Let me guess, you've come up with ideas that you thought would have benefited your employer, but the people with a broader perspective of the business decided that they weren't cost effective or viable, right? Ideas are like assholes: everyone has one. It takes an individual with foresight, leadership and determination to consider those ideas, pick the best ones, and apply the right amount of resources in the right places. The iPhone was one of probably hundreds or thousands of ideas Steve heard on a regular basis. He saw the potential and acted on it, effectively changing the entire mobile computing landscape. By the way, no one was stopping employee number 24621 from taking his idea and running with it. He chose to work at Apple because he lacks the skills, resources or connections necessary to bring his idea to life. This is where people like Steve Jobs are important. They bring those skills, resources and connections together to make a successful product.