Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)’s Philosophy of Simplicity

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By Mark Michaels on August 11, 2014 Technology & Software

A class at the Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) was held for the employees. It was called “What makes Apple, Apple”. In this class, the simplicity of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) was demonstrated tot the employees; a remote for the Google TV was compared to that of the Apple TV. While the Google TV remote had 78 buttons, that of Apple TV had only 3. This class was a part of the Apple University, a secret training program within the company. Three employees, who took these classes, described them. However, they did it anonymously. Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) refused to give details to the media about this secret program. They also refused to allow interviews with the instructors, some of whom are educates from Harvard, MIT and Yale. When asked to comment, an employee refused to immediately respond.

No pictures of the classes have come out to the media yet. No employees have agreed to give comments either. The details that were discovered by the employees are given here: The Apply University was founded by Steve Jobs in 2008. Joel Podolny was the dean of School of Management of Yale at the time. He was hired by Steve Jobs to take lead of the program. After this, another similar program was started in the Pixar. The university aims to maintaining Steve Jobs’ vision of simplicity in products. The program could also help in integrating the new employees that flooded the company after acquisition of Beats. The deal was the biggest deal that the company has made and was worth $3 billion.

In a class – Communicating at Apple – 11 pictures of Picasso’s “The Bull” were shown to the employees. In each picture the details of the bull are progressively removed to end up at a stick figure. A person who attended the class told the media that they were taught that Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) is all about going through a series of steps until the message can be delivered concisely. This is true to everything the company does.

The ideology of simplicity could be seen throughout the company. Steve Jobs was always seen in a simple outfit, the retail stores of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) are very simple and the products – iPhone, iPad, iPod – themselves are very simple. They come with a flat screen and a round button but no keyboards.

Apply University delivers classes at Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL). The classes are given in trapezoid shaped rooms with stadium seating. Some of the courses teach their employees about how the company too its business decisions. Some of these decisions lead to heated discussions between executives but eventually proved to be successful – paving an upward path for the rapidly growing company. Even after Steve Jobs’ death, the company has still followed his idea of simplicity. Some radical changes appeared in the products after Steve Jobs’ death, but Tim Cook, the CEO, has adhered to Steve Jobs’ philosophy. Apply University may have helped in maintaining the culture at the company.