5 Things Steve Jobs Taught Me
Firstly, if you haven’t already, I highly recommend you do yourself a favour and read the Steve Jobs biography by Walter Isaacson. If you’re like me and are under the impression that biographies aren’t as immersive or engrossing as your favourite fiction tales, think again, think differently. Walter Isaacson certainly made me think differently.
Whether you like him or not, there is no disputing that Steve Jobs was a visionary, an innovator, a creative. His greatest strength was his intuition and he changed the world by marrying technology with the arts. Don’t just think Apple, think Pixar too.
Yes, he wasn’t particularly nice, emotional intelligence wasn’t something he possessed and he seldom felt remorse for his vitriolic attacks towards those very people who brought his ideas to life.
Yet, those same people whom he had lambasted for not doing enough, for having “shit” ideas, were the same people who had also shared that “he got them to do things they never dreamed possible. And he created a corporation crammed with A players.”
I’m not here to defend him but it appeared to me that he wasn’t necessarily looking to attack or hurt his team (I could be wrong) but to stop them from limiting themselves, to prevent them from settling for less, to force them to push themselves to think outside of the box, to “think differently”.
Like many great men whose gifts are extrraordinary, he’s not extraordinary in every realm.
So here are the five things Steve Jobs taught me.
1. Do not Settle
Not everything can be perfect, that's near impossible, but if you’re putting your name on something, if you are working on something you love and care about and if you are creating something, make sure what you release is the best possible version. If you’re not proud of it, then you didn’t work as hard enough.
Do not allow yourself to half-heartedly do anything, it means you don’t care enough.
If you truly care about what you’re doing or creating or innovating, you should have the desire, the motivation to make it great, to take no shortcuts, to concern yourself with every facet.
“If we’re going to make things in our life, we may as well make them beautiful”
2. Learn to Focus
Set priorities, aim your attention on them and filter out distractions, filter out anything that is unnecessary.
Have a workspace, a room of your own, a desk, a dining room table, somewhere where you can sit down, focus and work. You need a zone in which you can work, in order to get in the zone, so create one.
Then, take a break. Look into the focused and diffused thinking — get in the zone, the focused thinking and then take a day off, let your mind wander, make connections, passively think, let it diffuse.
I assure you, you will emerge a little different.
3. Trust your Intuition
Okay, so this is more a lesson from Tim Cook but he worked alongside Jobs and quite closely.
The lesson is to believe in yourself, in your ideas, in your goals, in your capabilities. To trust your intuition.
Don’t overthink it, rely on your gut instinct, trust the hunch and go for it. Had Cook not followed his intuition, he would have never worked at Apple.
“There are times when relying on your intuition is most indispensable.” — Tim Cook
4. Have a purpose and motivations
And it should not be money. Money won’t keep you motivated, a purpose will.
What is your why, what is your contribution, what do you want to do, what is your path.
“If you don't love something, you’re not going to go the extra mile, work the extra weekend, challenge the status quo as much.”
5. Collaboration is Key to Success
You can create things alone and they will be good, but you can only do great things when you collaborate with others. Two heads are better than one, no?
At Apple, each division worked together to build one great product. They were all A players and liked working with other A players. Everyone played an integral part in the creation of a product, everyone was valued and everyone knew they were there because they were A players.
“We wanted to get rid of anything that was absolutely essential. To do so required total collaboration between the designers, the product developers, the engineers, and the manufacturing team.”
These are lessons that we are taught by many, they are somewhat cliche, but that’s because they are tried and tested. Actively implement these lessons into your life, find a purpose, look inwards, be introspective. We all have great ideas, you do, so why aren’t you pursuing yours?
Remember, the people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world are the ones who do.
