Innovation and inspiration are important to every athlete, whether “you’re LeBron James or you’re James from down the street,” Mark Parker, president and chief executive officer of NIKE, Inc., told the May 1 meeting of the Boston College Chief Executives’ Club of Boston. In its four decades of making products for top performers, Nike has developed a work environment in which employee curiosity—and innovation—are encouraged, Parker said.
When you work with athletes … you don’t just innovate for the sake of change. You innovate to change the outcome. And because our athletes demand that we get it right, it keeps us focused on what’s essential and really what matters. And that, in turn, propels us to develop products that are authentic yet that allow us to connect with consumers in a real meaningful way.
People would sometimes ask … What more can you do with shoes that hasn’t already been done? You know, that goes back to 1979.… And as much as sports and the business of sports has changed in 35 years, my answer to that basic question has never changed.… I still see almost endless opportunities for new innovations and new works to inspire consumers.
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