12 success secrets of Apple's Steve Jobs
BULL MARKET, BULL SHEET By Wilson Lee Flores
(The Philippine Star) Updated January 31, 2011 12:00 AM
It’s a funny thing about life; if you refuse to accept anything but the best, you very often get it.
—W. Somerset Maugham
I consider the now-ailing and on-medical-leave Apple, Inc. founder Steve Jobs the world’s most innovative entrepreneur, a genius whose life and career should be our inspiration.
Steve Jobs has personified capitalism at its finest, due to his customer-focused excellence, his passion for business beyond just earning money and for his contributions to world progress. I’m a loyal user of the Macbook Air and iPod Touch and love his products.
US communications coach Carmine Gallo recently authored a new book, The Innovation Secrets of Steve Jobs, based on three decades of interviews and research on Apple employees, analysts and also the ideas of Jobs himself. According to him, there are seven success principles behind the Steve Jobs phenomenon, which I am sharing here. I added five more success principles at the end, culled from the analysis of former Apple CEO John Sculley.
Principle 1: Do what you love. Steve Jobs has followed his passion throughout his career and he once told a group of employees, “People with passion can change the world for the better.” This idea does not apply only to businesspeople, but also to people in diverse vocations.
In the Philippines, one exemplar of this principle of following one’s heart is the artistically inclined and creative Ben Chan of the iconic Bench brand. He excels not only because he works hard but also because he really loves fashion, the arts, creativity and marketing.
The bosses of The Philippine STAR — led by brothers Miguel, Isaac and Kevin — are similar in their passion for print media. John Gokongwei Jr. once told me he admires how this publishing family has excelled through the generations. Indeed, they are already the fourth generation in the newspaper business, starting with their great-grandfather, who was the courageous editor of a revolutionary Chinese-language newspaper that supported Dr. Sun Yat Sen’s 1911 revolution against the corrupt, Manchu-dominated Qing Dynasty.
Principle 2: Put a dent in the universe. Gallo recounted: “In 1976, when Jobs and Steve Wozniak co-founded Apple, Jobs’ vision was to put a computer in the hands of everyday people.” When Jobs was a young man and Apple was still struggling, he said to a TV reporter, “I want to make a ding in the universe.” Whew!
Principle 3: Kick-start your brain. Instead of trying to copy his competitors in the same industry, Jobs created many fantastic innovations in technology and business that he got from other industries and fields. Gallo said Jobs has gotten inspiration for new ideas from Zen meditation, a phone book, a food processor at Macy’s Department Store and the luxury hotel chain The Four Seasons.
Principle 4: Sell dreams, not products. In 1983, Jobs invited Pepsi executive John Sculley to join Apple with one of the most unforgettable lines ever in the history of business: “Do you want to spend the rest of your life selling sugared water or do you want a chance to change the world?”
One admirable marketing stroke of genius by Steve Jobs is his point of view that the buyers of his Apple products are not “consumers” but individuals with aspirations, dreams and lofty goals. He strongly believes that he creates products to help people attain their dreams.
One example of a businessman who exemplifies this idea of selling dreams instead of just commodities is Henry Sy Jr., vice chairman and chief executive officer of SM Development Corporation (SMDC) and eldest son of “rags-to-riches” taipan Henry Sy Sr.
Instead of just selling condominiums based on pricing, payment terms, location and facilities, Sy has marketed his condos as aspirational products for upwardly mobile professionals by using such glamorous stars as Anne Curtis, Kim Chiu and Marian Rivera as celebrity endorsers.
Principle 5: Say no to 1,000 things. Jobs once said, “I’m as proud of what we don’t do as I am of what we do.” Whether in his products’ simple and uncluttered designs or Apple not over-diversifying, Jobs believes in minimalism and that simplicity is good.
Principle 6: Create insanely great experiences. Jobs learned from The Four Seasons hotel chain’s “no cashier but only concierge” strategy for a uniquely wonderful experience. He wanted that same experience in his Apple stores worldwide, making them into what Gallo said is “the world’s best retailer by introducing simple innovations any business can adopt to create deeper, more emotional connections with their customers.”
Principle 7: Master the message. Gallo said — and I wholeheartedly agree — “Steve Jobs is the world’s greatest corporate storyteller.” With him onstage, Apple product-launch events become an art form, like witnessing rock-star performances.
In the Philippines, one extraordinary entrepreneur who personifies this principle of mastering the message is cosmetic surgeon and businesswoman Dr. Vicki Belo. Apart from her chain of beauty centers, she and her daughter Cristalle Belo Henares have also extended the Belo brand to include a wide range of beauty products sold in retail shops nationwide.
Principle 8: Perfectionism. About his boss, John Sculley recalled, “He was also a person that believed in the precise detail of every step. He was methodical and careful about everything — a perfectionist to the end.”
Principle 9: Hire the best. Jobs is charismatic and resourceful about inviting the absolute best and most capable people out there to join him, and he personally does the recruiting. He knows that one of the most important resources of a business is its people.
In the Philippines, business leaders who are notable in recruiting the best talents to join them include the Zobel de Ayala family of the Ayala Group and Andrew Tan of Megaworld and Alliance Global.
Tycoon Ernest Cu, formerly of SPI, has been invited to head the Ayala Group’s Globe Telecom. Also, the brilliant Aurelio “Gigi” Montinola III and talented TG Limcaoco are scions of wealthy families, yet they lead as presidents of the Ayala Group’s Bank of the Philippine Islands (BPI) and BPI Family Bank, respectively.
Principle 10: Sweat the details. Although Steve Jobs dreamed of “changing the world,” he wasn’t just floating in the clouds and dreaming. He was one entrepreneur who thoroughly knew and actively got involved with the numerous nitty-gritty details, from product design and software to hardware and advertising campaigns, etc.
In the Philippines, Teresita “Tessie” Sy-Coson of BDO and SM is hardworking, disciplined and respected for her attention to detail. Years ago I mentioned in passing that I knew a person whose husband manages a factory near their then-under-construction SM San Fernando mall; months later she called my cell phone to ask if she could hire that guy’s wife.
Principle 11: Keep it small. Steve Jobs doesn’t like oversized, unnecessarily complicated and unwieldy organizations. Specifically, it is interesting to note that he prefers the group or division he heads to have no more than 100 people. Jobs once said that he could remember only up to 100 first names of people. Indeed, to be lean and mean is better, whether for business organizations or even the bloated and often overstaffed government bureaucracy!
Principle 12: Customer experience. John Sculley said, “He always looked at things from the perspective of what was the user’s experience going to be? The user experience has to go through the whole end-to-end system…”
Sadly, not a few very rich companies are weak in the area of customer satisfaction. I hope the Philippines will have more consumer-rights activists to protect our rights as customers.
This writer is personally disappointed with the customer service of a telecom firm, despite my then being a member of its high-volume clientele category, which they claimed would receive personalized attention. However, when my cell phone encountered problems such as not receiving all text messages or long messages that were cut in half, the customer-service response was so slow and lazy I decided to downgrade to the lowest postpaid plan and apply for a third line from another firm.
As shown in Steve Job’s remarkable life as a successful capitalist, the true and ultimate test of business success is not just big profits but customer satisfaction.
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