What Apple Can Teach You About Work (it’s not what you think)

Apple is a brilliant company in so many ways. Every time they release a new product, it makes waves. People that use their products love their products. People love them so much that its sometime even called a cult.

Love it or hate it, Apple is good at what they do. Though there are many reasons for it, here is one that we can take a lesson from:

Apple is focused and minimalist.

When you look at Apple’s product line, there is nothing extemporaneous. They are known for having a small selection of hardware products, with only a handful of options for customization. The products are focused and minimalistic.

When it comes to their designs, both hardware and software, they are elegant and simple. There’s nothing extra, only what you need. Once again focused and minimal.

Apple’s focus allows them to make extraordinary products. Because they are only making one version of a product at a time, that one version can be extremely well thought-out and designed. Take the iphone for example. The first couple generations of phones were only black and silver and only had one changeable option: the amount of memory. It wasn’t until the 3rd generation iphone that Apple even released a white version. And it wasn’t until the most recent update that they gave options for more colors and different hardware: the 5s in three metal colors, and lower end 5c in five plastic colors. They focused on creating one great phone, and only as the years passed did they bring more choices into the line.

Because of their focus, Apple continually makes extraordinary products. They know they can’t do everything well, but they can do a few things very well. And so they do.

So here’s where it comes to you and what you do:

you can’t do everything, and you especially can’t do everything well.

When it comes to work, what to do with your life, and the impact that you want to make, how can you have Apple’s focus? How can you direct your energy, skills, thoughts, and creativity toward doing only a few things really well?

What Apple can teach you about work is the value of focus and minimalism.

Some practical ways to think about it:
Choose fewer things — you can’t do it all.
Stop doing things — if you can find a way to not do it, stop.
Dig deeper into the things you do — instead of finding other things to do when you have time and energy, think instead about how to get more out of, or give more to, the things you’re already doing.

(You can read more on focus and saying no elsewhere on the blog.)

In the comments, share your thoughts on focus and minimalism. What comes easily and what is difficult for you? Or, just chime in with anything you have to add (I want to hear from you!). Click here to comment!