EDITORIAL ADVISORY BOARD: Government should heed Apple philosophy

Walter Isaacson's compelling biography of Steve Jobs is difficult to put down. It is at once a study of innovation, a chronicle of the nascent period of the information economy and a case study of one of America's great companies, Apple.

When creating Apple, its key marketing person along with the "two Steves" composed a three-point philosophy for the company that it embraces to this day.

These philosophical ideals were to guide and nourish the small company, born in a garage, into a remarkable organization of product innovation and success. I dared to wonder whether these ideals might be transferred from their private sector application and rendered in a public sector one.

The Apple marketing philosophy was to include empathy, focus and what was awkwardly named "impute."

Empathy described the connection that Apple would have with its customers. The company would try to understand the needs of its customers better than any other company.

Government should have a connection with its "customers" — the citizens it is formed to serve. Yet citizens are not quite the same as customers. The relationship in our democratic polity is not a mere arm's length transaction. And when applying empathy, there has to be great care that this does not lapse into a kind of paternalism. However, applied correctly, the public sector could benefit from the empathy ideal as set forth here.

Focus, the second philosophical concept, stood for the premise that to do those things that Apple decided to do well, it needed to eliminate all the unimportant opportunities. This premise should be applied to governments at all levels without delay.

I think focus is essential to the provision or production of services, at the highest possible quality and at the lowest possible cost. In order to not be distracted by the "unimportant opportunities" and devote ourselves to only the important ones requires a keen discernment by our public officials. We must properly know which are the "unimportant" from the "important opportunities."

The third premise was impute. People form an opinion about a company, it was suggested, based on the signals it conveys. Even if all the engineering is of the highest order and quality assurance without equal, if the presentation is slipshod, then even high quality will be seen as slipshod. So, Apple committed to the most exacting quality in design and engineering, but was also committed to presenting all its products in a professional, creative manner, and thereby "imputes" the desired qualities.

In modern parlance, this might be called branding. Still, I think the Apple founders had a point that transfers well to the art of governance. Consider the brand that some government has in Northwest Indiana. In some cases, the brand overwhelms the good work and governance that many officials quietly exhibit every day.

I continue to ponder whether the Apple philosophy might have a useful application in the public sector. I haven't decided fully if the principles transfer completely. However, I do think imaginative public officers will consider empathy, focus and "branding" (impute) as helpful concepts that might improve the public service and fortify the servant-hearted leaders we should insist on in our governance.

Michael Griffin is Highland clerk-treasurer and chairman of the Committee of 16+. The opinions are the writer's.