In The Art of the Start, Guy Kawasaki makes a convincing argument why you shouldn’t waste time on a run-of-the-mill corporate mission statement. He says that companies should live by a mantra:

A mantra is three or four words long. Tops. Its purpose is to help employees truly understand why the organization exists.

During Apple’s quarterly earnings conference call on Wednesday, COO Tim Cook was asked how the company is functioning while CEO Steve Jobs is on leave. His answer was longer than three words, but nonetheless, it is an eloquent, inspiring mantra that any organization would do well to live by. Here it is:

We believe that we are on the face of the earth to make great products and that’s not changing.

We are constantly focusing on innovating.

We believe in the simple not the complex.

We believe that we need to own and control the primary technologies behind the products that we make, and participate only in markets where we can make a significant contribution.

We believe in saying no to thousands of projects, so that we can really focus on the few that are truly important and meaningful to us.

We believe in deep collaboration and cross-pollination of our groups, which allow us to innovate in a way that others cannot.

And frankly, we don’t settle for anything less than excellence in every group in the company, and we have the self-honesty to admit when we’re wrong and the courage to change. And I think regardless of who is in what job those values are so embedded in this company that Apple will do extremely well.

Fortune’s Adam Lashinsky says “this shows an executive who has given tons of thought to what it means to lead Apple. He couldn’t have been clearer that he’s in charge, at least for now.”

Image courtesy and copyright Apple.