This weekend I met up with two old friends who I hadn't seen for years. In fact, it had been so long there were two teenage children who hadn't even been born the last time we met up. Ooops.
What we all agreed was that very quickly we picked up where we had left off many years ago and carried on the conversation, almost as though it was a week ago. Lots of things had changed but the personalities hadn't, nor the buzz and excitement of exploring new things.
As you can imagine there was lots of talk about mutual friends, where they were now, who we had kept in touch with. Between us, we were still in touch between us with a broad number of people who had worked at Apple in the UK or Europe while we were there. The people were literally spread all over the globe and ranged from previous bosses and senior managers to people who had been just starting their careers at the time. Many have taken their skills, learning and values to a range of different companies, but there did seem to be a thread that for many, their time at Apple was extremely special, and they tended to stay in touch with a broad range of colleagues.
When we worked there, Apple was in constant turmoil and struggling to find a sustainable market for its products. Lots of change, both people and strategies, tons of uncertainty and reorganisation, just as many companies are experiencing today in the aftermath of the credit crisis. But although we understood the challenges, we approached them with tons of positive energy and enthusiasm and felt able to generate solutions, get them implemented and make a difference.
What our old friends and I agreed was that Apple, in addition to building great products, also built great people and that their values and beliefs were a great foundation for the rest of our working lives. The question is, what are you doing to make sure that your company has the strength of values, shared passion, and skills and are passing it on to everyone in your business? Are your people making a difference to help your organisation cope with the turmoil in the market?
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