I’m not one of those who think Steve Jobs was a genius. At least I never heard him say anything truly inspiring – let alone novel – which would suggest me to even ponder this possibility.
Jobs was probably above average smart, definitely above average unscrupulous, likely had a pretty low threshold for tolerating mediocrity, and he was – by all accounts – above average meaner to people who didn’t necessarily or at all share his visions and daydreams or his outlook on life, his level of enthusiasm, drive and almost borderline crazy commitment towards work.
99% of people go to work because it pays the bills. Steve Jobs was that 1% who worked because he wanted to accomplish something – not just do something, let alone anything. He wanted to change something while most us want things to remain more or less the same.
Some say Steve Jobs had a passion, other might call it determination. Me, I’m just going to call it a fixation. He was a fixated fellow and I’m guessing pretty much all really successful people are.
Normally I hate it when so-called professionals today like to medicalize pretty much everything they care to take a look at. But even I believe that fixation is a certified medical condition. It’s more than being motivated. It is something your whole personal well-being – the whole idea about yourself – really depends upon.
These people work as hard as they do because in their mind they can’t afford to fail. It’s just not an option for them. Quitting isn’t even in their vocabulary. Every word that people in normal mental state would automatically interpret as giving up only means – for fixated folks – trying harder, doing it in another, different, way, doing it again once more.
And because they won’t accept failure, they tend to succeed. They succeed not because they’d be that much smarter than the rest of us, or even that smart to begin with, but because you and I give up sooner. And so they get to win. Someone has to win and that someone is always those guys and gals who simply, plainly refuse to give up.
What honestly – in my view – set Jobs apart from most other business leaders was his incredible personal and interpersonal influence that allowed him to release products only when he agreed with himself that they are ready to be shipped. In one word he was a dictator, Apple was his kingdom and employees were his subordinates – even if and when many admired and even loved him.
Most companies are only too eager to release anything to the public that has a potential to wow people – as soon as possible, and preferably much sooner. It’s like introducing a girl you’ve met twice as your girlfriend to everybody who’ll listen or who you’d think would at least care a little.
Why would it work in business if it doesn’t work in real life either?
If I had been in Jobs shoes, I would have done the same. I wouldn’t want to release half-assed products. I wouldn’t want to tarnish a good company’s public image with products that leave a lot to be desired. Even if that alone wouldn’t be bad enough it also – of course – helps your competitors immensely when – not if – they play catch up.
After all it’s not like you can build a computer in a million different ways. There are actually very limited number of variables that you can even work with. What this means is that they – the competitors – would most likely come up with the same improvements too, given time.
So, rather than calling Jobs a genius, I’d be tempted to call him ”just” a guy with a longish shopping list who – at best – has a slightly above average appreciation for simplicity and/or aesthetics and who has managed by being persistent and roguish to reach a position where he can essentially say to an army of designers and engineers that I want you to build me a phone that has the following features and looks – draws his pencil out to doodle something quickly – something like this. This is the aesthetics we shall pursue and I want 6 airbrushed version from all angles of this phone on my desk by monday morning at 9 A.M. sharp.
If I hadn’t been in Jobs shoes, but instead in let’s say shoes of a fellow CEO of Xerox, then I would still have wanted to do the same. But I most likely wouldn’t have had enough leverage to be able to actually pull that off. And thus Xerox would release something meh instead of wow. And some competitor would turn that meh into alright. And yet another into promising and then to really promising until Jobs, or John Doe, would take it over from there and turn it into phenomenal which will essentially drive the whole business to play catch up in hopes of being able to bring something similar to the public.
So, in conclusion, Jobs probably was a bit smarter than the average joe, but above all he was driven. And that made – and makes – all the difference.
