Steve Jobs

Steve Jobs on Death

Steve Jobs succumbed to cancer on the 5th of October 2011 at the age of 56.

In his short life, he disrupted several industries in ways that most people couldn't have predicted. Some industries he transformed through his products and services include (but aren't limited to):

Music
Phones
Photography
Computers
Education
The retail sector
Film and TV (Animation)

But I found his most valuable contribution to be his approach to life (and death).

So it makes sense to start there.

In his Standford address, which I summarized meticulously in this blog post Steve explained that he saw death as the ultimate change agent.

“Remembering that I’ll be dead soon is the most important tool I’ve ever encountered to make the big choices in life. Because almost everything, all external expectations, all pride, fear of embarrassment and failure, all these things just fall way in the face of death. Remembering you’re going to die, is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose”

I've read that quote several times over the years and each time it delivers a different nuanced and profound insight (depending on what I'm experiencing in my life at the time).

As I read that quote today, it occurs to me that the post-industrial age and the rise of consumerism have created a very materialistic approach to the world.

As a society, we value wealth (often represented by possessions) over most other things that matter including (but not limited to) health and relationships. That seems to be the collective goal that most of us mere mortals must achieve.

The nuclear family with the white picket fence which comes with a mortgage is considered to be the norm. And accumulating billions of dollars is the aspirational goal.

But when I look at these goals through the lens of death, I question their validity.

These goals seem vapid.

Unfulfilling.

Meaningless.

Would you really be happy once you've got that house with a picket fence (and the crippling mortgage that goes with it)?

Don't get me wrong. I'm not advocating against buying a home and raising a family. I'm asking you to question that goal before accepting it as yours.

Is this what you really want?

The term "mid-life crisis" is testimony to the fact that the groupthink approach to picket fences (and the associated mortgages) aren't the answer.

Perhaps the answer is to aspire to buy a home but also take some creative risks.

Choose something you're passionate about and then aim to make a positive impact on the world using those skills.

Better still, find a problem you want to solve for a specific audience, and then do everything you can to create an outstanding solution wrapped up neatly in a beautiful user experience.

What matters most to you?

Derek Sivers suggests choosing between the following options and optimizing your life for one of them:

Freedom
Money
Fame
Legacy

I'm sure you can think of a ton of others.

Looking at these options through the lens of a finite life is a great way to figure out what you really want.

In this third story, Steve Jobs says

When I was 17, I read a quote that went something like "If you live each day like it's your last, someday you'll most certainly be right". It made an impression on me, and since then for the past 33 years, I've looked in the mirror every morning and asked myself "If today were the last day of my life would I want to do what I’m about to do today?” And whenever the answer has been “no” for too many days in a row I know I need to change something.

Remembering I’ll be dead soon is the most important tool I’ve ever encountered to make the big choices in life. Because almost everything, all external expectations, all pride, fear of embarrassment and failure, all these things just fall way in the face of death. Remembering you’re going to die, is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose. You are already naked. there is no reason not to follow your heart.

So here's my question for you:

If this year was the last year of your life, would you do what you're about to do this year?

Let me know your answer in the comments.

Steve Jobs On Innovation

Steve Jobs was a flawed individual like any of us. Some would (justifiably) argue more flawed than most.

But it would be a mistake to see his flaws in isolation.

Why?

Because those very flaws also drove his exceptional ability to innovate.

Take for example his unorthodox approach to innovation. Steve created products that were not on technologically advanced, but also beautifully designed and had an incredibly simple user interface.

The iPhone spawned a tsunami of easy-to-use devices and this may seem obvious to us now, but before the iPod and the iPhone burst onto the tech scene, we had clumpy and unfriendly devices like the Blackberry.

Steve's obsession with delivering an insanely great product meant every product had to be incredibly intuitive and absurdly simple to use.

As Jony Ive often said, Apple's approach to product design was to make the product as 'invisible' as possible to the customer.

The product's job was to genuflect before the customer experience.

User experience took precedence.

This often meant Steve drove his engineers to eventually achieve engineering feats they considered impossible at first.

Later this came to be known as Steve's reality distortion field.

In his article in 2012, the HBR Walter Isaacson says that people tend to focus too much on the rough edges of Steve's personality.

Perhaps Walter was suffering from "writer's remorse". Quite a few people close to Steve felt that his book focused a bit too much on Steve's quirks.

Walter goes on to say that Steve's petulance and impatience were part and parcel of his personality which he also poured into his products.

Was that the best way to go about creating products? Maybe. Maybe not.

But that was Steve.

And the end result of his efforts was all those innovative products he created that haven't been created before or since.

In his book called The Innovator's Dilemma, Clayton Christensen explains that companies often fail to recognize opportunities for disruptive innovation because they're too focused on existing customers and revenue streams.

He recommends creating a project or team outside of an organization's routine operations to develop new ideas and technologies.

Steve admired Christensen's work and reportedly gave copies of The Innovator's Dilemma to his top executives at Apple.

Steve's excellent at thinking outside the box (presumably because of Christensen's influence) was one of his key secrets to innovating constantly.

Consistent with Christensen's teachings, Steve Jobs implemented a similar concept to "skunkworks" at Apple where the "tested" ideas and products. Ultimately he was able to develop the ability to "see around corners" and created products that exceeded customer expectations.

So how can you as a small business owner apply some of these ideas to your business?

5 things you can do to innovate better as a small business owner

Teach yourself to think differently: To innovate like Jobs did it's important to question your assumptions. You need to look for unconventional ways to solve problems. This often could mean coming up with ideas that seem ridiculous at first. Take for example Steve's idea to create products that were at the intersection of technology and the humanities. Think about that for a second. It must've been a completely ridiculous idea at the time when computers were built by engineers for engineers and IBM was the dominating force in tech. Creating computers that were at the intersection of technology and the humanities would've sounded absurd.
Anticipate what your customers want (before they realize what they want): Get obsessed with understanding your customer. What does her day look like? What little things can you improve in her user experience to make her experience easier? What can you do to create a smoother experience? What can you do to reduce friction? For example, Jobs created a customer-focused business that solved for the customer. This meant that Apple's reporting lines were around areas of expertise rather than seniority.
Focus on building a great team that leads from behind: Steve wasn't big on hierarchy. He was all about creating small and nimble teams who were passionate about Apple's vision and were willing to do what it took to achieve that vision. Steve invested a huge amount of effort in recruitment and insisted on working only with A-players.
Take (calculated) risks: Steve took several risks in his life. After being ousted from Apple he founded Pixar and Next. He invested heavily in these ventures and was willing to put it all on the line. The truth is, you're going to have to take risks if you want to get rewarded. And sometimes those risks won't pay off. Steve was very publicly outed from Apple but he persisted. And this brings us to the final point about innovation.
Be willing to play the long game: Steve never let go of Apple even after having been removed from the company he founded. He never gave up on his love for technology and his vision of creating great solutions. Eventually, this led to a remarkable situation where Next acquired Apple and Steve found himself as CEO of Apple again. This second act is where Steve really made that 'dent in the universe'. He released a series of game-changing products including (but not limited to) the iPod, iPhone, iPad, Apple Music, and lots more.

Why Steve Jobs got fired from Apple

Steve Jobs was very inexperienced when he started Apple in his parents' garage. He co-founded Apple at the age of 21 in 1976 with Steve Wozniak.

Their first product, The Apple 1, was introduced soon after they founded the company and it was followed by a series of products including the Macintosh computer.

Steve had a penchant for marketing and sought to understand his customer deeply, but his knowledge of the world was limited. His knowledge of business and management was definitely lacking at this stage in his career.

He was driven to achieve his goals (some say this was partly because of his childhood abandonment) and he pushed really hard to build something great. In my opinion, he was obsessed with greatness.

By the time he was 30 years old, he was heading up Apple and to his credit, he recognized that he didn't have the knowledge or skills required to run such a large operation.

So in his typical fashion, he convinced John Sculley — who was at Pepsi at the time — to come work with him. His pitch to Sculley was "Do you want to sell sugared water for the rest of your life? or Do you want to come with me and change the world?"

Sculley capitulated and ended up as Apple's CEO.

By this time Steve had earned the reputation of being hard to work with and the cracks in his relationship with Sculley (and the board) began to appear. Steve had little to no tolerance for bureaucracy of any kind and saw himself as a renegade.

This worked well when Apple was the upstart and was sticking it up to IBM but Apple was now a large corporation that required every major decision to be ratified by the board.

Steve challenged Sculley once too often and the board sided with Sculley.

In Steve's own words (during his Stanford address) he was well and truly out.

"I was out, and publicly so. But it was the best thing that ever happened to me. The heaviness of being successful was replaced by the lightness of being a beginner again, less sure about everything. It freed me to enter one of the most creative periods of my life." - Steve Jobs