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Steve Jobs to Nike: Get Rid Of The Crap

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In this interview from the Innovation Uncensored Conference, Nike President and CEO Mark Parker shares some advice Steve Jobs gave him shortly after the release of the Nike+ gear, developed in collaboration with Apple.

One of the most difficult things for an organization is to let go of projects or products that might be past their prime, ineffective or slightly off-strategy when they are still contributing to the “bottom line”. It’s even more difficult when the decision is personal. We often have months or even years vested in a project and it can be tough to cut ties, even when it makes the most sense to do so.

Upon seeing this video, I was challenged to take a hard look at everything happening in my life and work and identify the “crap”, or the stuff that might be adequate but not really representative of the best I can do.

What do you think about Jobs’ comments?

Todd Henry

Todd Henry

Todd is the founder of Accidental Creative, the author of The Accidental Creative: How To Be Brilliant at a Moment's Notice, and an in-demand speaker and consultant .
Todd Henry

@toddhenry

Todd Henry
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  • Denis

    Some say: get rid of the crap. Others say: do not afraid to be crappy. My question is: when to get rid of the crap?

    • Todd Henry

      I think that gets to the “process v. product” enigma. We need permission to be crappy in our process, but the end goal is to make great stuff. Hopefully all of the bad ideas help us get closer to good ones. Then there’s the situation when things that are great outlive their purpose, but sometimes we want to hold onto them anyway.

      • Denis

        Truth is Steve is exceptional leader. But is he good teacher? Does he aways use his own advice if to look from this perspective?

        • Todd Henry

          No clue, but it was personally challenging to think about how many things I perpetuate because it’s easier to do so than to make hard choices.

    • http://www.roleplayingtips.com/ Johnn

      @Denis – that’s a good question. Thinking about it a bit, I’d propose you ask, “What would happen if we cancelled it right now?” Whoomp, it’s gone. Just a void left.

      This should give you several answers, possibly a large number.

      Some answers will be losses: sunk costs, product never ships, amortized stuff you can’t recoup in the intended way, competitive repositioning, morale, dead-end training, changed market perceptions….

      Some answers will be gains: people and money and resources freed up, a fresh start on a new project perhaps, reduced drag on support units, write-offs, less overhead….

      Logically, some answers could be neutral, though I can’t think of any examples.

      As mentioned elsewhere on this blog, be sure to factor in the big answers: what will the project truly deliver? What was it supposed to deliver? What are the true costs? What are the actual opportunities lost/gained?

      Not knowing many answers is a good sign of the current state of the project. :)

      After that, it would be easier to determine whether to get rid of the crap methinks. I would especially look at the gain column. How would you redeploy those today for an even better future?

      In fact, I’m going to do this for a project of mine right now. Wish me luck!

  • Woo

    Nike…they do have a lot of crap though. only until recently they started making real shoes.

  • http://www.facebook.com/people/Zubair-Ahmed/534044561 Zubair Ahmed

    means everything other whats being produced by Apple is crap :)

    Zub
    http://www.Publicity.pk

    • http://twitter.com/Andrew_Kr Andrew K

      no, it doesn’t mean that.
      It means that Steve thinks that Apple doesn’t produce anything that is crap.

      Quite a big difference between those two statements!

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