Ouch.

Hewlett-Packard stock is down over 20% today.

…and then there were… fewer.

Today, Hewlett-Packard announced that they are abandoning WebOS, the mobile operating system they bought 16 months ago for 1.2 billion. HP also announced that they will get rid of their computer division… you know, the part of the company that makes HP computers. I’m not sure what will be left.

What did we learn: that Apple’s strategy is not only better, it might be the only strategy that works (is profitable, sustainable). Apple continues to climb. Their market capitalization in 2000 was 17 billion; today it is 340 billion. The “race to the bottom” is unsustainable (as clear-thinking people have been saying for years). Which company is next?

Apple is the largest company in the world.

It happened briefly, slightly yesterday, then with feeling today… Apple has passed Exxon-Mobile in market capitalization to become the largest (most valuable) company in the world.

Those of you within earshot of me will remember that last year, I predicted that this would happen by the end of this year. It happened ahead of my prediction.

What did we learn from this? What I said yesterday: Vision trumps everything. Whether you are parenting, teaching, running a business, pastoring, painting, writing,… having a clear, laser-focused vision will produce infinitely better results than trying to guide yourself via surveys, market-studies, feedback, examining data.

Vision, vision, vision. The more you reduce it (simplify it) the better. The clearer (more defined) the better.

Vision trumps everything.