So Apple was in a very different place than it is today，and my employer at the time，Compaq Computer，was the largest personal computer company in the world.Not only was Compaq performing much better than Apple，it was headquartered in Texas and therefore closer to Auburn football.Any purely rational consideration of cost and benefits lined up in Compaq’s favor，and the people who knew me best advised me to stay at Compaq.One CEO I consulted felt so strongly about it he told me I would be a fool to leave Compaq for Apple.
In making the decision to come to Apple，I had to think beyond my training as an engineer.Engineers are taught to make decisions analytically and largely without emotion when it comes to a decision between alternatives we enumerate the cost and benefits and decide which one is better.But there are times in our lives when the careful consideration of cost and benefits just doesn‘t seem like the right way to make a decision.There are times in all of our lives when a reliance on gut or intuition just seems more appropriate-when a particular course of action just feels right.And interestingly I’ve discovered it‘s in facing life’s most important decisions that intuition seems the most indispensable to getting it right.
In turning important decisions over to intuition one has to give up on the idea of developing a life plan that will bear any resemblance to what ultimately unfolds.Intuition is something that occurs in the moment，and if you are open to it，if you listen to it，it has the potential to direct or redirect you in a way that is best for you.On that day in early 1998I listened to my intuition，not the left side of my brain or for that matter even the people who knew me best.It‘s hard to know why I listened，I’m not even sure I know today，but no more than five minutes into my initial interview with Steve，I wanted to throw caution and logic to the wind and join Apple.My intuition already knew that joining Apple was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to work for the creative genius，and to be on the executive team that could resurrect a great American company.If my intuition had lost the struggle with my left brain，I‘m not sure where I would be today，but I’m certain I would not be standing in front of you.
This was a surprising lesson.I recall how uncertain I was at my own commencement about where my life would lead.There was a part of me that very much wanted to have a 25-year plan as a guide to life.When I went to business school，we even had an exercise to do a 25-year plan.I found mine，now 22years old，in preparing for this commencement address.Let‘s just say it wasn’t worth the yellowed paper it was written on.I didn‘t understand it then as a young MBA student，but life has a habit of throwing you curve balls.Don’t get me wrong-it‘s good to plan for the future，but if you’re like me and you occasionally want to swing for the fences，you can‘t count on a predictable life.But even if you can’t plan，you can prepare.A great batter doesn‘t know when the high-hanging curve ball is going to come，but he knows it will.And he can prepare for what he will do when he gets it.
Too often people think about intuition as the same as relying on luck or faith.At least as I see it，nothing could be further from the truth.Intuition can tell you that of the doors that are open to you，which one you should walk through.But intuition cannot prepare you for what’s on the other side of that door.Along these lines a quote that has always resonated with me is one by Abraham Lincoln.He said”I will prepare，and some day my chance will come.“I have always believed this.It was this basic belief that led me to Auburn to study industrial engineering，led me to co-op alternating quarters while attending Auburn，led me to Duke to study business，and led me to accept so many jobs and assignments that are too numerous to mention.
In business as in sports，the vast majority of victories are determined before the beginning of the game.We rarely control the timing of opportunities，but we can control our preparation.I feel Lincoln‘s quote is especially appropriate now，given the state of the economy and the worry that I suspect a number of you must feel.I had the same worry when I graduated in 1982（yes，I am prehistoric，for the record）.But as many of the parents here will remember，the economy then bore some strong similarities to the economy today.The unemployment rate was in the double digits，we didn’t have the collapse of Wall Street banks but we did have the savings and loan crisis.I worried，as many of my classmates did，what the future held for them.
But what was true for Lincoln was true for those of us who graduated in‘82，and it is true for those of you graduating today.Prepare and your chance will come.Just as all previous generations have done，you will stand on the shoulders of the generation that came before you.The generation of mine and your parents.And you will achieve more and go farther.The fact that you are here now at this great institution，in this great state，at this great moment for both you and your families is a testament to the fact that your preparation has begun.Continue to prepare yourselves as you have at Auburn，so when your gut tells you”this is my moment“，you are without a doubt ready.
If you are prepared，when the right door opens，then it comes down to just one more thing：Make sure that your execution lives up to your preparation.At least for me the second sentence of the Auburn creed，”I believe in work，hard work“really resonates here and has been one of my core beliefs for as long as I can remember.Though the sentiment is a simple one，there’s tremendous dignity and wisdom in these words，and they have stood the test of time.