Mickey Drexler's 2006 Speech at Boston University

There is a great video on Mickey Drexler's speech at Boston University in 2006. To view the video click here. The video is 1 hour and 8 minutes long in case you are curious. ;)

The following is the a quick overview that goes with the video:

2006 MBA Symposium Afternoon Keynote Address by Mickey Drexler, Chairman and CEO of J. Crew
Hosted by School of Management
February 4, 2006

J. Crew CEO Mickey Drexler (GSM’68), speaking from over two decades of business experience, discusses business innovation at Symposium 2006, the School of Management's annual MBA symposium. Drexler admits the “textbook” topic can be stuffy — how does innovation increase growth? how do you manage innovation? — but he turns the discussion toward why innovation matters.

Innovation is about improving a company, Drexler says, not expanding it. At J. Crew, as at most companies, success depends on the passion and creativity of its employees. Employees, management included, need to truly love what they’re doing for the company to grow. “At the end of the day,” he says, “I live and thrive, and our company does, on changing for the better. Everything we do is, what can we do better? How do you hire creative people?” A big company has enormous resources, he says, but a company with a small feel has a connection to its customer. In that way, thinking smaller, not bigger, is the key.

Drexler gives store credit cards as an example. Today, retail conglomerates offer multipurpose cards — cards you can use at any of their subsidiary stores — to enhance business. But Drexler rejects the idea. As CEO of Gap, Inc., he didn’t want a credit card that could be used at Old Navy and Banana Republic as well as at the Gap, even though they were all owned by the same company. He wanted each store to be an experience, not a division of something else.

To be an innovative CEO, he says, you need to think on the customer level. You need to be a “hands-on merchandiser.” Expanding your business is about paying attention to your customer, visiting stores, looking at investments in real estate, not moving products overseas to rake in cash or adding stores to horde the market share. It’s about your passion and commitment to your product. “Innovation is a part of any company’s DNA,” Drexler says. “It has to be.”

What do you think of Mickey Drexler's speech at Boston University? Do you agree/disagree with him on any points?