Think Simple summary

Anything you could possibly want is just one click away. That’s what Amazon told the world when it brought e-commerce to the masses. And with that line – one click away – Amazon found its company mission.

Not all companies have a clear mission. Ask a group of people what they think Hewlett Packard or Dell exemplify and you’ll likely hear a hundred different things. Great companies stand out, in part, because they have simple, strong philosophies.

Imagine you’re being interviewed for a new job. Your potential boss shows you around the premises. She gestures toward a wall display where you see photographs of employees at various fun and goofy team-building events. She laughs and says, “That’s just how we do things around here.” 

What she’s getting at is the company’s culture. It’s what makes a business feel the way it does. And it goes further than just team-building exercises – it defines everything, from how employees treat each other to the way emails are written.

Think of Steve Jobs in his signature attire: black turtleneck, blue jeans, and New Balance sneakers. Something just as characteristic about Jobs was his hands-on leadership. He was always strolling around Apple’s headquarters, checking in on different departments and giving his feedback.

It’s important to note that he wasn’t micromanaging. Yes, he was definitely eager to share his ideas, but he was always willingly swayed by someone else's passionate opinion. By getting into the nitty-gritty, he was able to spark debate and push teams further while hearing ideas directly from the experts on the ground. 

As we’ve learned, a successful company needs to be united around a clear and concise company mission. For that to happen, everyone needs to be singing from the same hymn sheet – that is, everyone needs to fit in with the company’s mindset. That’s why hiring the right team is so crucial to a successful company.

The key message here is: Hiring the right team is the key to a strong and simplified company. 

We instinctively understand what a company’s “brand” is. It’s the sum total of what we feel about that company. This is created by the product or service the company sells, its marketing campaigns, and what people we trust tell us about the company. 

A strong brand is the most valuable commodity a company can have. It wins over new customers, making them brand loyalists. We all have our favorite brands, whether that’s Apple, Nike, or Cartier. And what unites all of these leading companies is the simplicity of their brands: we “get” them quickly. We know what they stand for.

When he was alive, Steve Jobs talked about creating technology that people “can fall in love with.” He wanted to build an emotional attachment with Apple customers. To do this, he knew he would need to put simplicity front and center.

After all, we’re attracted to simplicity over complexity, which is why simplicity can help customers come to love a particular brand. The company that offers ease and convenience will gain supporters. These supporters will then become devoted to the brand. 

Sometimes, you just know. Whatever other people might say, you know that something is going to work, or fail hard. That’s the power of intuition. 

You might think that listening to your sixth sense in the business world is a bad idea – especially when everything there appears to be based on calculations. But you’d be wrong. Great business leaders, from Steve Jobs to Rupert Murdoch, have often gone with their intuition.