often written about Steve Jobs because he was a visionary. I also love that particular story for its bold audacity. Jobs knew that his products had to be easy to use, stylish, and innovative. I was not looking to gradually build on what had been done before in technology.
I was looking to innovate.
So this is my question for you. If you are the CEO or founder of a nonprofit organization, think about your cause for a moment. If you are a good executive, you probably know a lot about your cause. You know all the reasons the situation exists. You know what the industry, your competitors, and what you are doing programmatically to make a difference.
Now, think of that manila envelope placed on your desk.
My first question for you is this: if someone told you to create a “computer” that could fit inside a manila envelope, what would you create?
Questions to ask
You most likely don’t have an answer at the time to the question of what you would create to put inside the manila envelope. But, this is your chance to innovate and do something that is out of the ordinary. Some questions you may want to ask yourself to help you understand the situation include the following:
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What is the social problem that you solve?
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Why is it important to fix it?
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Do you think that your organization, and you, can find the answer to solve and eradicate the problem? (Think of the manila envelope).
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Why do you think your organization can do it? Do you have the best resources? More money? Expertise?
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If you could only choose one project to work on that helps you innovate a solution for your cause, what would it be?
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Which areas of your nonprofit are the strongest and which are the weakest?
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What prevents you in your organization from achieving that level of success? And a second part of this same question is how to get rid of the situation?
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Whenever you come up with the innovation that will change your industry, how do you define success?
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How can you get others (board of directors, donors, and your team) to follow the vision you are creating, even if it doesn’t exist yet? How do you “paint the picture”?
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How can you bring value to the people (board of directors and donors) who will invest in the product you have created?
The next time you’re sitting in your office, remember the Steve Jobs story and the manila envelope. Instinctively he knew that in order to grow his customer base and gain market share, he had to create a computer that didn’t exist. What are you going to do in your industry to create your version of the Macbook Air?