Posted by Marc Decamper
Cook’s comments come as part of his interview with GQ, which was posted online April 3
This is one of the key life lessons that Apple (AAPL) CEO Tim Cook said he learned from the inimitable Steve Jobs before the Cupertino, California founder’s death in 2011.
Cook made the remark in an interview with GQ, posted online April 3, in which Apple’s current chief offers some insights into the company’s latest tech foray — with augmented and virtual reality.
But the idea Jobs espoused of not becoming attached to any one idea is an important piece of spoken wisdom and echoes views espoused by other sages, including Ralph Waldo Emerson, the supposed leader of the Romantic and Transcendental movement in 19th-century American literature. .
“Foolish consistency is the inattention of small minds, so adored by petty statesmen, philosophers, and muses,” Emerson wrote in his famous essay “Self-Reliance.”
As GQ documents in the interview, Apple’s inventions, “beginning with the Apple I of 1976 and Apple II of 1977, and continuing through the iMac, iPod, iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch, and AirPods,” have been seen by many as essential to consumer-focused gadgets. .
Jobs was known as someone who saw failure as an opportunity to reinvent, especially if you were eager to acknowledge your weaknesses and figure out ways to fix it.
Despite taking over from a leader boasting an enthusiastic following, Cook did not languish in the position, presiding over a hugely popular institution. Apple became the first $3 trillion company early last year (it’s currently valued at about $2.5 trillion), its stock price has increased over the past five years by more than 230%, and it has far outpaced the S&P 500, which is 48% higher.
April is National Financial Literacy Month, and it’s a good time to embrace the lesson Cook took from Jobs, especially as investors navigate a financial landscape that is rapidly shifting from a regime of super interest rates to one of much higher interest rates. Investors will need to avoid dogmatism and remember that strategies that worked in the past may not be suitable for what lies ahead.
This means that the ability to be nimble and make quick adjustments may be the key to success for leaders and investors.
Take part in MarketWatch’s 2023 Financial Literacy Contest. Will you get 10/10?
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From the Archives (October 2011): Steve Jobs: MarketWatch CEO of the Decade
April is National Financial Literacy Month. To mark the occasion, MarketWatch will publish a series of “Financial Fitness” articles to help readers improve their financial health, offering advice on how to save, invest and spend their money wisely. .
– Marc Decamper
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04-08-23 1109ET
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