My relationship with Steve Jobs
October 6th, 2011 § 4 Comments
Steve Jobs has been famous for a long time, but how does that matter? I heard about him as a child, it didnt matter. When I got my first PC, apple was an expensive useless alternate. Steve Jobs was too popular to be important to me. He was just another american entrepreneur who made a lot of money whom many people followed. The iPod was a glorified MP3 player, packaged well and sold to dumb people. When the iPhone was released I was reading blogs making fun saying “it missed a ‘tactile response’ technology called ‘buttons’”
He was obviously even more popular in the Entrepreneurship circles. One of my friend from these circles persuaded me real hard to read a Steve Jobs article. I succumbed. It was the text of the famous Stanford Commencement Address. after reading that piece, I couldnt stop myself from watching the video (which I since watched more than a dozen times). Those words could not have been spoken by a mere mortal. The penny had dropped and Steve Jobs became superstar.
I’ve followed Steve Jobs, since, like an admirer. I tried to deconstruct this personality and what makes him who he is. Read blogs, articles, watched interviews, movies etc. Everyone has a theory of what he is made up of and why he is one of the most admired people in the world. None fit my understanding of this man.
Ancient Indian philosophy with origin in the Vedas and explained in several schools of thought such as Advaita, Samkhya etc propound that the world a man perceives has 2 purposes. One to experience ii and the other to understand ones own self through it. I understood Steve Jobs as doing just that.
Living life was about discovering yourself. Building Apple was about discovering your own self. I truly believe that when he says “have the courage to follow your heart and intuition” it actually means “discover who you really are”. And indeed, discovering who you really are is a very courageous exercise.
I’ve quoted Jobs so many times. I used the commencement speech in a workshop i recently conducted. I own an iPad. I’m partners with 3 hardcore apple addicts. I’m researching the iStore to wrap a business model around it. But my connection with Steve Jobs is more spiritual than that.
As I understood the man through the lens of my own life experience, it has been a sense of affirmation. The connection is of sharing a belief system. A belief system of confidence in self, a belief in possibility of greatness, a belief in creation, a belief in challenging status quo. In a world where these beliefs are akin to insane, Steve Jobs words instill faith.
I think Steve Jobs is a great entrepreneur not only because the company he built is soon to be the most valuable in USA. He is so because he relentlessly followed his heart (or so I believe). I think following your heart is the only path to greatness and Steve Jobs lived that and showed the world rather publicly.
As a tribute to the man who passed away today below are some of my favorite quotes from Steve Jobs”
“Being the richest man in the cemetery doesn’t matter to me … Going to bed at night saying we’ve done something wonderful… that’s what matters to me.”
“My job is to not be easy on people. My job is to make them better.”
“Innovation distinguishes between a leader and a follower.”
“Recruiting is hard. It’s just finding the needles in the haystack. You can’t know enough in a one-hour interview.
So, in the end, it’s ultimately based on your gut. How do I feel about this person? What are they like when they’re challenged? I ask everybody that: ‘Why are you here?’ The answers themselves are not what you’re looking for. It’s the meta-data.”
“People think focus means saying yes to the thing you’ve got to focus on. But that’s not what it means at all. It means saying no to the hundred other good ideas that there are. You have to pick carefully.”
“We don’t get a chance to do that many things, and every one should be really excellent. Because this is our life.
“In most people’s vocabularies, design means veneer. It’s interior decorating. It’s the fabric of the curtains of the sofa. But to me, nothing could be further from the meaning of design. Design is the fundamental soul of a human-made creation that ends up expressing itself in successive outer layers of the product or service.”
“I’m the only person I know that’s lost a quarter of a billion dollars in one year…. It’s very character-building.”
(quotes courtesy Macstories)
If death is truly a beginning, may this be the opportunity for the world to wake up, Stay Hungry & Stay Foolish!
I guess this article really connects to everyone who has an Apple Experience… expensive to perfection… hate to love…
Well written….smtimes it really becomes difficult to characterize a person as distinguished as Steve Jobs.
We will miss you Steve .There’s an old internet tradition for moments like this. If you don’t know what to say, just post a period (“.”). It means, “all words fail me.”
I think it’s been fairly obvious to people who were paying attention that Jobs has been sick for some time. Unfortunately, truly brilliant men rarely live long lives. His absence in the industry is going to leave a yawning chasm that few will be able to readily fill.