MIT Commencement Address by Tim Cook

So, you think you’ve heard everything there is to hear about commencement speeches, right? Well, let’s take a moment to discuss the 2017 MIT Commencement Address given by none other than Apple’s CEO, Tim Cook.

In his speech, Cook intertwined personal anecdotes with the prominent theme of purpose in work, painting a compelling picture of his own journey to finding meaning. He explored the transformative power of technology and its potential pitfalls, stressing the importance of a humanities-based approach to guide its development.

Now, wouldn’t you like to know the impact this approach had on the fresh MIT graduates and how it might influence your perspective on technology and its role in our society?

Background

On June 9, 2017, as Tim Cook took the podium at MIT to deliver his commencement address, he encapsulated the shared values and mutual passion for innovation and problem-solving that binds Apple and the prestigious institution. You can sense his genuine admiration for MIT’s cutting edge work and its rich legacy, as he speaks.

Tim Cook’s MIT arrival was marked by the recognition of the common ground that Apple and MIT share. He highlighted that both entities love the search for new ideas that can change the world. It’s evident that Apple shares so much with MIT, from their relentless ambition to their shared belief that technology will help us confront our biggest challenges.

In his full speech, Cook expressed his firm belief in the power of technology, but also acknowledged the risks. He urged the MIT’s 2017 commencement graduates to temper their technological ambitions with the wisdom to use it well. He was essentially emphasizing that MIT has a proud history of making significant impact, but with great power comes great responsibility.

The speech was a testament to Cook’s belief in the transformative power of technology, and his vision for its responsible use.

Key Takeaways

Here are 4 key takeaways from Tim Cook at MIT 2017 that highlight technology’s impact, ethical leadership, and innovation for good:

• Tim Cook joined Apple in 1998 and became CEO in 2011, demonstrating dedication and problem-solving skills.
• Cook highlighted the shared values and passion for innovation between Apple and MIT.
• He emphasized the power and consequences of technology, recognizing its potential and pitfalls.
• Cook encouraged graduates to find purpose in their work, align technology with human values, and use their education and passion to make a positive impact on the world.

Story

Let’s delve into Cook’s inspiring journey and his vision for a future where purpose and profession converge, highlighting the profound impact of aligning technology with humanity’s best interests.

This story invites us to reconsider our definitions of success and the pathways to achieving it, framed by the pursuit of work that transcends personal gain for global betterment.

A Journey to Purpose

Tim Cook’s narrative about his quest for purpose sheds light on the profound journey many undertake in search of meaningful work. By sharing his path to Apple, where he discovered a harmonious blend of his professional skills and his desire to impact the world positively, Cook provides a vivid example of what it means to align one’s career with personal values.

His story resonates with the universal quest for fulfillment, emphasizing that true satisfaction comes from work that not only challenges us intellectually but also contributes to the greater good. Cook’s journey illustrates the trials and triumphs of pursuing a career that feels purposeful, encouraging graduates to seek roles that not only offer professional growth but also allow them to serve humanity in meaningful ways.

This narrative serves as a beacon for those navigating their careers, emphasizing the importance of introspection and the courage to pursue paths that reflect their deepest values and aspirations.

Cook’s experience at Apple highlights that finding purpose in work is not just about personal fulfillment but also about contributing to something larger than oneself, inspiring graduates to envision how their careers can intersect with their desire to make a difference in the world.

A Call to Action for Graduates

In his address, Tim Cook presents a compelling call to action, urging graduates to use their education, talents, and passion to tackle the pressing challenges of our time. By weaving personal anecdotes with broader societal concerns, Cook paints a picture of the potential each graduate has to effect positive change.

This call to action is grounded in the belief that the next generation holds the keys to solving global issues, from climate change to inequality. Cook’s message is not just one of hope but also of responsibility, emphasizing that the privilege of education comes with the duty to contribute positively to society.

He challenges graduates to think beyond personal success and to consider how their actions can benefit the world at large. Cook’s appeal is a reminder of the power of individual contributions when aligned with a collective goal, motivating graduates to embrace their potential as agents of change.

Through his narrative, Cook underscores the importance of pursuing careers and lives that reflect a commitment to improving the world, encouraging graduates to view their future endeavors through the lens of how they can serve humanity.

Technology’s Role in Society

Reflecting on the complexities of technology’s impact on society, Tim Cook offers a nuanced view of the digital age. Acknowledging technology’s unparalleled ability to solve age-old problems and connect people across the globe, Cook also cautions against its potential to infringe on privacy and deepen social divides. His perspective calls for a balanced approach to technological innovation—one that maximizes its benefits while minimizing its harms.

Cook advocates for responsible stewardship of technology, emphasizing the need for ethical considerations to guide its development and application. This balanced viewpoint is crucial in an era where technology shapes every aspect of our lives, from how we communicate to how we solve global challenges.

Cook’s reflection on technology’s dual nature is a call to future leaders and innovators to prioritize not just the advancement of technology but also its alignment with societal values. By highlighting both the promise and the pitfalls of technological progress, Cook encourages a thoughtful engagement with technology, urging graduates to lead the charge in using it as a force for good in the world.

This approach underscores the importance of developing technological solutions that are not only innovative but also equitable, sustainable, and respectful of privacy and human rights.

Learnings

In Tim Cook’s MIT Commencement Address, there are 3 key learnings. Let’s delve into each:

Integrating Ethics with Innovation

Tim Cook’s insights offer a roadmap for harmonizing technological progress with ethical principles:

• Guiding Innovation with Moral Compass: Stresses the importance of incorporating ethical considerations into innovation, to ensure that technological advancements contribute positively to society.
• Privacy as a Fundamental Right: Advocates for privacy as a critical aspect of ethical technology, calling for the development of systems that safeguard user information and autonomy in the digital age.
• Sustainability and Responsibility: Highlights Apple’s dedication to environmental sustainability, serving as a model for future leaders to weave ecological responsibility into their innovations.

These principles underscore the critical need for a moral framework in guiding the trajectory of technological innovation, emphasizing privacy and environmental stewardship.

Navigating the Complexities of Technology

Cook’s perspective acknowledges the multifaceted impact of digital technology on society:

• The Dual Edges of Digital Connectivity: Recognizes the internet’s power to both unite and divide, stressing the need for a balanced approach that fosters connection while mitigating negative impacts on social discourse.
• Combatting Misinformation: Emphasizes the duty of technology creators to fight the spread of misinformation, ensuring that digital platforms are bastions of truth and positive exchange.
• Leveraging Technology for Social Good: Envisions technology as a catalyst for social justice and equality, advocating for its use in dismantling barriers and fostering global collaboration.

These insights reveal the complex challenges and opportunities within the digital landscape, calling for a vigilant and purposeful approach to technology development.

Fostering a Human-Centric Approach

Cook champions a technology ethos centered around human values and empathy:

• Empathy in Design and Decision-Making: Urges a design philosophy rooted in empathy, where technological solutions are crafted with a deep understanding of human needs and impacts.
• The Role of Education: Attributes his capacity to address ethical dilemmas in tech leadership to a well-rounded education, highlighting the value of the liberal arts in understanding human-centric challenges.
• The Imperative of Service: Encourages graduates to use their talents and insights in service to society, aspiring towards a future where technology enhances human dignity and connection rather than undermining them.

Cook’s call for a human-centric approach in technology emphasizes the importance of empathy, education, and service in creating a future where innovation aligns with our deepest human values and aspirations.

Tim Cook’s MIT Commencement Speech

Thank you. Congratulations Class of ’17.

I especially want to thank Chairman Millard, President Reif, distinguished faculty, trustees, and members of the Class of 1967. It’s a privilege to be with you today, with your families and your friends on such an amazing, important day.

MIT and Apple share so much. We both love hard problems. We love the search for new ideas. And we especially love finding those ideas, the really big ones — the ones that can change the world.

I know MIT has a proud tradition of pranks, or as you would call them, hacks. And you have pulled off some pretty great ones over the years. I’ll never figure out how MIT students sent that Mars Rover to the Kresge Oval, or put a propeller beanie on the Great Dome, or how you’ve obviously taken over the President’s Twitter account.

I can tell college students are behind it because most of the tweets happen at 3 AM. I’m really happy to be here.

Today is about celebration. And you have so much to be proud of.

As you leave here to start the next leg of your journey in life, there will be days where you will ask yourself, where is all this going? What is the purpose? What is my purpose?

I’ll be honest, I asked myself that same question, and it took me nearly 15 years to answer it. Maybe by talking about my journey today, I can save you some time.

The struggle for me started early on. In high school, I thought I’d discover my life’s purpose when I could answer that age old question, what do you want to be when you grow up — nope.

In college I thought I would discover it when I could answer, what’s your major — not quite. I thought that maybe I’d discover it when I found a good job. Then I thought I just needed to get a few promotions. That didn’t work either.

I kept convincing myself that it was just over the horizon, around the next corner. Nothing worked.

And it was really tearing me apart. Part of me kept pushing ahead to the next achievement. And the other part kept asking, is this all there is?

I went to grad school at Duke looking for the answer. I tried meditation. I sought guidance in religion. I read great philosophers and authors. And in a moment of youthful indiscretion, I might even have experimented with a Windows PC. And obviously that didn’t work.

After countless twists and turns, at last, 20 years ago, my search brought me to Apple. At the time the company was struggling to survive. Steve Jobs had just returned to Apple and he had launched the “Think Different” campaign. He wanted to empower the crazy ones, the misfits, the rebels, the troublemakers, the round pegs in the square holes to do their best work.

If we could just do that, Steve knew we could really change the world.

Before that moment, I had never met a leader with such passion or encountered a company with such a clear and compelling purpose, to serve humanity. It was just that simple, serve humanity.

And it was in that moment, after 15 years of searching, something clicked. I finally felt aligned, aligned with a company that brought together challenging cutting-edge work with a higher purpose, aligned with a leader who believed that technology which didn’t exist yet could reinvent tomorrow’s world, aligned with myself and my own deep need to serve something greater.

Of course, at that moment I didn’t know all of that. I was just grateful to have that psychological burden lifted. But with the help of hindsight, my breakthrough makes a lot more sense.

I was never going to find my purpose working someplace without a clear sense of purpose of its own. Steve and Apple freed me to throw my whole self into my work, to embrace their mission and make it my own.

How can I serve humanity? This is life’s biggest and most important question.

When you work towards something greater than yourself, you find meaning. You find purpose. So the question I hope you will carry forward from here is how will you serve humanity?

The good news is since you’re here today, you’re already on a great track. At MIT you’ve learned how much power science and technology have to change the world for the better.

Thanks to discoveries made right here, billions of people are leading healthier and more productive, more fulfilling lives. And if we are ever going to solve some of the hardest problems still facing the world today, everything from cancer to climate change to educational inequality, then technology will help us do it.

But technology alone isn’t the solution. And sometimes it’s even part of the problem.

Last year I had a chance to meet with Pope Francis. It was the most incredible meeting of my life. This is a man who had spent more time comforting the afflicted in slums than he has with heads of state. This may surprise you, but he knew an unbelievable amount about technology.

It was obvious to me that he had thought deeply about it, its opportunities, its risks, its morality. What he said to me at that meeting, what he preached really, was on a topic we care a lot about at Apple.

But he expressed a shared concern in a powerful new way. Never has humanity had such power over itself, yet nothing ensures that it will be used wisely he has said.

Technology today is integral to almost all aspects of our lives. And most of the time it’s a force for good. And yet the potential adverse consequences are spreading faster and cutting deeper than ever before. Threats to our security, threats to our privacy, fake news, and social media that becomes antisocial.

Sometimes the very technology that is meant to connect us divides us. Technology is capable of doing great things, but it doesn’t want to do great things. It doesn’t want anything. That part takes all of us. It takes our values and our commitment to our families and our neighbors and our communities, our love of beauty and belief that all of our faiths are interconnected — our decency, our kindness.

I’m not worried about artificial intelligence giving computers the ability to think like humans. I’m more concerned about people thinking like computers, without values or compassion, without concern for consequences. That is what we need you to help us guard against.

Because if science is a search in the darkness, then the humanities are a candle that shows us where we’ve been and the danger that lies ahead.

As Steve once said,

Technology alone is not enough. It is technology married with the liberal arts married with the humanities that make our hearts sing.

When you keep people at the center of what you do, it can have an enormous impact. It means an iPhone that allows a blind person to run a marathon. It means an Apple Watch that catches a heart condition before it becomes a heart attack. It means an iPad that helps a child with autism connect with his or her world.

In short, it means technology infused with your values, making progress possible for everyone. Whatever you do in your life and whatever we do at Apple, we must infuse it with the humanity that each of us is born with. That responsibility is immense. But so is the opportunity.

I’m optimistic because I believe in your generation, your passion, your journey to serve humanity. We are all counting on you. There is so much out there conspiring to make you cynical.

The internet has enabled so much and empowered so many. But it can also be a place where basic rules of decency are suspended and pettiness and negativity thrive. Don’t let that noise knock you off course. Don’t get caught up in the trivial aspects of life. Don’t listen to trolls. And for God’s sake don’t become one.

Measure your impact on humanity not in likes but in the lives you touch, not in popularity but in the people you serve.

I felt that my life got bigger when I stopped caring what other people thought about me. You will find yours will too. Stay focused on what really matters.

There will be times when your resolve to serve humanity will be tested. Be prepared. People will try to convince you that you should keep your empathy out of your career. Don’t accept this false premise.

At a shareholders’ meeting a few years back, someone questioned Apple’s investment and focus on the environment. He asked me to pledge that Apple would only invest in green initiatives that could be justified with a return on investment. I tried to be diplomatic.

I pointed out that Apple does many things, like accessibility features for those with disabilities, that don’t rely on an ROI. We do these things because they’re the right thing to do. And protecting the environment is a critical example. He wouldn’t let it go. And I got my blood up.

So I told him, if you can’t accept our position, you shouldn’t own Apple stock.

When you’re convinced that your cause is right, have the courage to take a stand. If you see a problem or an injustice, recognize that no one will fix it but you.

As you go forward today, use your minds and hands and your hearts to build something bigger than yourselves. Always remember, there is no idea bigger than this. As Dr. Martin Luther King said, “All life is interrelated. We are all bound together into a single garment of destiny.”

If you keep that idea at the forefront of all that you do, if you choose to live your lives at that intersection between technology and the people it serves, if you strive to create the best, give the best, do the best for everyone, not just for some, then today all of humanity has good cause for hope.

Thank you very much. And congratulations Class of 2017.

Conclusion

In Cook’s 2017 MIT commencement address, he championed the significance of finding one’s purpose and serving humanity. He urged you to align with companies and leaders driven by a higher purpose.

Cook emphasized the transformative power of technology but cautioned against its potential pitfalls. His speech underscored the importance of humanities in guiding technology and your responsibility to use it positively.

Remember, it’s not just about what you do, but why and how you do it.

 

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