Apple's Jonathan Ive and one of his many children
Apple’s chief designer Jonathan Ive recently made a public appearance in London with the rector of the Royal College of Art. Jony, as most know, is responsible for Apple’s amazing design aesthetic, from iMac to iPod to iPhone. It was with great interest that I read the coverage of Jony’s chat, because he touches on the reasons why Apple is Apple, and by inference, why no other company is Apple. Asked what any executive could do to copy Apple’s success, Ives’ response was: “Don’t.” He went on to explain that every company needs its own raison d’etre, and that this should drive the actions of every employee from the C-suite down. That’s when he also delivered what I think is his most brilliant insight: “Apple’s goal isn’t to make money. Our goal is to design and develop and bring to market good products. We trust that as a consequence of that, we’ll make some money. But we’re really clear what our goals are.”
Damn, I love that. I have a feeling that many out there don’t believe for a second that Apple’s goal isn’t to make money. Having worked intimately with those guys for many years, I can tell you that they absolutely do want to make money, but as Jony says, this is not their goal. Make no mistake: this is a giant, flashing-neon, ultra-critical difference between Apple and most other technology companies. Apple fundamentally believes that you don’t aim for money, you aim for excellence — and money is the result. I’m sure this is just way too idealistic for some, because the real world can’t possibly work this way. Thankfully, Apple is proof that it does. Or at least that it can.
Now let’s get back to Jony’s comment that other companies shouldn’t copy Apple. I’ll agree that every company needs its own vision, but a lot of what Apple does is a blueprint for success for any company. And there’s nothing wrong with copying that. In fact, Apple has practically published a how-to manual for over-achievement: never stop innovating, worship good design, never compromise on quality, make long-term investments in the brand and keep things simple — not just the products, but the marketing as well. Many companies set out with the same values, but are easily sidetracked by money issues, timing issues, marketing issues and idiot issues. At Apple, they will sacrifice investments already made, blow up schedules, kill their #1 products, do whatever it takes to make a better product. They understand that in the end, they will only succeed if they “do the right thing.”
In operating this way, Apple makes it clear what’s wrong with most technology companies. They want Apple’s success, but are unwilling to commit their every resource to it. They play lip service to caring about design by building a beautiful shell around a product that just sucks inside. They demand of their ad agencies a campaign that creates “a buzz like iPhone,” without understanding that Apple’s “overnight success” came only after years of being true to their core belief. As much as I love Apple, I really hope that other companies will wake up to this. I’ll buy cool stuff from anyone. What I don’t get is why, when Apple’s means of success is so visible, other technology companies don’t seem to pick it up.
