HQ Asia: You are an advisor, scholar and advocate for creative leadership. What sparked your interest in these topics?

Prasad: Growing up in India, I noticed large numbers of young people competing for limited seats in colleges and job positions. These people were all hardworking and talented. However the successful ones were those who were able to differentiate themselves from the masses – they were the ones that were creative.  In 1981, I moved to the US and was later, recruited by Apple in International Marketing. I later was the Head of School of Technology and was a fellow in Apple University. My experiences at Apple profoundly shaped my views on creativity.

Elizabeth Reinhardt, my boss at Apple International, told me she would only define 50% of my job description. It was up to me to see what else was needed and how I should spend the rest of my time.  I was given creative license to get the best job done for Apple. But this was not done in isolation. I was encouraged to talk with different groups of employees from the R&D team to the marketing team to get ideas on how I could make the biggest difference to Apple. Apple also used an approach called “cloud trimming” to minimize overlapping of responsibilities between employees.

HQ Asia: How can organisations better foster creativity in their leaders?

Prasad: First of all, it’s important to understand that there are different types of leaders. Broadly speaking, there are two categories - Leaders focused on execution and Leaders who are entrepreneurial. The former are very comfortable in their chosen fields; they tend to be bottom-line focused and possess high domain expertise. To foster curiosity and creativity in this group, we first have to relate with examples that connects with their domain knowledge. A vast majority of leaders fall into this category. Tim Cook – the current CEO of Apple – is an example of an Execution oriented Leader. In my book From Smart to Wise, I call them ‘functional smart leaders.’

The second category – Entrepreneurial Leaders – is much more focused on business outcomes. They are the deal makers who possess strong wills. They are opportunists and visionary thinkers who will leave no stone unturned to make a difference. They focus on the future rather than worry about their legacy. Steve Jobs is a famous example of an Entrepreneurial Leader.  I called them business smart leaders in my  book.

It’s precisely this combination of Entrepreneurial and Executional Leaders that made Apple great. The raw creativity of Steve Jobs was complemented by the operational excellence of Tim Cook. Tim Cook now has the responsibility to groom the next Steve Jobs. Succession planning is the key for survival and people have a tendency to groom those who are like them. The challenge then is to groom someone who is radically different from you and reap the benefits of such complementary partnerships. Jobs had done this very well.

HQ Asia: What can we learn from Steve Jobs as a creative leader?

Prasad: People who worked with Jobs will recall the many impossible – almost nonsensical - requests that he made.  Yet it was precisely these nonsensical questions that inspired Apple to think big and reach its current heights. A young manager at Apple spoke of an experience when he was working on the iPod. Since part of the target audience of the iPod were runners and cyclists, Jobs did not want any screws in the internal device so as to minimize wear and tear during intensive workouts. The young manager tried his best to prepare a prototype which contained just one screw – to hold the internal processor in place. When Jobs saw that single screw, he threw the device back at the manager. Give me either a screwless iPod, or your resignation, Jobs demanded of this young manager.

I’ve had the opportunity to observe Jobs for over 28 years. I first met him in 1983 just before he released Apple Macintosh to the public. I’ve seen his rash side – a lack of concern about the approval of others. He also had a knack for provoking people – to push them till they either break down, or transcend and transform. Leaders like him risk being labeled as “dictators”. In my view, however, this actually allowed Jobs to be very effective in uncovering the latent creativity in his people. Through provoking them, he helped his people realize that their potential was much larger than what they had perceived.

The best creative leaders are “benevolent dictators”. These leaders may push and provoke, but their intentions are noble and they are loved by their people. India’s former Prime Minister Narasimha Rao and Singapore’s first Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew would fall into this category. The former was an erudite scholar, an introvert and widely considered a safe bet as Prime Minister. Yet, his liberalization policies that were unprecedented in India before the 1990 aid the foundation for India to emerge as an IT giant. In the case of the latter, Lee Kuan Yew took a very strong stance against opposition, and introduced more than a few unpopular policies. Yet, his vision, effectiveness and long-term planning have helped transform Singapore into the first-world country it is today.

HQ Asia: Are there East-West differences in creative leadership?

Prasad: Yes, there are. Let me elaborate using an example. I currently live in San Jose, California. There is a small tourist attraction nearby called “the mystery spot”. It’s a small place with a little shack on the side of a hill that features various optical illusions. What’s truly remarkable however is how well this place has been packaged.  “The mystery spot” is marketed as a heritage site with over 70 years of history, with a full range of accompanying merchandise like t-shirts, books, and even bumper stickers. Contrast this to India, where I grew up. We are surrounded by many amazing heritage sites with over a thousand years of history, but we fail to protect – let alone package - many of them. This is also true for many other parts of Asia and an area we can learn from the West – perceiving creativity holistically. We should not look down on “packaging” or “marketing”, and instead consider these part of the innovation value chain.