Management Lessons Learned from Apple, Inc.

Ministry leaders can learn from all sorts of different occupations. One of the ones I learn a good deal from is Apple, Inc and how they run their organization and treat their employees. In 2012 Business Insider shared a post about some Management Lessons Learned from Apple, Inc.  You can find them here.

Out of all insights Business Insider shared, here are some of them that I thought directly apply to Ministry:

• Obsess over the details. Apple is notorious for how much they pay attention to even the smallest details.  In the same way, in ministry we need to be a little bit more obsessive over the details of how things will get done and to what degree.  When we don’t pay close attention to the details things rarely end up being as good as they could be.  That is what separates Apple from its competitors and what can put your ministry into a higher effectiveness.
• Stay Focused.  Just because you “could” do something doesn’t mean you should.  Apple is focused on just a few products and simple ideas.  They could do much more, but they stay focused on their core.  In the same way, in ministry we “could” do a lot of things.  But that doesn’t mean we should or need to.  Stay focused on what you do best and do it the best.
• Pay attention to your Users.  Apple is in tune with their users.  They know what they want and they provide.  You need to pay attention to your users too.  If you are offering something you think is great but your students don’t, then you need to change it up.  Your students are your consumers.  They will only buy what they like, no matter how much you think it is great.
• Hire the best people you can.  At Apple they hire the best and it shows in their products.  In ministry our volunteers and staffers need to be the best.  They can’t be “ok” or “good enough”.  That gets you 2nd rate and causes lots of conflicts (I have some experience with this).

What do you think? What are some management lessons you learn from Apple, Inc or other companies? Share your thoughts, comments, questions, suggestions below so that we can all learn from each other and benefit.

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