So, Apple had their newest big roll out yesterday.  (Watch the WWDC keynote here).  I am an Apple fan, but really only barely use my Apple devices (I have three; iMac, iPad, iPhone) to their capabilities.  But I loaded the Macrumors live blog of the event, glanced at it frequently, and followed along.  (And I kept looking for the announcement of the latest iMac, but, alas, it did not arrive.  My son assures me it is coming soon).

From the moment that Siri started it off, to the multiple announcements, the faithful seemed more than satisfied with the latest good news.  Here are two obvious lessons from yesterday’s event.  And, yes, they are obvious.  But the fact that they are obvious does not mean that other companies and organizations have figured out how to match Apple.

Lesson #1 – keep improving, keep tweaking, and keep innovating.  Make your really great products and services even greater.  Again and again.  From the devices to the software to the operating systems, what is insanely great about Apple now is better than what was insanely great about Apple a year ago, and we all know that by this time next year it will be even greater and better and cooler and “must have” all over again.  They give us great stuff now, and will keep on giving us greater stuff tomorrow and the day after tomorrow.

I don’t even understand all of the ways they make it better.  But I know it revolves around the entire package, the full constellation of offerings and capabilities – design, speed, (“faster, faster, faster, faster” – this was one of the mantras from yesterday) power, look, resolution, “retina display.”  Apple just keeps making every part of Apple, everything that is Apple, and everything that works with Apple, better.

But most of us do not learn this lesson in our work.  It took me way too many years to realize that while I talked about and spoke about constant improvement, I practiced very little of it.  Here’s an example:  for the first 13+ years of the First Friday Book Synopsis, my handouts for my synopses looked exactly the same:  a plain, boring-looking, Word document, with no design appeal at all.  Not too smart of me!   I finally realized it was time (way past time) to make some changes on my handouts.  We found a great designer to raise the look of our handouts to a new level.  And I think they look terrific.  And now, I have to figure out “so what’s next?” to keep getting better.  And, all along, I have to ask “how can I do my work better?”  It really is never ending.

Lesson #2 – Communicate very well to all of your intended audiences.  Call it what you want:  learn to market; learn to sell; learn to call attention to; learn to create anticipation.  Though the current crop of Apple messengers cannot match the brilliance of Steve Jobs, (who could?!), they have clearly learned some major lessons from the master.  And yesterday was a sold-out, live-blogged, extravaganza of a show.  With videos and slides and demonstrations and team-presentations and multiple awe-inspiring moments for the faithful, Apple still seems to be at the top of their game.

You can read all you want about the need for better hard skills.  And many who write about those hard skills tend to almost look down on the place of those soft skills.

That is a really big mistake!

Apple’s success revolves around these two realities; they make great products, and they sell them even better.  Yes, this was part of the brilliance of Steve Jobs.  But isn’t it interesting that no other company has come close to matching this aspect of Apple’s approach?  Apple gets this – why don’t the rest of us?

Let me put it simply and bluntly – if you do not know how to communicate what you do, what you have to offer, clearly and compellingly, with excitement and great passion, then your great product just may go undiscovered by a whole lot of folks.

Two lessons:

Lesson #1 – keep improving, keep tweaking, and keep innovating.

Lesson #2 – Communicate very well to all of your intended audiences.

How are you doing?