Apple Does It – And Why Leaders Need to do “IT” Too!

Apple Does It –And Why Leaders Need to do “IT” Too!

Apple is a great example of a company and its leaders focused on continuously adding value to its users. Their products always seem to delight and engage with every new release and upgrade. Along with the MacBook Pro Apple announced new versions of iOS, macOS, tvOS, and watchOS, Apple also announced refreshed iPad Pro models, new iMacs, new MacBooks, , new Apple Watch bands, and updated MacBook Air machines.

Just as technology continuously updates operating systems we as leaders need to be upgrading our ‘OS’ by increasing our abilities to be creative, innovative, flexible and uber adaptable to other people and to situations.

So ‘how’ you can upgrade your operating system and set ‘automatic upgrades’ for yourself so that you are constantly upgrading the way you think, do and share?

Here are some tips and ideas on how to upgrade and automate your operating system:

1. The human operating system consists of your mind (thoughts/perceptions) your perspectives (the sense you make out of information) and your actions (the things you do to get things done such as structures and behaviours). The first step is to become aware of where you may be ‘outdated’ in your programming some ways to become aware are to ask yourself:
   1. Do I feel energized and able to take on the constant flow of information and ideas that come at me on a daily basis?
   2. Do I feel stressed when people or systems do not follow ‘my own rules’ about how things should be?
2. Once you are aware of where you may be in your existing OS (operating system) the next step is to recognize the ‘gaps’ of where you are now in regards to your ‘flexibility’ of mind and ‘responsiveness’ to people and situations. For example you may become aware that you are too rigid when it comes to dealing with people who are totally unlike you and you see a ‘gap’ where you can be more open and flexible to new and different types of people and ideas. Because you have recognized this gap or opportunity to upgrade your thinking and approach you can now set a few goals to extend your range and to upgrade your approach. A few goals may be:
   1. I am going to become more aware of my tendency to ignore or react to people who are totally unlike me and instead am going to focus on being open, present and willing to stretch my perspectives.
   2. I am going to expose myself to things I would never seek out and that are opposite to my regular habits – for example I will watch a video to better understand points of views I disagree with or I will read articles about the topics that are opposite to what I believe.
3. Lastly you want to set up regular schedules of ‘checking your operating system’ your beliefs, your values, your daily actions and see if they are contributing to your well being or if you are feeling more energized. When you are upgrading your system you will feel more energy because you are adding insight and a willingness to grow. For example focusing on future and solution as a way of being will automatically cause you to have to recalibrate and upgrade your operating system. As a human being the more time we invest in being ‘more human’ the more we are upgrading our systems.

By upgrading our human operating systems we are not trying to replicate machines or computers or to become robotic. Rather we are recognizing that the world is moving at a dizzying pace and the only way we will thrive as we head to the future is if we each focus on upgrading the way we think, do, and share.

Apple upgrades its technology AND as a company you can bet that all employees are urged to upgrade their thinking as a driver of innovation otherwise we wouldn’t see the continual innovation that Apple produces.

As people upgrade his or her operating system we leverage the possibilities of a more human future along with technology’s upgrades to make our lives better and more meaningful.