Steve Jobs recently retired as CEO of Apple for health reasons. While he will continue in his role as Chairman and likely also as a keeper of the Apple vision, this caps his run as what may well be remembered as the most remarkable and effective CEO of not only our age but all time.
What is it about Jobs that made Apple such a success and what can we learn from him that would help us become the Steve Jobs of our own companies?
Apple is a standout company because Steve Jobs refused to accept mediocrity. Your company's success could well depend on whether you follow in his footsteps. Do you embrace his passion to be different, to be a leader, a visionary, to change the world as we know it? Do you accept nothing short of excellence and perfection, or do you tolerate mediocrity?
Apple will be fine without Steve Jobs. Because Steve Jobs isn't just a CEO, he's an idea, and an idea that all companies should embrace. We know this because in working with our clients and our own companies, this belief system and passion for excellence is something we strive to achieve every day. It is an integral part of our culture and our belief system.
Steve Jobs represents an ethos that is core to Apple's culture. He, as an idea, is a simple one. It's all about building amazing, intuitive, life- changing products that people love. To embody this principle, Apple doesn't need Jobs. It can live on through the shared vision of Apple's talented people who deeply care and are dedicated to creating greatness. As long as that culture continues to thrive in Cupertino, Apple will be fine.
That said, it's also a culture other companies would be well served to emulate. What Apple has achieved isn't impossible. The question for us all is - why don't more companies do it?
Perhaps the answer is because it's really, really hard. At Harbour Bridge Ventures and our portfolio companies, we work constantly to delight our customers and not only meet, but also exceed their expectations. That's what our clients are asking from us when they hire us or use our products and services.
That's no easy task. If our companies are to meet this high standard of excellence we must first understand what it is we believe in and are committed to and be certain that it is well aligned with the beliefs and desires of our customers. We have to be certain that every employee in our companies understands our mission and is passionately committed to it. We need to make sure that we are always pushing ourselves to be better. We are not just striving to be better than our competition, but for constant improvement in our own deliverables. Steve Jobs created a culture at Apple that was not only willing to obsolete it’s own products, but actively sought to do so. Apple seeks constantly to improve.
Does your company wait for your competitors to drive you to innovate and improve, or do you believe you are your own competition? It means constantly challenging yourself to see if your customers’ experiences can be better, more beautiful, simpler, more elegant, more in tune with what people will embrace. It's a painstaking undertaking that means sweating all the details, because your heart and soul is in it, and because it's become your baby, and you want it to be absolutely perfect.
Then once it is delivered, do you sit back and wait? Or, do you press forward to improve it yet further. Do you seek to make the customer experience even better?
Most people and companies don't bother to do this. Most find it easier to rest on yesterday’s successes. That's why Apple is such a standout. For many the passion, the heartache and the pressure that's required is just too much. They fall back to what is easy - mediocrity. They punch the clock, go home at five satisfied to have put another day’s work in the rear view mirror, and don't really push themselves or their team toward greatness.
HP's TouchPad is a case in point. Think for a moment about that product and the team behind it. Were they really trying to reinvent the world? Were they trying to create the best new tablet possible? Were they trying to define or deliver a brand new user experience to their customers? No. If they were, they certainly weren't trying hard enough. Because all they created was an iPad clone. They didn’t break the mold or create something truly new and innovative. Why would anyone buy a bad imitation of the original for the same price? They wouldn't and didn't, and consequently HP failed.
If HP had a Steve Jobs culture, they would have made something completely different. They would have pushed themselves to make something better. Better could have been cheaper; better could have been something dramatically different that makes people rethink whether an iPad is the tablet for them; better could have had consumers wondering how they ever lived without it. But HP took the easy way out and simply made a copy of someone else’s idea. They didn’t strive to be better or different. They settled for mediocrity.
For many companies, taking the easy way out is relatively acceptable. You can sometimes even get away with it for a bit, and be just one more of the many competitors in a market. But, if you take the easy path you won't stand out, you will never be Apple, and you will never be the Steve Jobs of your company.
So the opportunity for you, as an entrepreneur, manager, executive, technologist, or whatever your job is, is to follow in Steve Jobs' footprints. Be the Steve Jobs of your company. Just like him, you can push yourself and your team to create exceptional products, service, and customer experiences that are so special that in forty years you'll look back and be proud that you were part of it. It's the key to your business success, your company's ability to compete in today's kill or be killed economy, and it's the key to a rewarding, fulfilling career and personal happiness.
Do something you really, really love, do it better than anyone else, and do it first.
