The definition of cool - Steve Jobs

This is not a book review.

I have just finished reading 'The Steve Jobs way – ileadership for a new generation' by Jay Elliot. It is not my station in life to critique the writing of Jay Elliot-someone who worked side-by-side with Steve Jobs. He has to have been brilliant – there was no place for bozos at Apple! And definitely not so close to Steve Jobs. All I'll say is that, while reading the book, I could almost picturise the people, situations and places – Jay Elliot brought them to life. I could link similarities to situations i've been in and some smart people I have come across in my corporate life.This write up is my list of take aways from the 'The Steve Jobs way'-Belief, Perseverance & Courage.

JE has explained the word 'Innovation', a word that is used unthinkingly for the trivial. Innovation refers to a completely new way of doing things as opposed to improving on or tweaking the existing. “ if you ask a group of people how to make a product better, they'll tell you what they think is wrong with it. The value of fault finding is that it will lead to incremental improvements, not dramatically new products that are game changers”

He quotes---

Henry Ford: If I had asked my customers what they want, they would have said – 'a faster horse'.

Robert kennedy: Some people see things as they are and ask why? I dream things that never were and ask “why not”?

And then “why wait?”

Apple symbolises one man's vision and drive. Steve Jobs touched every product that Apple created and launched. 'Touched' fits so appropriately, for someone who understood and replicated the magnificent sync between the 'thinking' of the human mind and the related 'action' by the human hand.He showed the world the wonders of combining art and design with technology, breaking the stereotype that a thing of utility just needs to do what its supposed to do and nothing more. He had the clarity of vision, worked from the gut and backed it by unconditional commitment.

Steve Jobs set out to change the world and he did!

And how!

And how?

Steve Jobs saw technology from the stand point of someone who does not really know technology. The 'Imagine process' was SJ's way to spin a dramatic and highly visual storyline to explain and convince the listener [the investor, board, engineer team...] of his next great idea. He instinctively insisted on 'simplicity of design and paid attention to the minutest of details – giving the customer gadgets they did not even know they needed or wanted and could use without an instruction manual!

He intuitively picked the right people to realise his dream and cared enough for them, creating the right environment that brought in so many more talented people. The employees' motivation and sense of ownership were paramount. Measures like the CEO personally handing over letters or cheques on completion of small or big milestones, or the signatures of the original engineer team etched on the inside of the first MACs – would have boosted the employee morale like no other gratification would have! Every artist loves to sign his work and look at it from a distance with pride!

For success 'passion' isn't an option. SJ has always realised that when you want something passionately, you have vastly improved power for convincing others as well. He went ahead pursuing his beliefs with audacity and spunk! Amply evident in the 1984 ad for the MAC & his wooing John Scully with 'Do you want to spend the rest of your life selling sugar water or do you want a chance to change the world? And when he was fired from Apple- he actually wanted to distribute T-shirts to employees proclaiming “we want our Jobs back”!

Leaders lead from the front-SJ was the face of Apple. Great leaders are in a league of their own. They face extreme highs and lows and have the tenacity and grit to bounce back with greater energy! They keep charging till they find that new road!

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Originally published in 2015