Ideals in Motion

The Future Is Predetermined...

The future is predetermined by the character of those who shape it.

What an interesting notion this is. It's one that speaks to personal futures as well as our collective future. Our character informs our choices. And, the choices we make on a moment to moment basis contributes to (creates) the trajectory of our lives - both in terms of its probable content as well as in terms of our  experience.

When I speak of "ideals in motion" this is what is meant. Our character is a declaration of our ideals. Our character is a summing of our beliefs, and our values and is, as well, a statement of what we value. I read a quote years ago by someone long forgotten to my memory that it is far easier to speak about our values than it is to live them. This is the difference between espoused values and values in practice - between our ideals and our comfort.

I actually think we are all living our values daily. Our behaviors (individual and national) are essentially the physical manifestation of our beliefs. Look around. Many of us aren't living our ideals on a daily basis. Ideals are inclusive, empowering, inspiring and ennobling. We don't seem to have much of any of these characteristics around us today. Character is expressed by all of us in our choices and our behavior. It is the single greatest determinant of our future. Living a life built on ideals versus expediency, on ideals versus partisanship compels choices that are challenging; choices that are heroic; choices that have the power to determine a future to be proud of. These aren't easy choices to make. And, doing so puts us outside the "norm". And, that may be something to strive for.

What would others say is your dominant character (hint: it's writ in your present)? Is it one of ideals? Is it one that causes others to take note? What are the defining ideals that, as elements of your character, you have the opportunity to live into daily? How do others feel about themselves when touched by your character? Are they empowered and inspired? Are you? What future would be created if you lived into your ideals on a moment to moment basis.

It’s Not About The Hardware…

Launched with great fanfare the Apple iPad is a fascinating product. As a piece of hardware it is elegant and sophisticated. It is clean and functional. It is graceful and fun. And, its value lies in none of these attributes.

The power and transformational capacity of the iPad is in what it makes possible. It is a gateway to experience. In the same way that the iPhone is far more than a phone the iPad is far more than an e-reader. What makes the iPhone so important and transformative is the simple fact that almost all users use it for far more than its telephony function. The iPhone is a gateway. It's what the iPhone makes accessible in people's experience that sets it apart. It's this unique focus on experience that has made the hardware iconic; it's what has created an absolutely passionate cadre of users. It's what has driven the development of tens of thousands of applications and more than 1 billion downloads. This is what Apple gets that almost no other company gets – that the end user's experience is the product – that sets it apart and makes it unique.

This is what most pundits do not understand about the iPad. It's not the hardware (elegant though it may be). It's the gateway it opens to what it will make possible in the user's experience. Watch for the development of Apps in the new iPad App Store. This will begin with expansion of existing iPhone Apps and will quickly move into the development of Apps that are not iPhone knockoffs but are built for innovative uses that today are not even envisioned. The iPad will be the gateway to experiences that consumers don't yet know they want and that they will flock to when they become available.

Think now of our collective experience with health care. As a gateway, what experiences does our existing health care system open the consumer up to? Frustration, fear, aggravation, anxiety, anger, bankruptcy, and disempowerment to name but a few. If I were a CEO leading a hospital, an insurance company, or any health care organization I would be very worried. Someday some CEO will get the message that what they are "selling" is not health care. And when they do the game will change. In much the same way that Apple moved in three years from being a non-player to become the number one seller of smartphones in the world, some hospital or health care organization will wake up to the idea that what it offers is really a gateway to experiences and it will literally transform the nature of this business.

Think of your company and its products. As a gateway, what experiences do you and what you offer make possible? Is your company's culture one that attends to designing a spectacular consumer experience at each step of your product development and delivery process? If not, you're in trouble.

As Apple learned a long time ago it's not about the hardware. The "hardware" must be of the highest quality AND it is only a gateway. The question is a gateway to what?