Flying the Pirates Flag for Innovation
In 1983, Steve Jobs flew a pirate flag at Apple to mark the rebellious team that built the Macintosh. Bernhard Kerres draws on Warren Bennis's *Organizing Genius* and the patterns of Apple, Lockheed, HP, and Xerox to lay out three conditions for innovation inside corporations: freedom for the innovators, recognition of the entrepreneurs, and an ambassador for both sides.
Published 2026-04-25 by Bernhard Kerres
This essay was first published in 2016, around the moment Apple flew the pirate flag again at its Cupertino headquarters to mark the company's 40th anniversary. The argument has aged well; the dates have not. It is preserved here as it was written, with the date markers worth noting before reading: Apple is now 50, Warren Bennis's Organizing Genius is approaching 30, and the lessons Apple, Lockheed, HP, and Xerox taught corporate innovators in the 1980s have become if anything more relevant in an era of AI labs, hyperscaler R&D, and corporate venture studios. — BK, April 2026
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Over the last few months, I've had the joy of working with several companies on how to turn their innovative ideas into operating businesses. Many companies are full of innovative ideas but find it difficult to incorporate them and execute. I often recommend the book Organizing Genius by Warren Bennis. Although it is now nearly thirty years old, it remains one of the best books on the subject.
Based on this book, and on my more recent experiences in Silicon Valley, I recommend three key elements for successfully bringing innovative ideas to business fruition:
- Freedom for the innovators
- Recognition of the entrepreneurs
- An ambassador for both sides
The pirate teams
Celebrating its 40th anniversary in 2016, Apple once again flew a pirate flag in front of its headquarters in Cupertino. The pirate flag has an important place in Apple's history. In 1983 it was anointed as the symbol of the rebellious team around Steve Jobs, the team that eventually created the Macintosh.
Why was the pirate flag so important for Apple in the early 1980s? Steve Jobs deliberately wanted to create a team away from the growing Apple Inc., which had lost much of its startup culture. He wanted the Macintosh team to be free, and creative.
Apple did what many others have done — Lockheed Martin, HP, Xerox: they disconnected their innovation teams from the existing organization. Completely. These pirate teams were placed in different locations, were not bound by any corporate rules, and created their own culture. This was crucial to ensure that they attracted the best innovative talent and stayed focused on their development.
The signatures nobody has seen
Innovators and entrepreneurs share many traits. Many of them are introverts but also like to be recognized for what they have contributed. Have you ever looked inside an Apple Macintosh? You can find the signatures of all the team members inside. You have to break a Macintosh open to see them — but this was all the recognition these innovators wanted.
Similar to artists, innovators leave a signature on their work. Some software developers have a certain way of writing code that leaves their signature hidden in the code, only to be found later by real specialists.
These examples show that giving innovation teams recognition is important, regardless of whether they were successful in their development. Giving such recognition is not always straightforward and does not necessarily follow the human resources policies of a corporation. But understanding the people behind the innovation teams, their needs, and their motivations is essential for the long-term growth and success of any company.
An ambassador to connect the corporation with the innovation
Even with all the freedom innovation teams require, there still needs to be a connection to the corporation. Creating, maintaining, and managing this connection can be difficult without jeopardizing either the independence of the innovators or the culture of the corporation.
My recommendation is to have an ambassador serve as the back and forth between the innovators and the corporation. This ambassador needs to be a seasoned person, with the experience of an executive in a corporation and with the acceptance of the innovation teams — which usually requires personal startup experience. Finding such people is not simple, but they are the key to success.
On the corporation side, these ambassadors should report directly to the board and have its trust and its ear. The ambassador needs to fully understand corporate culture, red tape, and decision-making processes. If a company takes innovation seriously, it has to give the ambassador direct access.
On the side of the pirate teams, the ambassador's role is much more that of a mentor and facilitator. This requires being accepted by entrepreneurs, understanding their professional life choices, and speaking a similar language from experience. Only then can the ambassador carefully steer the team, drive for results, and translate the corporate vision in a way that lands.
With a strong foundation in the Mittelstand, Europe has an exceptional starting point for innovation. But for innovation to truly fly, the innovators and entrepreneurs must be set free from the established organizations.
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If the question of how to organize innovation work — without losing it to corporate process or losing the corporation to the innovators — is one your organization is wrestling with, that is a conversation I have often. Reach me at bernhardkerres.com (https://book.bernhardkerres.com/meetings/).
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About the author
Bernhard Kerres trained as an opera singer before joining Booz Allen Hamilton as a strategy consultant, then moved into CFO and CEO roles at two listed European technology companies, and served from 2007 to 2013 as CEO and Artistic Director (Intendant) of the Wiener Konzerthaus. Today he works as a leadership coach, executive advisor, and keynote speaker. He is a PCC-certified ICF coach, holds an MBA from London Business School, and was awarded the Austrian Cross of Honor for Science and Art. He is the founder of RolePlays.ai, an AI platform for practicing high-stakes leadership conversations.