How to Think Differently in Business: Lessons from Steve Jobs & Innovation
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One of the most famous business campaigns that probably saved Apple Computer was the “Think Different” campaign in 1997. Steve Jobs had been forced out of the company he had founded some 12 years earlier, and afterward, the company seemed to lose its way, losing hundreds of millions of dollars (Hormby, 2013). The company had bet big on questionable projects and had become slow and inefficient in its distribution. After leaving Apple, Jobs started another computer company whose innovative technologies attracted Apple, which acquired it in 1996 and added Jobs to its Board of Directors. Jobs quickly consolidated power and returned to the CEO role one year later (Hormby, 2013).
Jobs overhauled the organization’s product offerings and marketing communication (West, 2024). He simplified the product range, eliminating 70% of the products and focusing on the remaining 30%. He also invited back Chiat/Day, an ad agency with whom he had previously worked. In their brainstorming about how to re-energize Apple’s tarnished perception, Lee Clow came up with the famous “Think Different” slogan (Hormby, 2013). Part of the campaign included black-and-white posters and commercials of iconic personalities—known innovators and distinctive thinkers who had tremendous impact on their industries and culture. The marketing campaign had tremendous impact on Apple’s future and the audiences that connected with this concept (West, 2024).
Thinking differently is not an option in business; it is a necessity. Almost 20% of students who graduate from colleges and universities in the United States graduate with degrees in business (NCES, 2023). I know this because I teach business for a living. It’s also important for me to know because we have a small but unique school population. I want to do everything I can to help our students stand out when applying for jobs or interviewing for opportunities.
We make it part of our approach to encourage students to think differently about business. We believe it helps them gain an advantage in their discipline. We also teach them to approach problems as opportunities to think differently about solutions. One of the most important things any employee can do is think differently than everyone else. If you have a group of people in a room who all think the same, most of them are unnecessary.
Hans Finzel writes about people who think differently—he calls them ‘mavericks’—in his book, “Top Ten Mistakes Leaders Make” (1994). Finzel notes that most leaders struggle with having employees who think and act differently than they do. Yet these ‘mavericks’ are not necessarily attitude problems but opportunities for leaders to perceive things from a different vantage point when their viewpoint is understood (Finzel, 1994). When people think and act differently and take risks, mistakes are made that sometimes cost money. Leaders need great discernment to know whether these violations are benign or malignant efforts, and whether forgiveness and redemption can reclaim this situation for greater good (Swoboda, 2020).
Wouldn’t you rather have people who think differently and make mistakes trying new things? The opposite would be having everyone think the same and employing people who are reluctant to try new things because they don’t want to look bad in their employer’s eyes. Instead of birthing innovation, you create a “no-risk taking” zone (Swoboda, 2020). How is that working out for you?
We live in a world of polarizing influences. There are factions with strident opposing thoughts, fully entrenched in their own thinking, barking orders at their non-thinking followers and directing their behavior, even seeking to control it (Pew Research Center, 2019). While there may be reasonable people among them, they don’t have microphones and bullhorns like the polarizing influencers. If I were growing up today, how would I find a fresh view of the world that didn’t draw me in and tell me I couldn’t believe other things but only what they themselves believe?
We should not think that our current age of polarizing thought is unique in human history. There are great examples in the Bible of how crowds responded to prophets who had a different message than they wanted to hear. Certainly, Jesus’ own radical approach justified His death for challenging the conventional thinking of the time (Morrison, 2014). Jesus’ own disciples were so convinced by the religious beliefs of their time that they told Him when He had offended the religious leaders (Matthew 15:12). These religious leaders had mind control over everyone in their culture.
Naphtali Hoff is a psychologist and ordained rabbi who conducts performance coaching for executives. Hoff gives an excellent set of approaches on how we can train our minds to think differently (Hoff, 2025). He encourages people to challenge assumptions and seek diverse perspectives, among other things (Hoff, 2025).
The one approach I thought was extremely important, which is not often considered, is embracing failure and learning from it (Hoff, 2025). This author has written extensively about redemption and recovering from failure (Bucci, 2022). I believe it’s important that we find ourselves in environments where there is opportunity to learn and grow. Part of learning and growth means making mistakes and failing when trying new things. Polarizing cultures lash out and condemn those who make mistakes, even perceived mistakes (Madhu, 2023). That gives those who disagree with them the opportunity to criticize them when a perceived mistake is held up as an actual mistake. It is a vicious cycle in our culture.
To learn to think differently, people need the opportunity to think out loud about new things (or however they process information) and to try different things. Trying different things often leads to failure or frustration. One thing Hoff is missing from his list is the mentorship opportunity by a contrarian leader. We need people who think differently to encourage us to try new things, and we should not be afraid to test out new ideas or afraid of digesting content written by people who think differently than us. There are many people I read on a daily or weekly basis who think completely differently than I do. Their political views are completely opposite, and some of their opinions are offensive to me. But I read them to gain perspective on my own opinions and to accept the challenge of trying to understand how they have reached these conclusions or made these decisions.
The Bible is very clear: we should not conform our thinking to what is currently the mindset of this world, but we should be transformed by the renewing of our minds. Here’s how The Message version says it:
“So, here’s what I want you to do, God helping you: Take your everyday, ordinary life—your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life—and place it before God as an offering. Embracing what God does for you is the best thing you can do for him. Don’t become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking. Instead, fix your attention on God. You’ll be changed from the inside out. Readily recognize what he wants from you and quickly respond to it. Unlike the culture around you, always dragging you down to its level of immaturity, God brings the best out of you, develops well-formed maturity in you” (Romans 12:1-2 The Message).
Some of the greatest thinkers and creative minds in all of history were people with faith in Christ (Wallace, 2018; Stewart, 2025). I am convinced the reason for this is that a God-breathed perspective gives a person a wider view of their own life, and the Holy Spirit infuses them with God’s creative, innovative thinking. Ephesians 3:20 says that God will answer our prayers beyond what we might ask or think; several versions translate this as beyond what we can imagine (Ephesians 3:20 The Message). I think a renewed mind and God-breathed imagination help people to think differently.
You were made to think differently. Your fingerprints tell you that. There is no one exactly like you, from your fingerprints to your DNA to your own mind. You were made to think differently about how the world is formed and that there is someone who wants to build a relationship with you. The Holy Spirit was sent by Christ to dwell within us (Romans 8:9) to help us think differently about this world and not be controlled by its passions and desires (Hyde, 2013). We can think differently about our purpose here, and therefore by that same Holy Spirit we will think differently about our future (John 16:7-11).
Sources: Bucci, J.J. (2022). Redemption Inc.: Why Offering Second Chances Makes Good Business Sense. Norfolk, VA: Kingdom Business Press.
Finzel, H. (1994). No Room for Mavericks. The Top Ten Mistakes Leaders Make (pp. 65-79). Wheaton, Ill: Victor Books.
Hoff, N. (2025, February 14). To get ahead, learn to think differently. SmartBrief.com [Web Blog]. Retrieved from https://www.smartbrief.com/original/to-get-ahead-learn-to-think-differently.
Hormby, T. (2013, August 10). Think Different: The Ad Campaign that Restored Apple’s Reputation. Low End Mac: Apple History [Web Blog]. Retrieved from https://loendmac.com/2013/think-different-ad-campaign-restored-apples-reputation/.
Hyde, D. (2013, May 5). The Indwelling Spirit. Ligonier Ministries: Devotionals [Web Blog]. Retrieved from https://learn.ligonier.org/devotionals/indwelling-spirit.
Madhu, D. (2023, June 14). Social Media and Polarization. LinkedIn [Web Blog]. Retrieved from https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/social-media-polarization-dinesh-madhu/.
Morrison, S. (2014, October 14). The Moral Influence Theory. 7 Theories of the Atonement Summarized [Web Blog]. Retrieved from https://www.sdmorrison.org/7-theories-of-the-atonement-summarized/.
National Center for Education Statistics. (2023). Undergraduate Degree Fields. Condition of Education. U.S. Department of Education, Institute of Education Sciences. Retrieved from https://nces.ed.gov/programs/coe/indicator/cta.
Pew Research Center (2019, June 19). Public Highly Critical of State of Political Discourse in the U.S. Pew Research Center. Retrieved from https://www.pewresearch.org/politics/2019/06/19/public-highly-critical-of-state-of-political-discourse-in-the-u-s/.
Stewart, D. (2025). 34 Great Scientists Who Were Committed Christians. Famous Scientists [Web Blog]. Retrieved from https://www.famousscientists.org/great-scientists-christians/.
Swoboda, C. (2020, June 22). In Business, As in Life, The Greatest Risk is Doing Nothing. Forbes Magazine: Leadership Strategies [Web Blog]. Retrieved from https://www.forbes.com/sites/chuckswoboda/2020/06/22/in-business-as-in-life-the-greatest-risk-is-doing-nothing/.
Wallace, J.W. (2018, March 2). The Rich, Historic Roll Call of Great Christian Thinkers and Scientists. Cold-Case Christianity [Web Blog]. Retrieved from https://coldcasechristianity.com/writings/the-rich-historic-roll-call-of-great-christian-thinkers-and-scientists/.
West, J. (2024, July 22). How Steve Jobs’ “Think Different” Speech Saved Apple. Media Shower [Web Blog]. Retrieved from https://mediashower.com/blog/steve-jobs-1997-speech/.
