I Believe

If you are prepared, when the right door opens then it comes down to just one more thing: Make sure that your execution lives up to your preparation. At least for me the second sentence of the Auburn creed, "I believe in work, hard work" really resonates here and has been one of my core beliefs for as long as I can remember. Though the sentiment is a simple one, there's tremendous dignity and wisdom in these words, and they have stood the test of time.

As current events teach us, those who try to achieve success without hard work ultimately deceive themselves, or worse, deceive others. I have the good fortune to be surrounded by some brilliant, intuitive thinkers who create the most elegant and extraordinary products in the world. For all of us intuition is not a substitute for rigorous thinking and hard work: It is simply the lead-in. We never take shortcuts. We attend to every detail. We follow where curiosity leads, aware that the journey may be longer but will ultimately be more worthwhile. We take risks knowing that risk will sometimes result in failure. But without the possibility of failure, there is no possibility of success. We remember Albert Einstein's words: "insanity is doing the same things over and over again and expecting different results." When you put it all together, I know this: Intuition is critical in virtually everything you do, but without relentless preparation, and execution, it is meaningless.

So those are my discoveries on the significance of intuition, preparation, and hard work. For me they give rise to a simple principle for the most important decisions in your life: Trust your intuition and then work with everything you have to prove it right.
—Tim Cook, Apple Inc. CEO, Auburn University Commencement Speech 2010

I like to ask you one extraordinarily important question: What do you believe in? Take time to think about it. Then, write it down. Then, work hard to live it. Along the way you might need to adjust it, that is well. Along the way you might lose sight of it, and forget it, so come back to it and reread it, and be reminded of the pinnacles and values you had once set for your self.

Now let's take a look at the Auburn University creed, Mr. Cook refers to:

I believe that this is a practical world and that I can count only on what I earn. Therefore, I believe in work, hard work.

I believe in education, which gives me the knowledge to work wisely and trains my mind and my hands to work skillfully.

I believe in honesty and truthfulness, without which I cannot win the respect and confidence of my fellow men.

I believe in a sound mind, in a sound body and a spirit that is not afraid, and in clean sports that develop these qualities.

I believe in obedience to law because it protects the rights of all.

I believe in the human touch, which cultivates sympathy with my fellow men and mutual helpfulness and brings happiness for all.

I believe in my Country, because it is a land of freedom and because it is my own home, and that I can best serve that country by "doing justly, loving mercy, and walking humbly with my God."

And because Auburn men and women believe in these things, I believe in Auburn and love it.
—George Petrie (1945)

On January 1, 2009 Cook presided over a conference call with Wall Street, here is how his belief paid off. This is what he had to say about Apple:

There is an extraordinary breadth and depth and tenure among the Apple executive team, and these executives lead over 35,000 employees that I would call "all wicked smart". And that's in all areas of the company, from engineering to marketing to operations and sales and all the rest. And the values of our company are extremely well entrenched.

We believe that we're on the face of the Earth to make great products, and that's not changing. We're constantly focusing on innovating. We believe in the simple, not the complex. We believe that we need to own and control the primary technologies behind the products we make, and participate only in markets where we can make a significant contribution.

We believe in saying no to thousands of projects so that we can really focus on the few that are truly important and meaningful to us. We believe in deep collaboration and cross-pollination of our groups, which allow us to innovate in a way that others cannot.

And frankly, we don't settle for anything less than excellence in every group in the company, and we have the self-honesty to admit when we're wrong and the courage to change. And I think, regardless of who is in what job, those values are so embedded in this company that Apple will do extremely well.