Steve Jobs: How Apple Became World’s Most Valuable Company
Steve Jobs’s remarkable vision that morphed Apple’s success.
You knew that it was coming. Your company is taking a downward spiral straight to the ground.
Imagine yourself starting a new company. After putting years of sweat equity it becomes a huge success, a market leader in personal computers valued over billions of dollars.
Then you get fired from the same company you founded so passionately. It leaves a bitter taste to swallow, doesn't it?
Now imagine years later you've been appointed CEO of the same company you were so publicly fired from… But there’s a twist – It’s on the verge of bankruptcy in 90 days!
OUCH! Now what would you do?
Grab the bull by the horns and rebuild a ruthless organization from the ground up.
An organization whose work is defined by its core values of focus, design simplicity and innovation.
Well that’s exactly what one man did, Steve Jobs.
In the spring of 1985 the board of apple computers fired Steve Jobs after a power struggle with John Scullery, a former president of PepsiCo.
Then in 1997 Jobs came back to apple as the new CEO. Unfortunately Apple was struggling only 90 days away from bankruptcy.
So we thought.
But 4 years later the company and its leader Steve Job’s destiny took a turn that would launch Apple into the stratosphere.
With the launch of the new IPod that changed the music industry.
IPad which lead us to an intimate experience of internet browsing.
IPhone which is undisputed for revolutionizing the phone business.
So how did he actually do it? But more importantly how can you?
- Observer — Identify Cause
The first thing you must do is to identify the root cause of the problem.
Where your company is almost always focused on? Making great product(s) for your customers?
Building a team of strong ‘A’ Players? Aligning your customer’s core values with yours? OR just focused on your competition all day? Being cheap all the time?
Squeezing short-term gains on the cost of brand equity?
What is the reason your organization is lacking competence and where do the mistakes lay on the foregrounds of your current operations?
Is the problem(s) externally influenced or just internal?
Deconstruct your organization into categories based on your company’s operations.
“It’s only when you identify the root cause of the problem you are be able to than fix it.”
- Visionary — New Vision for the Future
“The essence of a new beginning is in the birth of a new vision”
The secret ingredients for a great vision begins with 1 teaspoon of passion, 2 ½ cups of sincerity and a pinch of genius.
And here’s the recipe.
Understand and build the new direction for your company with the prerequisites of:
1. Define Your Strengths
Where do your major strengths or competitive advantages lie? What were you doing currently that was working?
Where do you make the most impact in your market?
Which part of your under-served market do you have a strong influence in?
2. Customers and Marketplace Trends
Do your core customers trust you?
Have you built brand equity and strong relationships in your marketplace?
Assess the future trends for your marketplace.
Are you looking ahead to the next curve in your market?
Although Steve Jobs was famous for not having focus groups or surveys at Apple. He believed that customers don’t know what they want.
But Jobs had a vision for what personal computers would be like in the future.
He’s instinctive mind was always ahead of his time. Combined with his vision for the future of personal computers and the understanding of his customer’s core values, Steve’s insight lead him to realizing his vision for the Apple Computers.
- Ruthless — Eliminate Cause
Now your organization has identified the major cause of the problem. You have a new direction, a vision for your company on the foundation of your organization’s major strengths, customer’s values and marketplace trends.
1. Take Action
It’s time to go all in. Make an impact and lead your company through with a sense of new direction. Take action and become fearless to saying NO to all things which do not fit your new vision.
Remember great leaders never compromise on their vision, they compromise for their vision.
2. Eliminate Assets and Operations
Eliminate assets that hold you back and don’t fit your vision.
Follow the 80/20 rule.
Focus on the 20% of operations that yield the greatest results. Get rid of the 80% that hold you back E.g. Extra office space with set expenditures that you really don’t need or substantial product ramifications and employees that have insignificant impact.
Yes it may sound harsh but you don’t have to be rude just ruthless.
- Founder – Rebuild upon your vision
Ideally strive for a small team of ‘A’ players who have a strong impact in your organization.
Focus on operations that yield the most impact in your business. Stay true to your core values. It’s imperative that you do work that is great work.
Bet on your newly found strengths.
If you don’t focus on your strengths than you can’t do great work and your audience won’t differentiate and respect your brand from competitors.
Remember less is more.
- Leader – Inspire Your Team
Soon after the return of Steve Jobs as the CEO of Apple, he begins working with TBWA/Chiat/Day on an ad campaign called “Think Different”.
In actual fact, the “Think Different” campaign was created to re-instill the core values of Apple into Apple employees once again.
Inspiring Apple employees to work and celebrate the mindset of thinking differently like the “Crazy Ones before Them”.
Steve jobs had lead his employees to follow through on his vision for Apple.
By invoking the congruent values which were the foundation pillars of the company he founded and built to success once before.
Now Over to you: What have you learned from Steve Jobs?
Originally published on Quora
