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№ 2010.001 — Auburn University — Commencement address
Tim Cook
Field: business
Tim Cook, then Apple COO, reflects on his pivotal decision to join Apple in 1998 when the company was struggling, emphasizing that he followed his intuition over analytical reasoning. He argues that important life decisions often rest on intuition, but that intuition must be backed by relentless preparation, hard work, and execution. He encourages graduates facing a difficult economy to prepare for opportunities, embrace failure as part of success, and find joy in the journey.
Key moments
- 01 Recounting his counterintuitive decision to leave Compaq for a struggling Apple
- 02 Distinguishing between analytical engineering decisions and gut-based intuition
- 03 Invoking Lincoln's quote on preparation and the value of hard work
- 04 Acknowledging personal failures and the lesson that hardship passes
Transcript
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Read the full transcript at source →Provenance
Imported from NPR commencement archive; cross-referenced with Open Commencement DB
NPR archive last updated in 2015; destination availability has not been exhaustively rechecked | Open Commencement DB transcript; not independently verified against the original recording