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10 Golden Lessons from Steve Jobs

I think we’re having fun. I think our customers really like our products. And we’re always trying to do better.

- Steve Jobs

His accomplishments and character helped define a generation and change the world. He is co-founder of the fairytale company we now know as Apple Computers. And he is the visionary of the personal computers world that led the entire computer hardware and software industry to restructure itself.

This man with boundless energy and charisma is also a master of hype, hyperbole and the catchy phrase. And even when he’s trying to talk normally, brilliant verbiage comes tumbling out.

Here’s a selection of some of the most insanely great things he said, golden lessons to help you succeed in life, Jobs-style:

1. Steve Jobs said: Innovation distinguishes between a leader and a follower.

Innovation has no limits. The only limit is your imagination. It’s time for you to begin thinking out of the box. If you are involved in a growing industry, think of ways to become more efficient; more customer friendly; and easier to do business with. If you are involved in a shrinking industry – get out of it quick and change before you become obsolete; out of work; or out of business. And remember that procrastination is not an option here. Start innovating now!

2. Steve Jobs said: Be a yardstick of quality. Some people aren’t used to an environment where excellence is expected.”

There is no shortcut to excellence. You will have to make the commitment to make excellence your priority. Use your talents, abilities, and skills in the best way possible and get ahead of others by giving that little extra. Live by a higher standard and pay attention to the details that really do make the difference. Excellence is not difficult – simply decide right now to give it your best shot – and you will be amazed with what life gives you back.

3. Steve Jobs said: “The only way to do great work is to love what you do. If you haven’t found it yet, keep looking. Don’t settle. As with all matters of the heart, you’ll know when you find it.”

I’ve got it down to four words: “Do what you love.” Seek out an occupation that gives you a sense of meaning, direction and satisfaction in life. Having a sense of purpose and striving towards goals gives life meaning, direction and satisfaction. It not only contributes to health and longevity, but also makes you feel better in difficult times. Do you jump out of bed on Monday mornings and look forward to the work week? If the answer is ‘no’ keep looking, you’ll know when you find it.

4. Steve Jobs said: “You know, we don’t grow most of the food we eat. We wear clothes other people make. We speak a language that other people developed. We use a mathematics that other people evolved… I mean, we’re constantly taking things. It’s a wonderful, ecstatic feeling to create something that puts it back in the pool of human experience and knowledge.”

Live in a way that is ethically responsible. Try to make a difference in this world and contribute to the higher good. You’ll find it gives more meaning to your life and it’s a great antidote to boredom. There is always so much to be done. And talk to others about what you are doing. Don’t preach or be self-righteous, or fanatical about it, that just puts people off, but at the same time, don’t be shy about setting an example, and use opportunities that arise to let others know what you are doing.

5. Steve Jobs said: “There’s a phrase in Buddhism, ‘Beginner’s mind.’ It’s wonderful to have a beginner’s mind.”

It is the kind of mind that can see things as they are, which step by step and in a flash can realize the original nature of everything. Beginner’s mind is Zen practice in action. It is the mind that is innocent of preconceptions and expectations, judgments and prejudices. Think of beginner’s mind as the mind that faces life like a small child, full of curiosity and wonder and amazement.

6. Steve Jobs said: “We think basically you watch television to turn your brain off, and you work on your computer when you want to turn your brain on.”

Reams of academic studies over the decades have amply confirmed television’s pernicious mental and moral influences. And most TV watchers know that their habit is mind-numbing and wasteful, but still spend most of their time in front of that box. So turn your TV off and save some brain cells. But be cautious, you can turn your brain off by using a computer also. Try and have an intelligent conversation with someone who plays first person shooters for 8 hours a day. Or auto race games, or role-playing games.

7. Steve Jobs said: “I’m the only person I know that’s lost a quarter of a billion dollars in one year…. It’s very character-building.”

Don’t equate making mistakes with being a mistake. There is no such thing as a successful person who has not failed or made mistakes, there are successful people who made mistakes and changed their lives or performance in response to them, and so got it right the next time. They viewed mistakes as warnings rather than signs of hopeless inadequacy. Never making a mistake means never living life to the full.

8. Steve Jobs said: “I would trade all of my technology for an afternoon with Socrates.”

Over the last decade, numerous books featuring lessons from historical figures have appeared on the shelves of bookstores around the world. And Socrates stands with Leonardo da Vinci, Nicholas Copernicus, Charles Darwin and Albert Einstein as a beacon of inspiration for independent thinkers. But he came first. Cicero said of Socrates that, “He called philosophy down from the skies and into the lives of men.” So use Socrates’ principles in your life, your work, your learning, and your relationships. It’s not about Socrates, it’s really about you, and how you can bring more truth, beauty and goodness into your life everyday.

9. Steve Jobs said: “We’re here to put a dent in the universe. Otherwise why else even be here?”

Did you know that you have big things to accomplish in life? And did you know that those big things are getting rather dusty while you pour yourself another cup of coffee, and decide to mull things over rather than do them? We were all born with a gift to give in life, one which informs all of our desires, interests, passions and curiosities. This gift is, in fact, our purpose. And you don’t need permission to decide your own purpose. No boss, teacher, parent, priest or other authority can decide this for you. Just find that unique purpose.

10. Steve Jobs said: “Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life. Don’t be trapped by dogma – which is living with the results of other people’s thinking. Don’t let the noise of other’s opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary.”

Are you tired of living someone else’s dream? No doubt, its your life and you have every right to spend it in your own individual way without any hurdles or barriers from others. Give yourself a chance to nurture your creative qualities in a fear-free and pressure-free climate. Live a life that YOU choose and be your own boss.

Each lesson might be difficult to integrate into your life at first, but if you ease your way into each lesson, one at a time, you’ll notice an immediate improvement in your overall performance. So go ahead, give them a try.

Chiranjit Paul

Bad Business Decisions and Famous Quotes

Here are a few bad decisions from the world of business that have become famous -- and are downright humorous in hindsight. Some people learned from their mistakes and moved on (Bill Gates.) Some, sadly, faded into history (Decca).

"640K ought to be enough for anybody." -- Bill Gates, 1981

"Drill for oil? You mean drill into the ground to try to find oil? You're crazy." -- Drillers who Edwin L. Drake tried to enlist to his project to drill for oil in 1859

"But what ... is it good for?" -- Engineer at the Advanced Computing Systems Division of IBM, 1968, commenting on the microchip.

"There is no reason anyone would want a computer in their home." --Ken Olson, president, chairman and founder of Digital Equipment Corp., 1977

"The wireless music box has no imaginable commercial value. Who would pay for a message sent to nobody in particular?" --David Sarnoff's associates in response to his urgings for investment in the radio in the 1920s. I hope he fired all of them.

"The concept is interesting and well-formed, but in order to earn better than a 'C,' the idea must be feasible." -- A Yale University management professor in response to Fred Smith's paper proposing reliable overnight delivery service. (Smith went on to found Federal Express Corp.[FedEx])

"Heavier-than-air flying machines are impossible." -- Lord Kelvin, president, Royal Society, 1895.

"Airplanes are interesting toys but of no military value." -- Marechal Ferdinand Foch, Professor of Strategy, Ecole Superieure de Guerre. Wasn't France bombed in World War Two?

"I'm just glad it will be Clark Gable falling on his face and not Gary Cooper" -- Gary Cooper on his decision not to take the leading role in "Gone With the Wind"

And my three favorites:

"We don't like their sound, and guitar music is on the way out." --Decca Recording Co. rejecting the Beatles, 1962

"This 'telephone' has too many shortcomings to be seriously considered as a means of communication. The device is inherently of no value to us." -- Western-Union internal memo, 1876.  Alexander Bell offered the patent for the Telephone to Western-Union in 1876 for $100,000. They declined. The telephone patent has been estimated as the most valuable patent of all time. Bell's Company, AT&T, later aquired Western-Union. Special Note -- In 1971 AT&T turned down an offer to own the Internet. Oh well.


"So we went to Atari and said, "Hey we've got this amazing thing, even built with some of your parts, what do you think about funding us? Or we'll give it to you. We just want to do it. Pay our salary, we'll come work for you." And they said, "No". So then we went to Hewlett Packard and they said, "Hey, we don't need you; you haven't even got through college yet." -- Apple Computer Co-Founder Steve Jobs on attempts to get Atari and HP interested in he and Steve Wozniak's personal computer. HP recovered nicely (though not quite as nicely, I suspect as they would have if they'd chanced it) but where is Atari today.

Special Mention -- Couldn't find a quote for these two, but...

In 1933 Coca-Cola declined an opportunity to buy it's then-bankrupt and insignificant rival Pepsi - Cola

In 1999, Excite declined the opportunity to buy Google for $1 million. It's possible that ANY quote on this from Excite would be -- a-hum -- unprintable. ;)

Mark Hester

The DNA of Innovative Companies

I recently read a great article called the ‘The Innovator's DNA’, written by Jeffrey H. Dyer, Hal B. Gregersen, and Clayton M. Christensen.

 

The article presents the findings and conclusions from a six-year study in which the authors looked into what habits and skills distinguish the most innovative entrepreneurs from other executives. These successful innovators include: Steve Jobs, Amazon’s Jeff Bezos, eBay’s Pierre Omidyar, and P&G’s A.G. Lafley.

 

Their conclusions are the most innovative companies are led by innovative entrepreneurs, who unlike CEOs of other companies, do not delegate innovation. They do it themselves.

In other words, innovative CEOs and leaders create a culture of innovation within their companies (most often these are companies that they have founded).

 

This makes perfect sense. Leaders define the culture of their organizations. Their personalities, behavior, priorities, and values set the tone and example for others to follow.

But what about companies that are not led by innovator geniuses? Can’t they also become innovative?

I would like to argue that they can. However, unlike companies where innovation comes from the top, like Apple, Google and Amazon.com, they need a different approach to create a culture of innovation.

Based on lessons from innovative companies, as well as my own experience, I believe there are several key elements that are critical for creating an environment of innovation. 
 

It's important to remember that innovation can be initiated by anyone, and it can occur anywhere and anytime. Additionally, innovation should not be directed only to new products. Some great companies created their success through process and business model innovations (Southwest Airlines, Dell).

Great ideas can come from anyone inside, as well as outside the organization, including customers, suppliers, and partners. Therefore the key is to create a culture where everyone is encouraged and empowered to come up with, and share new ideas.

Thus, I believe that the main elements of an innovative company are:

1.   Leadership and Culture: there needs to be a company culture that encourages risk taking, doesn't punish failure (rather uses it as a learning experience), encourages and facilitates sharing of ideas and information. People need to be able to experiment with new ideas without the fear of failure.
Innovation is often a product of genuine curiosity, of questioning status quo and hypotheses. New ideas can come from networking with and learning from people outside our industry, our country, and our profession. These habits and behaviors need to be part of the company’s culture.
This is where the CEO’s own DNA can have a major influence. And yet, even if she is not already an innovator, she can still develop innovation skills and habits (as suggested by Dyer, Gregersen, and Christensen), and in doing so, set an example for the rest of the company.

Also, leaders can complement their own weakness in this area by infusing innovation to the company’s DNA through a dedicated recruiting process, and the empowerment of innovative managers within the company.

2.   Customers and Suppliers: A company needs to be close to its customers and users; know and understand their problems, challenges and needs. Observe the “jobs” that they are trying to get done. Ask them questions like “why?”, “why do you do that?”, and “what if?”

Most great ideas are not born in research labs, engineers’ cubicles, or conference rooms. They often come from observing and studying what users are trying to do. How can it be done better, simpler? How can new technologies be applied to solve these problems differently?

Companies need to establish relationships with their customers, suppliers, and partners that are based on trust, respect, and open communication. And listen, really listen to them.

3.   Process and Criteria: there needs to be a simple process that regularly collects, reviews, and selects ideas from all of the above sources.
It needs to be simple for people to submit, share and present their ideas. There needs to be a clear set of criteria by which ideas are reviewed and ranked. People that submit ideas should get prompt feedback and recognition.
Of course, there needs to be a predefined budget for funding those ideas that were selected. Time and budget should also be allocated for conducting multiple experiments around these new ideas.
Such a process, supported by the above culture, will encourage and motivate people throughout the company to create innovative ideas, even if they do not always get implemented into a new product/service, or new business model.

Innovation, much like strategic thinking and customer service, cannot be left to one person in the company, not even the CEO. To truly become an innovative company, it needs to be a skill and a habit of everyone in the organization.

Who do you consider to be an innovative company? Why?

 by: Ziv Azmanov

30 Famous Quotes That Will Inspire Success In You

By Joel

The definition of success is different for everyone, whether it’s personal or professional we are always looking at improving in some area of our life. We all need some inspiration from time to time and that is why we have compiled a list of famous inspirational quotes that will help contribute to your success.

 30 Famous Success Quotes

1. “If you don’t build your dream, someone else will hire you to help them build theirs.”
Dhirubhai Ambani

2. “The first step toward success is taken when you refuse to be a captive of the environment in which you first find yourself.”
Mark Caine

3. “People who succeed have momentum. The more they succeed, the more they want to succeed, and the more they find a way to succeed. Similarly, when someone is failing, the tendency is to get on a downward spiral that can even become a self-fulfilling prophecy.”
Tony Robbins

4. “When I dare to be powerful – to use my strength in the service of my vision, then it becomes less and less important whether I am afraid.”
Audre Lorde

5. “Whenever you find yourself on the side of the majority, it is time to pause and reflect.”
Mark Twain

6. “Great minds discuss ideas; average minds discuss events; small minds discuss people.”
Eleanor Roosevelt

7. “I have not failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work.”
Thomas A. Edison

8. “If you don’t value your time, neither will others. Stop giving away your time and talents. Value what you know & start charging for it.”
Kim Garst

9.  ”A successful man is one who can lay a firm foundation with the bricks others have thrown at him.”
David Brinkley

10. “Here’s to the crazy ones. The misfits. The rebels. The troublemakers. The round pegs in the square holes. The ones who see things differently. They’re not fond of rules. And they have no respect for the status quo. You can quote them, disagree with them, glorify or vilify them. About the only thing you can’t do is ignore them. Because they change things. They push the human race forward. And while some may see them as the crazy ones, we see genius. Because the people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world, are the ones who do.”
Steve Jobs

11. “No one can make you feel inferior without your consent.”
Eleanor Roosevelt

12. “Let him who would enjoy a good future waste none of his present.”
Roger Babson

13. “Live as if you were to die tomorrow. Learn as if you were to live forever.”
Mahatma Gandhi

14. “Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn’t do than by the ones you did do.”
H Jackson Brown Jr.

15. “The difference between a successful person and others is not a lack of strength, not a lack of knowledge, but rather a lack of will.”
Vince Lombardi

16. “Success is about creating benefit for all and enjoying the process. If you focus on this & adopt this definition, success is yours.”
Kelly Kim

17. “I used to want the words ‘She tried’ on my tombstone. Now I want ‘She did it.’”
Katherine Dunham

18. “Really it comes down to your philosophy. Do you want to play it safe and be good or do you want to take a chance and be great?”
Jimmy J

19. “It is our choices, that show what we truly are, far more than our abilities.”
J. K Rowling

20. “You have to learn the rules of the game. And then you have to play better than anyone else.”
Albert Einstein

21. “Every great dream begins with a dreamer. Always remember, you have within you the strength, the patience, and the passion to reach for the stars to change the world.”
Harriet Tubman

22. “The successful warrior is the average man, with laser-like focus.”
Bruce Lee

23. “Take up one idea. Make that one idea your life – think of it, dream of it, live on that idea. Let the brain, muscles, nerves, every part of your body, be full of that idea, and just leave every other idea alone. This is the way to success.”
Swami Vivekananda

24. “Develop success from failures. Discouragement and failure are two of the surest stepping stones to success.”
Dale Carnegie

25. “If you don’t design your own life plan, chances are you’ll fall into someone else’s plan. And guess what they have planned for you? Not much.”
Jim Rohn

26. “The question isn’t who is going to let me; it’s who is going to stop me.”
Ayn Rand

27. “If you genuinely want something, don’t wait for it – teach yourself to be impatient.”
Gurbaksh Chahal

28. “Don’t let the fear of losing be greater than the excitement of winning.”
Robert Kiyosaki

29. “If you want to make a permanent change, stop focusing on the size of your problems and start focusing on the size of you!”
T. Harv Eker

30. “You can’t connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backwards. So you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future. You have to trust in something – your gut, destiny, life, karma, whatever. This approach has never let me down, and it has made all the difference in my life.”
Steve Jobs

The 5 Principles of Leadership, Part II

Posted on March 22, 2013

by futurist Richard Worzel, C.F.A.

This is a continuation of an earlier blog, which you can read here.

Third Principle: A leader places the organization’s goals above her own, and pushes her followers to improve.

 

Why do you lead? Is it to accomplish a specific goal? Or is it to feed your ego? If the latter, then you’re running a personality cult, and you probably don’t want to help your followers get better for fear they’ll surpass or challenge you.


There’s a possibly apocryphal story of an MBA student of one of the more prestigious B-schools (guess which one) who was asked, in a job interview, if he considered himself a team player. He replied, “Absolutely – if I’m the captain.”

If your devotion is to getting things done, to reaching your group’s collective objectives, then the faster your people hone their skills and increase their abilities, the more likely you are to achieve what you, collectively, set out to achieve. And this is as true whether you lead, or whether you discover someone who would actually be a better leader than you are, and cede the leadership role to him or her.


But if your goal is to feather your own nest and buff up your ego, then you are not leading, but rather misleading. In that case, the group’s goals are, at best, secondary to your personal agenda. Indeed, if you look at many of the problems in corporate leadership in recent years, they often stem from the head person’s desire to achieve personal goals (bonuses, stock options, corporate perks, etc.) at the expense of the corporation’s goals or interests. In my opinion, these people are liars, not leaders.

Think, for example, of Aubrey McClendon of Chesapeake Energy, who used corporate jets for personal reasons, borrowed $500 million from a company that’s an investor in Chesapeake, and ran a hedge fund with a direct conflict of interest with his day job of being CEO. Or what about Carly Fiorina, who paid herself handsomely, spent a lot of her time self-promoting, worked the lecture circuit and did media grandstanding, all while firing staff in order to cut costs, and leading Hewlett-Packard into a disastrous merger with Compaq. Then there’s Ken Lay of Enron, who defies the whole concept of leadership. He lied, cheated, swindled, and ultimately stole from investors, stakeholders, and the people who were supposed to be his clients. His company’s, customers’, and employees’ entire purpose for being, as far as he was concerned, was for the glorification and enrichment of Ken Lay. His company, Enron, became the ultimate example of corporate greed and dishonesty.

Until, that is, Lehman Brothers went bankrupt in 2008. Lehman Brothers not only exemplified Wall Street’s greed and corruption, gambling with other peoples’ lives and money to try to win huge bonuses for themselves, but almost took down the entire free market system with them. And Dick Fuld was the “leader” that drove Lehman on the rocks, yet remains unrepentant to this day.

The capitalist system works best when both parties are better off as the result of a transaction, if both sides profit. People who do not understand capitalism believe that the capitalist (the bad guy) is profiteering off the hard work of the exploited worker. In fact, the owner does benefit from the work of the worker, but the worker also benefits from the capital investment and market position created by the owner. And the purchaser benefits from the innovation and production of the producer, which in turn benefits by supplying the product or service at a price that is higher than its cost of production. Both sides are better off. But when this two way street breaks down, it’s no longer capitalism, but exploitation. And deliberate subversion of a leadership position for personal gain amounts to exploitation of both the people being led, and the customers or clients being short-changed.

But what about an entrepreneur or founder, someone who starts a company, movement, or organization? Don’t they have to lead the organization in order to accomplish their own personal goals? Indeed, don’t they hire people to help them achieve that specific purpose? No, generally they don’t.

If a founder’s entire purpose is to have people perform personal services for them, that’s one thing. That’s a service transaction.

But if you look at organizations that started off as entrepreneurial ventures, and then grew into something more, they change as they grow, and their objectives change as well. Take, for example, the early days of Apple Computer (now Apple Inc.). Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak founded Apple Computer, but believing that they had something big on their hands, and that they needed both more capital and executive expertise they didn’t have, found both in veteran Mike Markkula, an angel investor who backed the fledgling company, and whom the two Steves lured out of retirement in 1977. Markkula brought not only money, but connections, financial savvy, and executive ability to Apple. He recruited the first professional CEO for Apple in 1977, and then assumed the role of CEO himself in 1981.

Markkula was devoted to the goals of the organization, not the two Steves. In fact, he overrode Steve Job’s early attempt to kill the Macintosh computer in favor of another project, backed John Sculley’s ouster of Steve Jobs in 1985, and then Sculley’s ouster in 1993. Markkula remained Chair until 1997, when Jobs returned to the company, and a new board was constituted. His devotion was to the objectives of the company, its employees, and its stakeholders, not to the founders.

My point is that although Jobs is now, in retrospect, seen as the archetypical visionary and entrepreneur, he grew into that role, and his path, and Apple’s, overlapped but were not the same. Jobs hired people to serve over him when he lacked the necessary skills, and although his story ends with him as the shining exemplar, the ultimate entrepreneur, what made Apple the world-shaking organization it became involved more than just Jobs’ leadership, crucial though that was to the company’s eventual success. Fortunately, Jobs and Wozniak were smart enough to realize early on that they needed to follow someone who was more experienced than they were – and that may be the greatest testament to their leadership abilities.

So, to sum up this principle: a true leader is one that is truly committed to leading towards the organization’s goals, even when her personal goals are overridden by those of the organization.

 

Principle 4: A leader must promise success, and achieve it.
In many ways, this is the most important of all the five principles. If a leader doesn’t promise victory, either implicitly or explicitly, or his followers don’t believe he can deliver victory, they won’t follow him. Success in the agreed-upon goal becomes the ultimate test of leadership, and the ultimate reason why people will follow you.

There are many examples of this, but one of the best is a British general from the Napoleonic Wars, Roland “Daddy” Hill, who became the 1^st Viscount of Almaraz. The fighting men of the British army at that time were described by Lord Wellington as “the scum of the Earth” because they were largely convicts who chose to enlist rather than be executed for their crimes. (He also added that they were the greatest fighting men in the world, which Napoleon found out the hard way.) Discipline was more than harsh, involving floggings or executions for what we would consider inadequate reasons, and so it was in Hill’s command.

Despite this Hill’s men loved him, and called him Daddy Hill, for two reasons. First, he looked after them, both en masse, and individually. Despite the differences in rank, he would personally thank messengers and solders who served him, and make sure they were well fed and well treated. He showed his men respect, in other words, despite the apparently enormous social gulf between his military rank and social station, and theirs.

But the biggest reason he was loved was that he lead his men to victory, sharing their danger, showing his commitment, leading from the front, and almost being killed during the Battle of Waterloo, when his horse was shot out from under him. He won repeatedly, sometimes against fearsome odds and in difficult situations. In one encounter, at Arroyo de Molinos in Spain, his force inflicted 1,300 casualties on Napoleon’s army, while his troops suffered only 65 casualties. He inspired fierce loyalty and affection.

In contrast, let’s return to Steve Jobs and Apple. Outside of Apple, Jobs was celebrated as a visionary, someone who both saw and shaped the future. But he was hell to work for, often running roughshod over the people who worked for him, showing no interest in their feelings, well-being, or position, demanding unreasonable results, ruining their personal lives, treating them like idiots, and sometimes taking credit for their successes. He famously inspired fear, not love, and was known to have fired employees for things they said when he met them in an elevator.

But he delivered results, and people fought to work for Apple for the prestige of working for a company that could make technology cool, and invent the future. His success was more important than the questionable grooming habits of his early years, his uncompromising, inhuman perfectionism, or his raw, take-no-prisoners, domineering leadership style. He successfully led people where they wanted to go – and they willingly, eagerly followed.

So if you want to lead, you must be able to convince your followers that you will lead them to success. And eventually, you have to deliver that success. Everything else, from leadership style, to personality, to social standing, to skill, is secondary.