For Apple’s 50th Anniversary, Tim Cook Looks Back to Move Forward

Today is Apple’s 50th anniversary, and for the occasion, Tim Cook sat down with Ryan D’Agostino of Esquire for a lengthy interview about Steve Jobs, Apple’s values as a company, and where the company’s next big idea will come from.

It’s an interesting read that doesn’t cover much new ground, but does reveal some of Cook’s personality, which is sometimes hard to gauge because he’s such a reserved person. During the interview, Cook addressed critics who would prefer that he not meet with politicians who don’t share Apple’s values, noting that:

These things [Apple’s values] can’t move around as the world is moving. They have to stay. They’re our rails—but that doesn’t mean that you don’t communicate and engage with people that have different views. That’s where I always come from, anyway. So you’ll see me everywhere, and you’ll wonder, Oh, he’s meeting with somebody that has a different view than him. I think that’s good. I think it’s good. I think a problem in the world right now is that it’s so polarized and different views aren’t shared or discussed. They just become hardened. And I don’t think that’s good.

Apple may not be a company that looks at its past often, but there’s a wisdom in Cook’s approach that’s ripped straight from a past when respectful debate of issues and compromise helped move society forward in a way we haven’t seen for quite some time. Maybe Cook is naive to believe that approach can still work or is looking at the past through rose-colored glasses, but it’s a perspective that’s aligned with Apple’s values, is deeply rooted in its culture, and gives me hope for its future.