In Odyssey, Pepsi to Apple, John Sculley tells his story of working at Pepsi and then as President at Apple. Sculley was at Apple from 1983 – 1993 as CEO.  The book was written in 1988 while Sculley was still Apple CEO.

There is one good reason to read this book and that is to have more insight’s into Apple’s strategy.  This book was written by a CEO that is actually willing to openly discuss Apple’s strategy in detail, unlike their current CEO (in particular see page 387 – 388 for some good bullet points from Apple’s original business plan).   It’s a good read if you’re into management, organizational cultures, Apple, and Steve Jobs as a leader and personality.

The most interesting parts of the book involve, you guessed it, Steve Jobs.  Sculley seems to take pride in his role in removing Jobs from an operational role within the company while maintaining him as a figurehead as Chairman.  Shortly after, Jobs left Apple to start NeXT, taking some of Apple’s best people with him, while Sculley was CEO. In Sculley’s telling, he defeated Jobs in a high stakes corporate drama and managed to turn around the company by making Apple more “business friendly”.

We know how things turned out after NeXT.  Jobs returned to Apple to make history.  Apple bought NeXT and Jobs finagled his way back to the top. In the corporate history books we can be fairly certain that Jobs will have his own chapter, while Sculley is a footnote.  What I found interesting is the degree of attachment Jobs has to Apple – namely, how much he cares.  Sculley frequently refers to how emotional he got, especially when Sculley removed him from operations, with the Board’s approval.

There’s a lot we can learn from Steve Jobs.  He cares about Apple in a way that few, if any, leaders care about their companies.  Perhaps this is an idealistic way to look at it – Jobs has significant stock holdings in Apple and wants to maximize his personal worth.  But I don’t think it’s that simple.  This is simply a human being who cares about what they’re doing.   I don’t know what makes him care, but that doesn’t really matter – he does and that is one reason why Apple is one of the most successful companies in American history.

Other highlights include:

• Sculley creating the Pepsi Generation campaign that vaulted Pepsi above Coca Cola in market share for the first time ever
• Insider accounts of what it was like to be an executive at Pepsi and Apple, two very different corporate cultures
• Sculley’s obsession with the Japanese
• Some good Silicon Valley anecdotes – conversations with Bill Gates, Bill Campbell, Mike Markhula, Del Yocam, and Esther Dyson
• Perspective on how to run an organization and deal with challenging personalities
• In the epilogue Sculley shares his vision for something called “Knowledge Navigator”.  What he talks about is what has emerged as the Web with Google as the dominant search engine.  Good call there, he must have been listening to Alan Kay.

Apple has always stood for the individual.  Sculley tried to steer it towards the Corporation, but since then it has continued to focus on empowering individuals through the use of technology and content.  This book will give you more insight into what makes Apple unique and how the company dealt with the turbulence of the mid-80’s.

Odyssey: Pepsi to Apple… a Journey of Adventure, Ideas and the Future

Can a Company have soul?

We all have certain perceptions about products or services we use.  Some of them have a certain ‘glow’ about them.  Perhaps it’s because they are doing something different, something that touches our core and reminds us of something real.

What does it mean for a Company to have soul?  First let’s take a look at what it means for food to have soul.  It’s hard to define soul food, buy my quick definition is food that makes you feel warm and comfortable.

Having soul does not have to do with religion or with music.  For a Company, having soul is about having a mission that is connected to the Common Good.  Having a higher purpose.  Meaning.  Beliefs.

Having a mission isn’t enough.  Companies also need to execute on that mission and make it part of their DNA.

Here are some companies I can think of that have soul:

• Stonyfield Farms – I saw the CEO Gary Hirschberg speak at an event about a year ago and it was clear he was driven by strong beliefs, in particular the importance of eating and growing organic foods
• Fender – Dedicated to quality guitars and it shows.  In writing this I just noticed their amp section is advertised on the site as the “Soul of Tone”.
• Pete’s Wicked Ale – Pete’s was sold a few years back, but I saw the founder speak and it’s clear Pete’s had a mission of delivering a better quality micro-brew to consumers.  This showed in their brand and was a key driver in their success.
• Ben & Jerrys – Another company that has been bought and sold, but their core belief in doing good for the greater good shows in their brand and products.
• Martin – See Fender, except acoustic
• Apple – Steve Jobs said that Apple’s core value is  ““We believe that people with passion can change the world for the better”.  Yes, there has been some anger lately in particular about Apple’s handling of iPhone apps and their relationship with Google.  But there is something deeper at Apple that drives the company.
• Zappos – Crazy about making customers happy and humanizing their brand so they can relate to their customers
• Amazon – Everything they do is customer-centric.  One  of the reasons I think they bought Zappos was to acquire a healthy soul  (insert “sell your soul” joke here)

As you can see no particular market segment has a monopoly on soul.  A company with soul could be a giant multi-national or the bodega down the street.

Having soul is one of the most critical things for a Company  to have.  If you provide meaningful context employees will be more driven, creative, and ultimately more productive.  Tie your companies mission into the Common Good; the world-at-large.

Having soul also rubs off on consumers.  Consumers like soul.  Like soul food, it makes them feel warm and comfortable.  Consumers can sense it in a product or service.

Having soul is about ingraining a companies mission into the daily values.  Some companies might have the great potential for soul, but have not capitalized on it.

Now scaling this soul over time is a whole different story…companies can also lose their soul and stray.  Yahoo is the first company that comes to mind here.

What other companies do you think have soul?

“…Nelson Mandela (a cross-country runner who still jogged seven miles a day in place in his cell)”

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BBC NEWS | UK | Magazine | To live is to jog

Steve Jobs on Apple’s core value – “We believe that people with passion can change the world for the better”