Forty years ago, the Beatles released their album, Sergeant Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band, on June 1, 1967. Apart from the wonderful songs (see the list below), this pathbreaking album contains at least seve lessons for innovators. Here they are:

1. Innovation is the key response, perhaps the only response, to waning popularity – in the face of the nearly irresistible tendency to do “more of the same”. In 1967 Beatlemania was waning. The Beatles had stopped touring and it seems that they were burned out. A Beatle statement that “we are bigger than Jesus” got them essentially expelled from Philippines.   The Beatles went into the recording studio, for five months – a remarkably long time, then, for one album – and emerged with Sergeant Pepper. It took huge risks – and was rocket fuel for renewal of their popularity.

2. Technology is a key source of innovation. There were several new technologies in Sergeant Pepper, including the new Dolby noise reduction, automatic double tracking (invented especially for the Beatles), varispeeding, and a novel method for pressing LP’s. The Beatles were not afraid to use every possible one.

3. …But the technology was driven by product and process innovation. The Beatles innovated in the music, instruments, arrangements and even words. They used a sitar (George Henderson), and a miniature trumpet player from a London symphony orchestra, and also a harpsichord, as well as producer George Martin’s harmonium. Martin was a key innovator – he had a background as a classical musician. 

4. Innovate everywhere: everything about Sergeant Pepper is novel – even the cover. The cover shows the word “Beatles” written in flowers, in a flower bed, and behind that the Beatles dressed as if they were a real Lonely Hearts Band, with a crowd of famous people behind them (Oscar Wilde, Marlene Dietrich, Karl Marx, Marlon Brando, etc.). The album was meant to be heard as a whole, not as individual songs, as one of the first ‘concept’ albums. The lyrics to a John Lennon song came nearly word for word from an old circus poster Lennon once bought. Like the DC-3, which was a portfolio of innovations, Sergeant Pepper combined many breakthrough ideas. 

5. Innovation is best when its implementation is at its best. Beatles hired only top-flight session musicians (musicians hired just for the recording), and the 5 months they invested reflects their perfectionism. (150 days for a dozen songs, or nearly two weeks per song). 

6. True innovations find commercial success – not always, but often. Sergeant Pepper was the #1 album in 1968 for 23 straight weeks. The CD, re-released in June 1987, was #3! and then again, in 1992, on its 25th anniversary, re-charted at #6. 
 
7. Finally, innovation is about teamwork. All the songs were written by John Lennon and Paul McCartney. While each has written great songs on their own, the songs they wrote together are unparalleled for their novelty, creativity and appeal. Lennon and McCartney were utterly different in personality, lifestyle and values. That diversity perhaps strengthened their powerful collaboration.

Sergeant Pepper Tracks
1 Sergeant Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band
2 With A Little Help From My Friends
3 Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds
4 Getting Better
5 Fixing A Hole
6 She’s Leaving Home
7 Being For The Benefit Of Mr. Kite
8 Within You, Without You
9 When I’m Sixty Four
10 Lovely Rita
11 Good Morning
12 Sergeant Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band (Reprise)
13 A Day In The Life