Apple CEO Tim Cook on Career Planning

The most important points from his talk for me were: that change is inevitable, stay with your north star and prepare. In terms of career planning, the important word is PREPARE. 

It's reassuring that even someone as successful as Tim Cook, was not able to accurately plan out too far ahead. That his 25 year plan was not accurate beyond 18 - 24 months. However, he does mention staying with your north star. I wish he would've went into more detail about his "north star," but what I think that means is staying true to your values and larger personal goals. Your values and larger personal aspirations may be more relevant to long term planning that getting into specifics.  

I agree that the world is changing and as we change and learn more about the world our plans change. However, Tim Cook works in an industry that is particularly dynamic and perhaps more unpredictable than other fields.

I don't think that means career planning isn't useful, but it does make it more complex. Apparently, the first two years were somewhat accurate. Also, I think part of the preparing is long term planning and thinking. Though you may not be able to predict accurately what the future may be like, you can make informed decisions about how you will prepare yourself.

It seems like the best approach would be to have more detailed plans within the first two years and then more broad plans beyond that.

Week 10