Mark Advisory ServicesApple U — Learn Through Failures
Apple University’ Trains Future Apple Executives with Focus on Missteps of Apple and Others
Details of Adam Lashinsky’s new Inside Apple book set to debut tomorrow continue to surface, and while some of the ideas behind the company’s “Apple University” program for training the next generation of executives were previously disclosed in Lashinsky’s original Fortune piece on the topic and in a Los Angeles Times article last October, the new book takes a more extensive look at the concept.As had been previously disclosed, Apple in 2008 hired Yale School of Management dean Joel Podolny to head up the Apple University initiative on management training. Several other professors, including Harvard business historian Richard Tedlow, came on board in consulting roles to help develop the curriculum. Classes were primarily taught by Apple executives, with guidance offered by Podolny and the other professors.Examples of the case studies being taught at Apple University include the story of how Apple crafted its retail strategy from scratch and Apple’s approach to commissioning factories in China. Wherever possible the cases shine a light on mishaps, the thinking being that a company has the most to learn from its mistakes.Tedlow quietly retired from Harvard last year, and is now working full-time for Apple to add his expertise on U.S. business history to the Apple University curriculum. His lectures reportedly draw upon crises and missteps experienced by other major businesses, events which offer lessons to help Apple’s future leaders avoid similar pitfalls and learn how to respond when faced with adversity.[H]e is teaching them business lessons about other companies that the Apple executives can apply to their own situations. For instance, Tedlow has lectured Apple’s PR staff on the Tylenol tampering crisis of 1982 and how the McNeil Consumer Products unit of Johnson & Johnson responded. He taught a class for executives about the fallen grocery store chain A&P as an example of what happened to a company that once dominated its field. Quipped an attendee: “We were all trying to figure out what A&P had to do with Apple.”
Positive Thinking
From LifeHacker — How Positive Thinking Can Improve Your Focus and Creativity
Our brains are pretty easily distracted, especially with all the emails, texts, and other data flying at us constantly. The good news, Harvard Business Review says, is we can train our brain to be more focused and productive—by improving our emotional balance.
Dr. Paul Hammerness and Margaret Moore write that negative emotions sabotage our brains’ ability to solve problems and ignore distractions, while positive emotions and thoughts actually improve the brain’s executive function. They suggest throughout the day we try to balance the positive and negative. Researcher Barbara Fredrickson of University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill recommends a 3-to-1 “positivity ratio” for life-changing benefits. (Test your positivity ratio with Fredrickson’s two-minute quiz.) As for keeping your negative emotions in check:
You can tame negative emotional frenzy by exercising, meditating, and sleeping well. It also helps to notice your negative emotional patterns. Perhaps a coworker often annoys you with some minor habit or quirk, which triggers a downward spiral. Appreciate that such automatic responses may be overdone, take a few breaths, and let go of the irritation.
What can your team do? Start meetings on positive topics and some humor. The positive emotions this generates can improve everyone’s brain function, leading to better teamwork and problem solving.
If you feel stuck or unproductive, take a look at how positive or negative you’ve been feeling or thinking lately and try to get some more of those feel-good emotions in your day.
http://lifehacker.com/5879201/increase-your-positivity-to-be-more-creative-and-focused