Think different(ly)

Apple is one of the world's most creative and innovative companies. Whatever field they enter, they become a game-changer. They constantly amaze and confound consumers and competitors alike. The Economist recently ran an article on four ways Apple out-innovates other companies. My question is: how do those points relate them to personal development?

1) Innovation can come from without and from within. Apple has never been afraid to look outside for good ideas and incorporate them in their designs. The article says that the idea for the iPod came from an outside engineer. That idea, melded with Apple's mantra of making their products easy to use, made the iPod a hit.

You have to be open and receptive to new, good ideas. They are always around, ready to be picked up and used for good. If you're walled off from the world of ideas, how can you ever grow, change, be the person you want to be? All good ideas don't reside inside of you. The Economist calls this "network innovation." You have a network of friends, books, CDs to pull from and to grow with. Take advantage of it.

2) Apple's products are designed for the user, not the engineers who geeked out and made something only a rocket scientist could love. They are accessible to the masses, who don't want to spend their weekends trying to figure out how that new toy works.

What works for you? Probably the simplest thing, habit, form, directions. Then go with that. Easy. Often in life we want to make the simple difficult, possibly because we can't imagine life being easy. We need to get out of our way. As legendary jazz bassist Charles Mingus said, "Making the simple complicated is commonplace; making the complicated simple, awesomely simple, that's creativity."

3) This one can be a little scary. Apple and CEO Steve Jobs tend to not listen to want the market says, instead relying on instinct. That's not to say they don't pay attention to the market--they do. They don't subject themselves to the changing winds and whims of market forces. And they stick to their plans in the face of ridicule.

Simply put, know what YOU want. Not what your friends, parents, colleagues may want from you. Now, their advice and guidance shouldn't be cast off to the side. They may have (really, they will have) great pointers for you, and comfort in the rough times. But in the end--it's you and the decision in front of you. Ultimately, it's your call.

4) Fail wisely. Apple's had failures before, and they have looked into those mistakes and have not repeated them. In fact, they've grow from every stumble. Failure is ok, as long as you learn from it.

Another quote from another legend--Miles Davis: " Do not fear mistakes. There are none." That may be extreme thinking, but remember how innovative Davis was. As the times changed and moved, Davis's music style also changed and moved. He wasn't afraid to change, or to fail. He had his share of stumbles, too, but never stopped searching for new sounds. We tend to be scared of failure, scared of not knowing how to recover when we do. It may take time, but we can always recover.

Jobs' Stanford commencement speech is a classic and a must-read.