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On October 5th, 2011, one of the greatest communicators, visionaries, and orators of our time lost a battle to cancer. He gave his brand the permission to operate outside the boundaries of competition and inspired a truth deeper than product sales. His legacy inspired the masses, has often been mimicked, but rarely replicated.
Steve Jobs created a culture inside Apple Computers that holds a rare stake in the game of business. It even sometimes seems to superceed the fact that it competes with anyone. In fact, most Mac enthusiasts aren't necessarily opposed to PC's, instead, they see Apple so far outside the spectrum of competition that they don't even recognize the two are on the same playing field.
In the words of Simon Sinek from his TEDx talk on Start With Why, "Apple is easy to understand and everyone gets it." Thousands of anthropologists, psychologists, sociologists, journalists, and business professionals have studies the mind of Steve Jobs, the DNA that he cultivated within Apple, and the vision that he brought to the world that gave Apple this reputation.
There is certainly not one particular trait that Jobs carried that defined the behavior of Apple and their culture, but when we peel back the layers of this man and his beliefs, we uncover several truths that radically defined his entire lifestyle to come up with the traits that characterized his success.
I received an email last week from an unnamed web-based software company, in which I signed up for a free demo of their product, didn't connect with their vision or inspiration, and simply stopped using it. This email arrived in my inbox precisely 14 days after I signed up for the tool. The headline simply read, "What Could We Have Done Better?". In that moment, a short, simple, yet powerful phrase popped in my head; "Affinity over affirmation". This brand was out seeking my attention, my approval, and my money, with no drive to inspire me to have a relationship or an affinity toward their brand. From the first touch to the goodbye email, all I felt for this brand was an active pursuit of meeting minimum expectations and groveling over my loss, rather than creating an incredible experience that inspires me to behave according to their beliefs.
As social beings, it is innate within our DNA to actively pursue community affirmation. We like the feeling of being accepted, wanted, and desired, but it simply does not sustain. Affirmation is a selfish desire that brings no joy to anyone else, never inspires anything, and draws no perceptive value to anyone else. It is simply a dead end to the pursuit of happiness.
Affinity, on the other hand, is the pursuit of a purpose higher than superficial circumstances, in which it inspires growth, change, and the "unity" factor in "community." When affinity exists within your community, trust can thrive, and people stop thinking with rationality, and begin intimately behaving with intent to fulfill a movement you've created.
Steve Jobs didn't sell computers; he sold a vision. His vision created a movement. The movement created a culture. The culture sold computers. Not convinced? Just look at the evidence. Only three short years after Jobs' passing, we recognize that Apple's strength wasn't the fact that they made superior technology that carried radical, life-altering features. Their products are still strong and, in many cases, very ahead of their time, but many Mac users find themselves now asking the question, "What else is out there?". Their actual strength was in the power of Jobs' vision and the brilliant passion he had in communicating that vision, which led to a culture of great people who excelled at making great computers which revolutionized the user experience.
No one could ever argue that Tim Cook carries the talent and skills that make him a prime candidate to be the CEO of a world-leading company. Yet, most Mac enthusiasts are left feeling a bit empty and uninspired after hearing him present the new announcements of the progress that Apple is making. Why? One reason. Tim Cook is in pursuit of creating great products, not a great mission. He is seeking the affirmation of his users, employees, and shareholders, and providing very little room to maintain and exceed the affinity that his audience held for Apple's vision.
For the majority of us, we are starved to be within a community of people that share our vision, our beliefs, and our purpose, yet most of our experiences we have with brands are radically shallow and unfulfilling. As brand leaders, we have an opportunity to create experiences that become phenomenons, and the truth is; it's not rocket science to create these experiences. It starts with defining your purpose, telling your story, and pursuing the affinity you have for your vision, that others may have that same affinity for you.