Striving towards Excellence

-Karthik Gurumurthy

Everyday I meet someone who talks about one of their toys (made by Apple) and they are so proud that they own it. (I am one of them too:)) They are proud to show off what it can do and their passion is so contagious that they create a need in you that you have to have it. The economy might be slow to recover but I don't see a dearth of customers for Iphone or Ipad. That is the buzz that Steve Jobs has created. What can we learn from this bounceback entrepreneur so that we can implement it in our business?

• Think differently about your vision. Jobs attracts like-minded people who share his vision and who help turn his ideas into world-changing innovations. Passion fuels Apple’s rocket, and Job’s vision creates destination.
• Think differently about how you think. Innovation does not exist without creativity, and for Steve Jobs, creativity is the act of connecting things. Jobs believes that a broad set of experiences broadens our understanding of the human experience.
• Think differently about your customers. To  Steve Jobs, people who buy Apple products are not “consumers.” They are people with dreams, hopes, and ambitions. Jobs builds products to help them fulfill their dreams. "Some people think you've got to be crazy to buy a Mac. But in that craziness, we see genius" says Jobs. To summarize,  Sell dreams, not products.
• Say No to actions/ideas which do not align with your end goal.  Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication, according to Jobs. From the designs of the iPod to the iPhone, from the packaging of Apple’s products to the functionality of the Apple website, innovation means eliminating the unnecessary so that the necessary may speak. Jobs: "I'm as proud of what we don't do as I am of what we do."
• Think differently about your brand experience. Jobs has made Apple Stores the gold standard in customer service. The Apple Store has become the world’s best retailer by introducing simple innovations any business can adopt to make deep, lasting emotional connections with its customers. Use analogies or metaphors to think about a problem. By finding the similarities between two things that are unalike, your brain makes new and sometimes profound connections.
• Think differently about your story. Jobs is the preeminent corporate storyteller, turning product launches into an art form. You can have the most innovative idea in the world, but if you cannot get people excited about it, your innovation doesn’t matter. Make your brand story consistent across all platforms: presentations, website, advertising, marketing materials, social media.
• Finally confidence is a key to innovation. Jobs told Stanford graduates, “Don’t let the noise of others’ opinions drown out your own inner voice.” How you think about yourself and your business will have the greatest impact on the creation of new ideas that will grow your business and improve the lives of your customers.