Deep insights from steve jobs biography

All Rights Reserved 2012 © INSIGHTS FROM 2012 – Insights STEVE to Actions JOBS How to build the next Apple without Steve Jobs Ideas provocateur: Andrew J. Waitman, CEO www.pythian.com 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10

A one-of-a-kind Individual A PERFECTIONIST Not just about IQ, Not just about genius, Its also about… “How did Steve Jobs and Apple make a dent in the Universe?” “His ability to focus on the few things that count, get design right and co-op industry giants is remarkable…”All Rights Reserved 2012 © - Bill Gates 2

Apple’s Extreme AscentAll Rights Reserved 2012 © 3

Lessons from Steve Jobs •  1950s – Cathode Ray Tubes IMPORTANCE OF •  1960s - Mainframes DISRUPTIVE •  1970s - Semi-conductors MEGA TRENDS •  1980s - Personal Computer“New blue oceans with no •  1990s - Networking/Internet whales, no sharks, few •  2000s - On-line / E-Commerce predators or parasites” •  2010s - Mobile / Social •  2020s - Data Analytics? “Playing in new spaces where innovation and scale opportunities are growing rapidly”All Rights Reserved 2012 © 6

Lessons from Steve Jobs •  At Apple 1975 - Steve Wozniak •  At Apple 1981 - Andy Hertzfeld/Burrell Smith IMPORTANCE •  At Apple 1984 - MAC Team OF •  At NeXT 1985 - Avie Tevanian OUTLIERS •  At Pixar 1986 - John Lasseter (EXTREMELY •  At Apple 1998 - Tim Cook GIFTED PEOPLE) •  At Apple 1998 - Jonathan Ive •  At Apple 1998 - Jonathan Rubenstein •  At Apple 2000 - Ron Johnson (store) “One must be able to •  At Apple 2001 - Tony Fedell/ Jeff Robbin (iTunes) identify, attract and retain the truly gifted The true Artists of the Business world people of the world” “Outliers attract more outliers”All Rights Reserved 2012 © 7

Lessons from Steve Jobs •  The decisions around which Leaders and Managers are selected and promoted has IMPORTANCE more impact on the organization success OF than any other business decision of the SELECTION CEO. & PROMOTION •  Steve Jobs successfully, consistently and continuously put the right people into the right roles. This is more art than science. “Getting the right people into the right management •  Culture emerges but starts from the top. The and leadership positions leadership team have an enormous impact drives successful culture” on culture and capability of an organization. •  It is not just about outlier technical talent but also outlier leadership talent. “Success is about who you appoint, delegate, promote, empower”All Rights Reserved 2012 © 8

Lessons from Steve Jobs •  Challenge matters to gifted outliers: IMPORTANCE artists, designers, engineers, etc. OF •  Pushing to achieve the impossible CHALLENGE creates purpose and pride •  Keep pushing the envelope of the possible “What makes people •  Keep pushing the details to get achieve greater than close to perfection they thought possible?” •  Someone must “know” what perfection looks like •  The pursuit of perfection is an end in itselfAll Rights Reserved 2012 © 9

Lessons from Steve Jobs IMPORTANCE •  Credibility comes from outlier, OF extreme, and unusual success Early @ Bats •  Not only extreme, visible, and SUCCEEDING unusual success but also who gets credited with such success: •  Steve Jobs vs Steve Wozniak •  Steve Jobs vs Jonathan Ive •  Steve Jobs vs John Lasseter “Those credited through money or fame with success gain additional and unfair advantage”All Rights Reserved 2012 © 10

Lessons from Steve Jobs •  Every disruptive innovation IMPORTANCE has path dependency OF TIMING •  All elements of innovation have timing dependencies: –  Technology“Think Voice Recognition vs Mouse –  Distribution Tablet vs iPad –  User Experience Think Stylus vs Touch Screen” –  Knowledge “Getting major trends/technology/adoption right can be difference between leading or lagging”All Rights Reserved 2012 © 11

Lessons from Steve Jobs •  Enables speed to resources, expertise, insights, experiments, talent IMPORTANCE •  Enables more experiments OF •  Enables longer experiments MONEY •  Tolerates more errors •  Enables ambitious scale decisions •  Enables risk appetite “Money alone is not •  Attracts gifted outliers enough…but in •  Reduces life’s mundane distractions combination with other •  Facilitates “brute force” competitive attributes…it is critical strategy to success” •  Facilitates “unfair” strategies: •  Acquire competition/market share •  Undercut margins/lose money for years •  Control/acquire limited supplies •  Buy/control distributionAll Rights Reserved 2012 © 12

Lessons from Steve Jobs •  Success is an emergent condition of IMPORTANCE a thousand decisions OF •  Success drives its own momentum SUCCESS •  Success mollifies a great deal of conflict, dysfunction, internal strife and disagreement “Success absorbs/ tolerates all kinds of •  Success allows/enables others to dysfunction: Personality, tolerate intolerable behavior Management, Internal •  Success creates opportunity for organization strife, Poor decision making, future @ bats, & future success Board of Directors” •  Success attracts and reinforces •  Success leads to fameAll Rights Reserved 2012 © 13

Lessons from Steve Jobs •  Fame facilitates awareness •  Fame facilitates access IMPORTANCE •  Fame facilitates opportunities OF •  Fame facilitates better terms •  Fame facilitates “believers”/followers FAME •  Fame facilitates tolerance of missteps and misbehavior •  Fame facilitates no second guessing •  Fame attracts / drives / creates its own fashion “Fame is its own •  Fame facilitates information advantage unique and unfair •  Fame drives boldness advantage” •  Fame becomes its own celebrity or halo effect –  Artists made iTunes/Apple so “cool”/hip…that… –  Artists then clambered to be in iPod Ads.All Rights Reserved 2012 © 14

Lessons from Steve Jobs •  Simplicity is a goal in itself IMPORTANCE •  Simplicity is sometimes difficult OF SIMPLICITY •  Drive for simplicity everywhere in business: –  Messaging –  Communication/presentations “Less is more” –  Products –  Components –  Suppliers –  Processes –  Contracts/AgreementsAll Rights Reserved 2012 © 15

Lessons from Steve Jobs •  Don’t be everything to everyone IMPORTANCE •  Be clear what you are and why you are different OF •  What do you stand for that is different… FOCUS and people care about… and will know you uniquely…from anything else •  What natural advantages do you have that reinforce your focus “Focus reinforces •  Focus in all areas of decision making and strategy simplicity” –  Products –  Messaging –  Channels –  Suppliers •  Focus and simplicity are self-reinforcingAll Rights Reserved 2012 © objectives 16

Lessons from Steve Jobs •  Simplicity is a goal in itself IMPORTANCE •  Simplicity is difficult OF SIMPLICITY •  Reduce complexity in everything: –  Messages –  Products –  Components “Less is more” –  Suppliers –  Process –  ContractsAll Rights Reserved 2012 © 17

Lessons from Steve Jobs •  Aesthetic matters IMPORTANCE •  Simplicity matters OF •  Integration matters DESIGN •  Design first then Engineering •  Design in everything –  Product - Manufacturing “Must understand the –  Package essence of everything” –  Retail store •  “Why of What” matters •  Innovation requires Artistry •  User experience matters •  Vision by a “single mind” is criticalAll Rights Reserved 2012 © to consistency and coherence 18

Lessons from Steve Jobs •  Design and Engineering needs to IMPORTANCE iterate toward an ideal OF ITERATIVE •  That ideal keeps shifting as DESIGN technology keeps improving •  Constant improvement and innovation is necessary “Perfect design or •  However, someone must have a engineering comes only vision/capability of the judgment to after many, many decide when close to an ideal iterations” (eg.when to launch) and when to improve a product after launch •  A passion for perfection can drive to success or insanityAll Rights Reserved 2012 © 19

Lessons from Steve Jobs •  First impressions matter IMPORTANCE •  People form an opinion about a OF company, a product or service IMPUTE based on ‘signals’ that it conveys •  People DO JUDGE a book by its cover “Those who care that •  For customers or clients to ‘care’ people will care show the designer, engineer, company empathy toward wants, must also care. needs and desires” •  You must understand the needs and desires of customers/clients as well or better than they doAll Rights Reserved 2012 © 20

Lessons from Steve Jobs •  Path dependency drives negative IMPORTANCE or positive feedback OF •  Series of good decisions reinforced FEEDBACK through numerous positive feedback loops (profit, fame, success etc.) •  Early poor decisions limit opportunity to adjust strategy later “Large and rapid market successes are often surprises even to the innovator”All Rights Reserved 2012 © 21

Lessons from Steve Jobs •  Being timid gets you no where IMPORTANCE •  Always calling high does pay off OF once in a while BEING •  Demanding more sometimes works AUDACIOUS •  Being obnoxious has its benefits •  Extreme narcissism keeps you “Outrageous success focused comes from outrageous •  Extreme behavior can be both people” powerful and dysfunctional •  Being a pathological truth recreator is audaciousAll Rights Reserved 2012 © 22

Lessons from Steve Jobs •  Doing something that you believe IMPORTANCE in vs making money OF •  Motivation alignment during VALUES collaboration •  Motivation misalignments on team can be highly disruptive “What motivates •  Steve Jobs vs Larry Elision people in the face of •  A passion for perfection can make adversity will often a huge difference determine whether •  People want to believe in they keep going” something or someoneAll Rights Reserved 2012 © 23

Lessons from Steve Jobs •  Details always matter IMPORTANCE •  Details are what make big things OF happen distinctly DETAILS •  Does everyone and particularly the CEO care about the details •  Details matter must be in the “Distinction comes from culture caring about the •  Caring about the details requires details” time, patience, caring and an eye for the detailsAll Rights Reserved 2012 © 24

Lessons from Steve Jobs •  During first @ bats is there the IMPORTANCE best coaches, bats/balls, training OF etc? PROXIMITY •  Who do you get introduced to first? Who do you gravitate to? Who do you select? Who is in your sphere“If you are going to change of opportunity? the world it will take effort •  McKenna / Leonardo Da Vinci and contribution from “Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication” numerous world class •  Silicon Valley’s density of extreme people, suppliers, service talent is unparalleled providers and advisors”All Rights Reserved 2012 © 25

Lessons from Steve Jobs •  To attract gifted people you must IMPORTANCE “sell” them on a “different” future OF •  To achieve unusual or favorable SELLING supplier terms you must convince FUTURES them its in their interest •  To raise money you must convince investors that you have a path to “Great Sales People Can the “promised land” Sell You The Future” •  If you are trying to convince people of your ideas you must be compelling, charismatic and passionate (eg.crazy)All Rights Reserved 2012 © 26

Lessons from Steve Jobs •  When you rely on other companies IMPORTANCE you put your vision of the future at OF risk CONTROL •  Control provides significant advantages for end-to-end user experience “Not controlling your •  The companies that control their own destiny may mean eco-systems’s /customer not having one” experience / destiny are in a better position of making dramatic improvements/change in the industry •  Adobe <à AppleAll Rights Reserved 2012 © 27

Lessons from Steve Jobs •  A single mind (Captain) who is capable of IMPORTANCE clear, consistent and efficient decision OF making CLEAR & RAPID •  Democracy is a terrible “outlier results” DECISIONS decision methodology •  Groups of people generally revert to average, sub-optimal, self-biased, self- “Two Capitans on a interested, and inconsistent decisions by selecting lower risk, lower cost and Ship, two Chefs in a uninspired, incoherent business decisions Restaurant, two CEOs •  Great Boards do not interfere in great in a business has rarely companies. They select the leader and ever been successful” help them lead to succeed with one clear vision and strategy. ONE-MIND DECISION MAKING DRIVES SUCCESSAll Rights Reserved 2012 © 28

Lessons from Steve Jobs •  The whole can only succeed when IMPORTANCE the majority of decisions around the OF important elements are good, SYSTEMIC consistent and coherent DECISION MAKING •  One element, attribute, variable or function decided well is not enough “ The whole can only •  All functional decisions must succeed if all the synchronize toward consistent elements succeed with “end-game” values, goals and coherence” objectives •  “One mind” gains distinct advantages in achieving thisAll Rights Reserved 2012 © 29

Lessons from Steve Jobs •  Are the key, important and critical IMPORTANCE OF decisions recognized and decided WHAT ARE THE by the principals who have the right CRITICAL values, capability and insights? DECISIONS •  In the pursuit of WOW is the right balance struck between “speed vs perfection” for all the key, important, critical decisions? •  The “one mind” can help achieve great decisions but can bottleneck or slow decisions as company scalesAll Rights Reserved 2012 © 30

Lessons from Steve Jobs •  Out of one thousand ideas which IMPORTANCE OF are the most important/valuable RECOGNIZING •  Which work in symphony with other GREAT IDEAS great ideas FROM GOOD IDEAS •  Which ideas out of the myriad of ideas should be seized upon, “Everyone has ideas. improved and implemented? Every day new ideas •  The “one mind” is often better at arise. How to processing, synthesizing and distinguish that which selecting for implementation the are great, from that coherent set of GREAT ideas which are merely good?”All Rights Reserved 2012 © 31

Lessons from Steve Jobs •  iPod, iPhone, iPAD, iTunes IMPORTANCE OF •  MacBook Air KNOWING WHEN TO •  MacBook Pro AND WHEN NOT TO CHANGE A WINNER •  iMac •  Always out innovate your own “What is working products maintain until just before •  Easier said than done it doesn’t” “Pace your innovation ahead of competition but not before customer frustration”All Rights Reserved 2012 © 32

Lessons from Steve Jobs •  Product: iPod, iPhone, iPAD IMPORTANCE OF •  Supply Chain REINFORCING •  Manufacturing CLEVER STRATEGY •  Promotion: Launch, Campaigns •  Distribution: iTunes, Apple Store “Dramatic or extreme •  Ecosystem: Application Dev outlier success requires •  Integration: Software, Hardware, E- broad, coherent & Commerce disruptive success”All Rights Reserved 2012 © 33

Lessons from Steve Jobs •  What the competition was doing IMPORTANCE was observed and often derided by OF Steve Jobs but he never was NOT GETTING PREOCCUPIED WITH preoccupied by competition COMPETITION •  You will end up in incrementalism if “Rarely is competition you don’t ignore the competition. worth watching. Focus •  Your strategy, differentiation, primarily on your own, culture, philosophy, execution must startegy, execution and stand unique and alone innovation. ”All Rights Reserved 2012 © 34

Lessons from Steve Jobs •  Large organizations that become IMPORTANCE divisionalized become balkanized OF •  Each entity works to its own values, THE ELIMINATION goals, cultures and priorities OF DIVISION •  Apple was aligned under “one mind” and co-operated functionaly “ SONY had all the or be obliterated by Steve’s ire components and lost the war”All Rights Reserved 2012 © 35

Lessons from Steve Jobs •  Patterns are valuable and limited IMPORTANCE •  Unknown or misunderstood OF contributor elements, variables, COMPLEXITY context will be missed, poorly understood or over-interpreted in any complex system analysis “You can NOT •  Recognize correlation vs causality deconstruct success •  Every success path has random paths perfectly” elements--including timing—that contributed but were poorly understood a-priori •  Hindsight contributes to a sense of false wisdomAll Rights Reserved 2012 © 36

Lessons from Steve Jobs •  The future is unknown. •  What ‘emerges’ from a thousand people IMPORTANCE making a thousand decisions in a thousand OF days can be dramatic or dreary SERENDIPITY or •  Business is a complex system with a thousand RANDOMNESS constituents, a thousand variables and a thousand decisions resulting in an unpredictable & improbable outcome •  The timing of who you meet and whether you “connect” and whether you or they decide to “Fortune comes to work together impacts your future outcome and those who don’t that process is somewhat “random” •  Decisions are often made for unintended, count on it” wrong or misguided reasons with unintended (both positive & negative) outcomes or consequences.All Rights Reserved 2012 © 37

Lessons from Steve Jobs •  The reliance on one individual to orchestrate, organize, prioritize, authorize and drive a insanely great business is dangerous DANGERS •  The pantheon of truly great business artist/ OF leaders is rather small: STEVE JOBS –  Andrew Carnegie –  Henry Ford –  Sam Walton –  Steve Jobs –  Jeff Bezos “There are very very few gifted people who can navigate perfectly the art of design, engineering, and business”All Rights Reserved 2012 © 38

Lessons from Steve Jobs •  Because it takes a single mind to weigh the known, the possible, the probable and the DANGERS unknown. Groups cant do that. Only one mind can. WITH •  Making deals…ones that mattered….with STEVE JOBS Suppliers, Partners (think music), Industry GONE Giants (Sony) was one of Steve Jobs great talents. Why? Because he had fame, hustle and hutzpah. He understood often better than others how and when the one+one equalled “Apple Talks With Twitter Said five. He was aggressive, often obnoxious, and to End Without Investment” was a one man negotiating phenomena…on the important terms that mattered. •  One can not know whether a deal between Apple and Twitter was in the cards, was Failure to get Twitter Deal important to either party or really mattered in by Apple because no longer the large scheme of success in both their “ONE MIND” businesses or whether if Steve Jobs had been around would the outcome have been different.All Rights Reserved 2012 © 39

Conclusion? Success is rarely one person or one thing… Causality is complex to understand and distil from context. In Steve Job’s & Apple’s case, he was absolutely necessary… but not alone.All Rights Reserved 2012 © 40

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Deep insights from steve jobs biography

by Andrew Waitman on Aug 04, 2012

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