I needed to let someone know how many posts I had written, and realized this post is #800. Which has created a small writing block as i think what it means to reach post #800. Thinking on what to write about, I was recently asked the opening question “how are things going?” Quite well, having fun and learning a lot.

Next good question. Given you worked for HP, Apple, and Microsoft which company did you learn the most from?

I worked at Microsoft for 14 years vs. 7 years at Apple, and 5 years at HP, so it is easy to say Microsoft given the length of time. But, that isn’t really the right answer. The most important thing I learned is an accumulation of the three companies, learning to think different ways.

HP, Apple, and Microsoft each have a different way it views its customers, develops its products, and measures success. You can argue which is right and wrong, but out of context almost every method can be proven wrong.

Apple was the brilliant one in marketing “think different” in 1997. But, i am taking a different take on this video than the marketing message of changing things. The text used in the ad :

Here's to the crazy ones.
The misfits.
The rebels.
The troublemakers.
The round pegs in the square holes.
The ones who see things differently.
They're not fond of rules.
And they have no respect for the status quo.
You can quote them, disagree with them, glorify or vilify them.
About the only thing you can't do is ignore them.
Because they change things.
They push the human race forward.
And while some may see them as the crazy ones,
We see genius.
Because the people who are crazy enough to think
they can change the world,
Are the ones who do.

The one-minute commercial featured black and white video footage of significant historical people of the past, including (in order) Albert Einstein, Bob Dylan, Martin Luther King, Jr., Richard Branson, John Lennon, R. Buckminster Fuller, Thomas Edison, Muhammad Ali, Ted Turner, Maria Callas, Mahatma Gandhi, Amelia Earhart, Alfred Hitchcock, Martha Graham, Jim Henson (with Kermit the Frog), Frank Lloyd Wright, and Picasso. The commercial ends with a young girl opening her closed eyes, as if to see the possibilities before her.

What all these people had was a view to integrated their actions. It may have seem random and hard to understand, but over time their methods worked for their purpose.

Think From Different Views