Doing Things Right and Wrong What Matters: Excellence and Relevance

This Element is an excerpt from Doing Both: How Cisco Captures Today's Profit and Drives Tomorrow's Growth (9780137083640) by Inder Sidhu. Available in print and digital formats.

Why successful innovation requires both excellence and relevance--and how to achieve them both.

“A truly 21st century idea.” “Bigger than the Internet.” “More important than the personal computer.” These were just a few of the early impressions of the Segway Personal Transporter. So where did Segway go wrong? Certainly not in design or execution: the device is a true marvel. But relevance to customers simply wasn’t as attainable as excellence....