Thursday, 11 October 2012
Saturday, 6 October 2012
10 Things You Can Learn From Steve Jobs
10 Things You Can Learn From Steve
Jobs
Steve Jobs was a technology and
business icon who founded Apple at
age 21. At that time, he would have
been called a whiz kid— but now
this age group of entrepreneurs are
called Millennials and are a new
demographic. We grew up in a
world where Apple was a fruit
second and an electronic first. With
18 billion apps already downloaded,
Steve Jobs didn't just pave the way
for our generation—he created our
entire way of life. Below are the 10
things his life and career example
can teach us.
Go where the puck is going to be:
Steve Jobs followed Wayne Gretzky's
advice: "A good hockey player plays
where the puck is. A great hockey
player plays where the puck is going
to be." Jobs went where he saw
technology was going, not where it
had been. Don't just focus on where
you have been or what currently
exists. Focus on what tomorrow will
look like.
A good thing takes time to build:
When Jobs first bought Pixar
Studios, it was a mess. Their first
full feature movie, Toy Story, took
years to develop and build. It took a
lot of money and patience. And,
Jobs had that. Many Gen Yers lack
patience. Job hopping today is an
all-too-common but highly
undesirable trait.
Differentiate yourself: His black
turtleneck shirts and unique
presentation style made Jobs stand
out. In a sea of tech entrepreneurs,
he found a way to make geeky cool.
Gen Y as a generation has been
good at standing out as a group,
but you have to stand out as an
individual as well. Be memorable.
Don't use time as an excuse: Jobs
was only 56 when he died, and like
the rest of us, he also had only 24
hours in a day. But, he
accomplished more in one short life
than most will in multiple lifetimes.
Give up the excuse that you are too
busy or there isn't enough time.
Maintain focus: This is a rare quality
in people across generations, but
Jobs was a master at it. He focused
his time and attention on the things
that mattered most to him and the
company.
Looks matter: You don't have to be
a good designer to appreciate good
design. Apple's products stood out
above others because they were
impeccably designed and
aesthetically appealing. Simply, they
looked good. But design extends to
all things. Don't turn in a report if
it doesn't look good. Take the extra
effort to format the email before
you send it to your boss. Design is
in the details. Don't ignore it.
Learn when to step up and when to
step down: When Apple realized it
needed Jobs back in charge in 1996,
he took the helm with intention.
And, when Michael Dell
recommended that Apple sell its
shares and apologize to
shareholders, Jobs ignored his
comments and kept building. But,
when he felt that he could no longer
do his job, he stepped aside. To be
truly successful, you have to know
when to step up as a leader, and
when to step aside—also as a true
leader.
Learn to cross-pollinate: Jobs often
said that if he hadn't taken a class
in calligraphy at Reed College, he
would have never come up with
different typefaces for the Mac.
Sticking to learning about your
industry is great, but the best ideas
come from widening your scope of
learning.
Understand the value of a team:
When asked about his business
model, Jobs once replied in an
interview, "My model for business is
The Beatles: They were four guys
that kept each others' negative
tendencies in check; they balanced
each other. And the total was
greater than the sum of the parts.
Great things in business are not
done by one person, they are done
by a team of people."
Don't listen to the critics: And the
higher you go, the more they
clamor. Steve Jobs had critics, but
he chose to ignore them. Jobs
personified the words uttered by
Theodore Roosevelt some 100 years
ago —"It is not the critic who
counts: not the man who points out
how the strong man stumbles or
where the doer of deeds could have
done better. The credit belongs to
the man who is actually in the
arena, whose face is marred by dust
and sweat and blood, who strives
valiantly, who errs and comes up
short again and again, because there
is no effort without error or
shortcoming, but who knows the
great enthusiasms, the great
devotions, who spends himself for a
worthy cause; who, at the best,
knows, in the end, the triumph of
high achievement, and who, at the
worst, if he fails, at least he fails
while daring greatly, so that his
place shall never be with those cold
and timid souls who knew neither
victory nor defeat."
