The Real Leadership Lessons of Steve Jobs –Walter Isaacson

The Real Leadership Lessons of Steve Jobs –Walter Isaacson -

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Helped transform seven industries: personal computing, animated movies, music, phones, tablet computing, retail stores and digital publishing. FOCUS- “Deciding what not to do is as important as deciding what to do.” ; “What are the 10 things we should be doing next?”….slashed 7- “can only do three.” SIMPLIFY- zero in on their essence and eliminate unnecessary components. Examples in comparing Apple to Microsoft; Simplicity with Atari; Single button mouse. Simplicity with using Apple products (examples) TAKE RESPONSIBILITY TO THE END- Every aspect of the customer experience is tightly linked together. He got hives, or worse, when contemplating the use of great apple software to uninspired hardware. WHEN BEHIND, LEAPFROG- Mobile phone makers started adding music players to their handsets. He cannibalized iPod sales by creating the iPhone. PUT PRODUCTS BEFORE PROFITS- my passion has been to build an enduring company where people were motivated to make great products. It was great to make a profit because that allowed you to make great products. The products, not the profits, were the motivation. DON’T BE A SLAVE TO FOCUS GROUPS- “when you are doing something for yourself, your best friend, or family you’re not going to cheese out.” BEND REALITY- encouraged people to perform some extraordinary feats (sometimes with bullying and lying). “You did the impossible because you didn’t realize it was impossible” ….the Gorilla glass story IMPUTE- judge a book by its cover PUSH FOR PERFECTION- they didn’t love the design of the iPhone, so they scrapped it. TOLERATE ONLY A PLAYERS- Jobs’ rudeness and roughness were accompanied by an ability to be inspirational. “By expecting them to do great things, you can get them to do great things.” ENGAGE FACE TO FACE- He created Pixar to encourage face to face meetings. KNOW BOTH THE BIG PICTURE AND THE DETAILS- even as he way laying out grand visions, he was fretting over the shape and color of the screws in the iMac. COMBINE THE HUMANITIES WITH THE SCIENCES- the creativity that can occur when a feel for both the humanities and sciences exists in one strong personality was what most interested me in my biographies of Franklin and Einstein and I believe it will be a key to building innovative economies in the 21st century. STAY HUNGRY, STAY FOOLISH- “Here’s to the crazy ones. The misfits. The rebels. The toublemakers. The roundpegs in the square holes.”