Thoughts on the role of innovation and creativity in our lives

Innovation is what shapes the life that we all have today. Your phone, your computer, or even the kitchen table are all examples of current realities that were once nonexistent ideas. People love to be practical and live in the moment, but it is innovation and impracticality that truly drives civilizations forward, which and can be seen in two ways. First, the imagination of Steve Jobs and his impact in the world of technology and daily life, and second, the impracticality of the 747 jet turned success, despite countless failures and risks that were taken.

As a young man with so many ideas and passions, Steve Jobs desired to start a company that would revolutionize how everyone thought of a personal computer. As a passionate entrepreneur with his technical partner Steve Wozniak, the two were able to create the Apple I, a great jumpstart that kicked the new company into action, and Jobs’ ideas drove it to immediate success. However, as more executives joined Apple Steve Jobs, more conflict also ensued. Their practical, in-the-moment ideas based on existing machines directly clashed with Jobs’ idealistic and impractical thoughts of making something entirely different. Eventually, Steve Jobs was fired from his own company. However, in 1985, he started a second company called NeXT, a software and computer company, and continued to follow his passion. Without Steve Jobs, Apple was losing on sales, stock, and revenue. The obvious reason wasn’t because the whole company depended on only Jobs, but that the products simply didn’t catch consumers’ eyes, as they were developed by other executives whose ideas were too common, practical, and based on existing products. To consumers, Apple’s new computers were essentially the same as other PCs from companies such as IBM or Microsoft, only much more expensive. Apple eventually bought NeXT in 1997, and Steve Jobs returned to Apple. His incredible imagination and impractical mindset was what led the company to eventually release the iPhone in June of 2007, leading to with more than 1.3 million sales. This connects back to the central question, showing how impracticality and imagination are the is key to innovation and advancement to change the world.

A similar example can be found idea is regarding the years of hard work and funds that were invested into building the Boeing 747, the world’s first jumbo jet. The head of the project, Malcom Stamper, accepted the task of leading over 50,000 employees working to make the dream plane a reality. To many, the idea of a double decker jet seemed like a fantasy. The first thing Stamper needed to consider was whether Boeing wanted to take the risk of losing all of its money by to invest in the expensive new project. Because Stamper wanted a better, more efficient solution to air travel and to change the aviation industry for the benefit of everyone, he chose to take the risk with impracticality. Countless times, various executives told Stamper to discontinue the project, saying that it couldn’t possibly be successful and that even if it was, it wouldn’t be applicable to the current industry. However, Stamper didn’t back down, and he continued to lead the design and production of the first prototypes, even when the company was almost bankrupt, and more than 7 billion dollars in today’s money was spent on the production. But by 1969, the incredible world-changing jumbo-jet was introduced to the world and the first 747 rolled out of the factory and took off on its maiden flight. Today, Boeing has sold more than 788 variants of the 747, and the jet continues to improve technologically. Stamper’s work shows how creativity and innovation is what truly benefits humanity, demonstrating that impracticality and creativity is key to innovation and advancement of society.

If there were no entrepreneurs, great thinkers, and people who envision new inventions, our world would be a frozen time capsule. It is impracticality, creativity, imagination, and innovation such as that of Steve Jobs and the development of the 747 that truly spices up the world we live in and brings uniqueness and joy to our lives.