No Box Thinking™: How To Beat Silicon Valley's (and other) Fast-Moving Startups At Their Own Game

By James Santagata
Principal Consultant, SiliconEdge

“Core competencies are different for every organization. But every organization needs one core competence: innovation.”
   - Peter Drucker

• Is necessity really the mother of all invention?
  
• And if so, why?
  
• Are innovation and creativity really the keys to success? 
  
• Does Apple under Steve Jobs prove this?
  
• And if so, what lessons do the failure of Xerox PARC's storied inventions tell us?
  
• Were Apple products under Steve Jobs truly "revolutionary" or can they be shown to be simple derivative or "step forward" products (e.g, iPod = solid-state Sony Walkman)?
  
• If this is the case, how was Steve Jobs able to enjoy such massive success while other incumbents like Sony stumbled and faltered? 
  
• How could an industry pioneer like Yahoo have its lunch eaten by Google?
  
• How could Google develop failed product after failed product (Google Video, Google Wave, Orkut among others) and only seem to have success with acquired products (Youtube, Android, Double Click, Google Earth among others)?
  
• How was Google able to dominate search and in what ways could Yahoo have thwarted or even crushed Google?
  
• Finally and most importantly, can an industry incumbent ever compete let alone snuff out a nimble-footed startup? 
  

The answers to all of these questions may shock you because the arguments we make and evidence we present are often in direct opposition to what the media pundits and industry insiders have been telling us, and worse, selling to us.