I recently visited the infamous “Mothership” in Cupertino. You know the one. The company that eats and breathes innovation, while marking the path with the iconic apple logo.

I always leave Cupertino inspired and encouraged. This time I had three distinct take-aways:

1) Details matter.
From the elegance of product design to the campus and company culture, Apple pays attention to the details. Their innovation success is lined on the long hard road of details.

2) Dreams aren’t limited to market conditions.
If Steve Jobs would have stopped innovating home computers because of market conditions, the iMac would have never been made. The same goes for portable music devices, smart phones, and tablet devices. They never stopped innovation because of market conditions. They pioneered beyond and believed they could change the market.

3) You don’t need a large staff to be the worlds biggest market leader.
If I took you by the iTunes building in Cupertino you would be amazed. In fact, if you met the team who makes the magic happen…you’d scratch your head in wonder. The worlds largest seller of music (larger than any physical retailer too) has the most nimble team of experts making it happen. It’s quite impressive, and encourages me to know you can change the world with a few good people. They certainly have the funds to overstaff every area of the company, but when you have the right people living out the vision you can make history.

I have a great respect for what Apple has become, and how they got there. I think we can learn a lot from the way they do business inside and out.

Breathe In & Smile Out,
Chris