9 ms·
One of the things that struck me while reading Jobs' biography was how frequently he cried. Numerous times throughout he's described as weeping, sometimes at mo
by imgabe 14y ago
One of the things that struck me while reading Jobs' biography was how frequently he cried. Numerous times throughout he's described as weeping, sometimes at momentous occasions, like getting fired from Apple, and sometimes over relatively trivial matters. Think about it. When was the last time you saw a grown person cry about something at work? Ever?
I think one of the things that made Steve Steve, and made him capable of doing the things he did, was how deeply he felt things. When a design wasn't right it actually seemed to cause him great emotional pain. People in emotional pain tend to lash out angrily. Just like you might forgive your spouse for saying something awful in the heat of an argument (I honestly believe it affected him on that deep of an emotional level), I think people forgave Steve because they knew that even when he was being vicious, it wasn't because he literally hated them. He was just deeply, personally wounded that his expectations weren't being met.
Now, it's not normal for anyone to care that deeply about what most people consider minor details, like the angle a corner is beveled at or something like that, but he did. And that level of caring about the details is what made Apple's products great.
Think about the last time anyone has done any work for you. Was there anything that was off? Probably there was. Most people weigh the benefit of fixing whatever minor problem there might be against the hassle of explaining what's wrong and waiting for it to be redone and the possibility of insulting the person who did the work and decide it's not worth it. You probably do this without even thinking about it. Obviously, for Steve it was always worth it, and that probably had a lot do with how emotionally sensitive he was.
It's easy to look back and say that you could have achieved the same results while being a nicer person, but I think it's easier said than done. I'm not saying it's impossible in general, but I think the deeply emotional place that Steve's sense of design came from made it nearly impossible for him. The important thing to take away was how much he was able to achieve because he cared so deeply, not the tyrannical aspect. That was a side effect. If you seek to emulate his tyranny (because you like being a tyrant, maybe) assuming that you'll get the same results, you're bound to be disappointed.
- hosh 14y agoThanks for writing this. It expresses how I see this. Steve Jobs went to the East looking for something, and it does not surprise me that he can go deep into these emotions and be OK with it.
- nsns 14y agoWhat you describe is very childish behavior, infantile even, but I believe you are right about Jobs being like that, and I think this might explain why he was so good at making toys adults crave like children. But we shouldn't idolize someone like that, IMHO, this isn't healthy conduct. Even if he has made a lot of money during certain periods of his life, it does not vindicate his behavior or make him a proper role model. Being a responsible adult is a lot harder, and there are things more important than financial profit.
- TheSOB88 14y agoMaybe we can idolize him and not seek to become him, but try to be somewhere in the middle.
- nsns 14y agoJobs wasn't just a successful visionary, he was also a guy who bought a hundred identical black polo shirts to last him till he die, and someone who refused medical help for an entire year and tried to cure his cancer thru diet (which might have made a fatal difference, we'll never know), Do you really wish to idolize him, or just the benign and successful aspects of his personality? Can these even be differentiated?
- seunosewa 14y agoYou don't want to idolize ANYONE, but you can respect imperfect people for the good things they did.
- brandall10 14y agoWho said anything about money? He changed the game multiple times in multiple industries, and had his greatest successes as he was fighting death. If you compare his net impact vs. actual wealth he was a pauper... and esp if you look at his stake in Apple, as the majority of his wealth was from Pixar/Disney. There are too many 'responsible adults' wallowing in mediocrity who more than anything else actually drag the system down. Maybe you can look up to them as role models on how to raise a family (although I personally would disagree as the majority fail at that anyway)... but how to leave a mark on this world and push for excellence, I will look to people like Steve, Musk, Frank Lloyd Wright, Edison/Tesla, etc. Please don't conflate the two.
- jamesbritt 14y agoThink about the last time anyone has done any work for you. Was there anything that was off? Probably there was. Most people weigh the benefit of fixing whatever minor problem there might be against the hassle of explaining what's wrong and waiting for it to be redone and the possibility of insulting the person who did the work and decide it's not worth it. You probably do this without even thinking about it. Obviously, for Steve it was always worth it, and that probably had a lot do with how emotionally sensitive he was. Was it Steve Jobs himself who put in the time and made the extra effort to see that something was Just So, or was it the person Jobs ordered to put in the extra time and make the extra effort? There's a world of difference between doing the work yourself and to keep doing it until it's exactly right, and demanding that other people make sure that what they do is done exactly right. The important thing to take away was how much he was able to achieve because he cared so deeply, not the tyrannical aspect. It seems more like he was able to get others to achieve so much because of the tyrannical aspect.