The birth of cool

I saw this headline in the New York Times yesterday and have spent a little time thinking about what it means and why it's true.

Samsung is cool not because they have cool ads. Not because their products look cool. Certainly not because of the blazer their EVP is wearing in the picture.

Samsung is cool for the same reason Apple is cool.

They're both great at what they do.

Cool is not about what you say, how you act, or how many black mock turtlenecks you have.

Cool is about excellence.

Miles Davis wouldn't have been cool if he weren't a supremely talented, incredibly innovative trumpet player.

Steve McQueen wouldn't have been cool if he weren't a gifted actor.

Apple wouldn't have been cool had their products not worked so damn well.

Companies need to stop focusing on being cool and start trying to be great. Once you've achieved greatness, cool will come.