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Steve Jobs didn’t

Oct 6, ’11 5:46 PM
Author Categories Theory
  • Steve Jobs did not create products. He created an organization that predictably and reliably created emotionally resonant products.
  • Steve Jobs did not make movies. He made a company that predictably and reliably made blockbusters.
  • Steve Jobs did not wrest market share from competitors. He created new markets that attracted and sustained competitors.
  • Steve Jobs did not design anything. He gave others the freedom to think about what jobs products are hired to do.
  • Steve Jobs did not re-engineer processes. He brought engineering processes to works of creativity and the creative process to engineering.
  • Steve Jobs did not develop new management theories. He showed by example that innovation can be managed.
  • Steve Jobs was not a visionary. He put the dots together and saw where they led.
  • Steve Jobs was not a futurist. He just built the future one piece at a time.
  • Steve Jobs did not distort reality. He spoke what he believed would become reality at a time when those beliefs seemed far fetched.
  • Steve Jobs was not charismatic. He spoke from the heart compelling others to follow him.
  • Steve Jobs was not a gifted orator. He spoke plainly.
  • Steve Jobs was not a magician. He practiced, a lot.

He had taste.
He was curious.
He was patient.
He was foolish.
He was hungry.

These things many others can do. Maybe you can.

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  • Pentaxzs

    Good post. :)

  • Anonymous

    He was also a romantic in the way he says things right? Stay foolish, stay hungry? You’ll never see Steve Ballmer say that, not to bash Ballmer, he is a different sort of person, but if Ballmer says to stay hungry, you just sort of think he needs to lose some weight already, ok ok he may mean lets always make more money, but its not the sort of thing Ballmer would say to begin with.

    And to be honest, most people don’t even know what the dots are, let alone join them together. Steve was there at the very beginning of the rise of the personal computer, people know and respect him, that opens doors, but still, doors kept opening for him because he had the so called eye of the tiger and he had drive. Some things are hard to rationalize, if you are you are, if you aren’t, well, join the club bud, or try harder?

    I’d love to go on, but I won’t be able to do him any justice anyhow, can’t wait for his bio to come out.

  • Anonymous

    Horace, your litany form is great. Reminds me of the prayer of Saint Francis. I have no problem with a hagiographical moment; we should all be so lucky to receive at least a day of sainthood. Litanies get better as they get longer. So let me add some bits.

    My list is shaped by the fact that I worked in publishing. Nobody changed my career for the better more than did Steve Jobs. Publishing was the first to benefit from his work. His career could be seen as fulfilling the digital revolution he began with the Mac: Back in the eighties we began creating with electrons. Now publishers can deliver them. And this completes Gutenberg’s revolution as well. Now everybody can publish.

    He did not strive to impress more than he strove to express.
    He did not strive to inform more than he strove to communicate.
    He did not care about words more then he loved wisdom.
    He did not fondle facts more than he fidgeted with fonts.
    He did not assert himself more than he assisted others.

  • Doceangirl

    I’m going to work on doing these things more, ty Steve Jobs <3
    Darla

  • Anonymous

    Brilliant , simply brilliant !!!!

  • Anonymous

    while this post might sound great because of the seeming poetic nature it is factually wrong in quite a few respects. Jobs did not create Pixar. He bough it because of the potential that he saw in it. The company would have probably done more or less the same without Jobs although his guidance and belief in the people that work in the company probably did contribute a lot.

    Steve DID in fact invent quite a few things and his name is on a few Apple patents. The most notable of his recent contributions is the glass staircase in Apple’s chain of stores. He did also give the ultimate go ahead for all of Apple’s products making him the definitive tester and that is a lot more than just having good taste.

    There are no business processes that Steve brought to Apple and/or engineering. One things that he had always spoken about is heavy management and control. And yes he did indeed create a new style of management because Apple was and still is being run as the largest startup in the world. There were plenty of business processes before Steve and plenty remain after in the engineering world. None however, work as well as the simple premise of a startup. It is all about creating great products and striving for perfection.

    Oh and in regards to not taking market share from competitors and creating new market … are you mad? Never has Apple under Jobs entered a new market on their own. The one thing that you can learn from Job and Apple is that first mover advantage is a fool’s gold. Apple entered the computer market providing a better computer, the personal music player market providing a better product, the mobile and the tablet market providing a better than existing product. At no point did Apple create a new market however, in every one of these cases (PC sort of excluded) they went it with a blank slate and reinvented the product so that it is more natural to use and a lot more useful to the consumer. They saw a problem and found an elegant solution to that problem. And that is something that get’s ignored by a lot of people and especially analysts!

    • http://www.asymco.com Horace Dediu

      I am both mad _and_ uneducated.

    • Quinzinho

      Did you check out STEVE JOBS QUOTES AND TRIVIA APP for iPhone? :)

    • GeorgeS

      “Apple entered the computer market providing a better computer, ”

      Maybe you haven’t been around Apple products long enough. Actually, Apple essentially invented the “PC” with the Apple I, then the Apple II. Before the Apple I, computers were built from parts, sometimes kits. Apple created the first real “integrated” computer one could buy and just turn on.

  • JDSoCal

    “Steve Jobs did not design anything.”

    Great post, as always Horace, but in fairness, Jobs did hold over 300 design patents.

    • doopdeedoop

      you forgot to include
      “He gave others the freedom to think about what jobs products are hired to do.”

      If you pay people to think for you, their ideas are yours.

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  • Suvidhabisht

    i find your blog very creative & informative.
    jobs in India

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