Apple’s “Think Different” Attitude Includes How It Perceives Talent

Would you make Tim Cook the CEO of one of the most profound, visionary companies in the world?  Would you leave in the hands of Cook, Ives, Schiller, and a few others without Ivy League education a vision that that time and time again created change in a civilization-wide scale?

Sure, today, you would.  But back in the late 1990s, if you were Steve Jobs, would you have hired them for the jobs to turn Apple around?  Chances are, you probably would not.

I wouldn’t.  And that lies in just how differently Steve Jobs, and now Apple, things about the world.  And I’m glad that this Forbes post highlighted just how differently Apple sees talent.

And the post goes on to say that there does not seem to be a formula about how Apple looks for people it finds talented.  Absolutely right.  If there was one, I don’t think Apple would be as successful as it is today.  However, I know this much.  B-schools, Ivy Leagues, and others have their values and as well as disadvantages.  Look at Washington today.  It’s run by a long of Harvard and Yale folks for the last couple of Administrations and look where its gotten us.

Please, understand that I am not disparaging these schools or the education its students pick up.  But it does create a group-think that maybe a company like Apple or any other organization that prides itself on pushing the limits of what is possible are not looking for.