Steve Jobs was a big Bob Dylan fan and often quoted his works in his presentations and meetings. At one of Apple’s annual meet Steve Jobs started with Dylan’s famous song “The Times They are a Changin[1]”. It’s a brilliant song which thats simply adored. Jobs used the following lines:
Come writers and critics
Who prophesize with your pen
And keep your eyes wide
The chance won't come again
And don't speak too soon
For the wheel's still in spin
And there's no tellin' who
That it's namin'
For the loser now
Will be later to win
For the times they are a-changin'
Beautiful verse from a great song. This song was written in the 60’s and was often referred as an anthem of change. The song reflected the change that America was witnessing on different landscapes- social, cultural, political. This song in a way talks about disruptions and innovations and about having the right mindset to embrace them. Something Steve Jobs himself personified. Moreover he successfully transmitted this philosophy in his company’s DNA. If we look at Apple and its success model it really is all about Disruptive Innovation.
Walter Issacson[i] , author of Steve Job’s bestselling biography, writes in one of his articles on Jobs- “I once asked him what he thought was his most important creation, thinking he would answer the iPad or the Macintosh. Instead he said it was Apple the company. Making an enduring company, he said, was both far harder and more important than making a great product.” This candid answer is truly inspiring. To create a company that surpasses expectations time and again is a grand achievement.
Being a nascent company, we truly are intrigued at what makes “Apple an Apple”. What is it that they do differently? Most of the literature that we have come across attributes Apples success to their work culture and Steve Jobs’ philosophy which is deeply ingrained in their very core. Its largely perceived that the four key aspects of Apple’s work-culture that immensely contribute to their success are 'simplified yet big thinking', 'flat organizational structure', 'small thinking groups with customer-focused approach' and 'instant feedback loops'.
At CloudIO we have tried to imbibe these core aspects and believe that they help in a big way to build a work-culture that fosters creativity and encourages innovation.
If you happen to visit any of our offices you will be pleasantly surprised with the simplicity of the set-up. We have an open and agile work culture and we call it the "bean-bag” culture where creativity and thoughts flow freely. At CloudIO, we have no formal setup of boardrooms, conference halls, cabins, or glass doors. We neither have any intricate hierarchical structure or fancy roles. These are good to create an aura but big barriers to free and open discussions and communication. Instead we have small thinking groups that contribute together and a quick feedback set-up to expedite deliverable.
Another important aspect of our work-culture is our recruitment process.Our recruitment process helps us to bring together some of the brightest brains together who have the zeal to invent the next big thing. Having some of the most creative minds at work helps us to build novel solutions. At CloudIO we are truly proud of our peers and associates, they inspire and motivate us.
The other vital aspect of our work culture is “each one takes responsibility”. Our belief is that every associate has a say and a sense of authority in the company. Along with this authority is attached a sense of responsibility. Every individual is responsible towards the ultimate outcome and responsible for delivering to the customer. This aspect has helped us deliver head-on to our customers needs because their concerns and benefits are handled at every level by every individual working for them.
Quality consciousness is another key virtue we stand by. Moreover we also keep a keen eye on the usefulness and effectiveness of a solution or application. Since we cater to enterprise solutions we strive to create products that can gracefully embrace any change.
Though still at the growth stage we are glad that we have effectively met our objectives and achieved what we had set out too. A large contributor to this is our work culture. We are still adding new flavours to it though the essence is the same. "Feet on the ground but dreams and vision soaring high in the clouds".
To know more about our products and offerings, visit us at cloudio.io and follow us on twitter @CloudIOPlatform
This article is in continuation with the series we began as a tribute to Steve Jobs. You can find the other articles here
[1] Video
of Steve Jobs quoting Dylan’s song mentioned above. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ksEWoyplMjE
[i] Walter Issacson https://www.aspeninstitute.org/sites/default/files/content/docs/about/HBR-Isaacson.pdf
