Personal Creativity Reflection

Steve Jobs Biography

Walter Isaacsons biography, Steve Jobs, reveals not only Apples path to revolutionizing six industries,
but also the life of the man who was behind it all. The story of Steve Jobs is filled with ups and downs
and erratic behavior, but it is the tale of perhaps the most renowned innovator known today. Though
many may call Jobss life a cautionary tale, I believe that his story is the quintessential example of the
American dream, and inspiration to us all. Jobs grew up in a modest household, but worked hard and
took in as much knowledge as he possibly could, pursuing his passion and vision for his companies.
This determination and drive led to his success and, ultimately, his legacy.

Jobss father had once taught him that a drive for perfection meant caring about
the craftsmanship even of the parts unseen.
Jobs was raised by his adoptive parents who were simple, but hardworking. Jobs learned a lot from his
father, including his sense of determination and commitment to design and perfection. Jobss passion
for perfection stemmed from his love of his products. One his greatest strengths was his ability to focus
down and perfect a product, this includes end-to-end hardware and software integration. Jobs first
came across the idea of end-to-end integration when he sold the first Apple I to Paul Terrells Byte
Shop in Menlo Park.
When Wozniak and Jobs first presented the Apple at Homebrew Computer Club, Terrell took interest,
but he didnt want to only purchase the circuit boards because it wouldnt appeal to the majority of his
customers, only to hard-core hobbyists. Jobs and Wozniak purchased all of the parts, assembled them
in Jobss garage, and completed their first $25,000 order. This complete integration would further
develop in the Apple II, and would continue on to Apples products today. With this integration also
come simplicity, it is easy to overwhelm users with many options, but Jobs made the decision to keep it
simple. During his time in India, he was very much influenced by Eastern spirituality and the concept
of Zen. Apples products are also influenced by his time at Atari. Jobs loved the intuitiveness of the
games. Jobs wanted his products at Apple to be as intuitive as the instructions for the games at Atari.

Insert quarter. Avoid Klingons

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Personal Creativity Reflection

Ataris games combined with Eastern spirituality exemplify everything that Jobs thought technology
should be intuitive, flowing, natural, and standing right at the intersection of arts and technology.
Jobs was able to focus in directly on his products and make them great, a trait that started in
elementary school, when his fourth grade teacher finally discovered how to control the rambunctious
and difficult child keep him stimulated by solving difficult problems. Miraculously, Jobss behavior
problems stopped when he was finally given something to focus on. This trait is illustrated in the
reorganization after Jobs took over Apple in 1997. In his absence, the management team at Apple had
pushed dozens of iterations of products into the market due to bureaucratic momentum and to satisfy
the whims of retailers, (Isaacson 337). Jobs slashed production by 70%, and decided to focus on four
categories:

Portable

Consumer

Pro

iBook

PowerBook G3

iMac

Power Macintosh G3

Desktop

This focus inevitably created the time, employees, and resources that Apple needed to focus on to make
the company thrive. This technique of focusing in on a few products is an interesting strategy that
definitely works for Jobss style of leadership. This is exemplified not only in his experience at Apple,
but also in his experience at Pixar. After joining Pixar, Jobs cut down every department with the
exception of the animation department. Pixar is now a company that dominates the animated movie
genre, and has garnered many awards for its films. Distilling down to fewer products does not limit a
companys potential, contrary to what some people might believe. Extra resources allowed Apple and
Pixar to produce perfected products instead of rapidly produced, ineffective technology. This business
model works because Jobs is committed to producing the perfect product and will take the product to
the next level. His philosophy is to do what you need to do, not what is feasible. Jobs demands that his

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employees dream big; employees dreams may have been grandiose in nature, but whatever they were,
Jobs expected his staff to get them done.

In his presence, reality is malleable. He can convince anyone of practically

anything It was dangerous to get caught in Steves distortion field, but it was what
led him to actually be able to change reality.
The quote describes Steve Jobss so called Reality Distortion Field. One employee described it as a
confounding mlange of charismatic rhetorical style, indomitable will, and eagerness to bend any fact
to fit the purpose at hand. Jobs was very attuned to the people and emotions around them, and very
manipulative. Through the reality distortion field, he could empower his employees to believe that
they could do the impossible, and it was a self-fulfilling prophecy. However, Jobs was also able, and
well known for bringing people down. If Jobs didnt like something, he would completely crush the
individual, leaving them weak, vulnerable, and eager to impress him. Once the employee had fixed the
problem, they would show Jobs and he would put them up onto a pedestal, praising them for their
good work. While chaotic and downright hurtful at times, Jobss style of leadership pushed his team to
do more than they ever thought that they could do. Eventually his team learned to deal with Jobs
extreme behavior and even had an award for who stood up to Jobs the most every year. The Macintosh
team eventually started to interpret Jobss words through a translator, and the relationship blossomed.
Jobs was able to understand that his employees were working hard, and the employees would prove
themselves wrong when Jobs asked them to improve what they were working on. The interaction
between Jobs and his team pushed them to create better and better products, a passion which is shared
throughout the entire Apple corporation. Jobs was interested in making art, not just making
technology, and he encouraged his staff to think in the same way.

It infused Apple employees with an abiding passion to create groundbreaking

products and a belief that they could accomplish what seemed impossible.

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Personal Creativity Reflection

Jobs knew that his team was the best of the best, and his extremist behavior led them to exceed even
their own expectations. This dynamic helped Apple to maintain the legacy that it still has today: the

most innovative and revolutionary company in the technology industry.

During his years involved with Apple and Pixar, Jobs has quickly becoming a household name. Before
reading Isaacsons book, I had known a little about Jobs, but this painted him in a particularly new
light. I had heard stories about how nasty he was to his employees, but I never before realized how
manipulative and crazy he could be. Though the book depicted him with an air of insanity, it was clear
that he cared deeply about the vision that he was creating to build the best computers in the world.
He strived for beauty at the intersection of art and technology, and he achieved his goal by
revolutionizing a wide variety of industries. His rash attitude, reality distortion fields, crazy diets, and
wild mood swings were something that everyone absolutely had to get used to, but in the end it is
passion for innovation, design, and entrepreneurship that defines Jobs as the worlds most innovative
person to this day. Our world is influenced everyday by the work that Jobs has done; everything from
different fonts on word processers to the way that many brand name stores are laid out is due to the
drive of one individual.

I think most creative people want to express appreciation for being able to take
advantage of the work thats been done by others before us We try to use the

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Personal Creativity Reflection

talents we do have to express our deep feelings, to show our appreciation of all the
contributions that came before us, and to add something to that flow.
Truly a man of many hats, Jobs changed six industries forever: personal computing, digital animation,
music, cell phones, tablet computing, and retail. The iconic Think Different campaign will continue to
define Apple for the rest of its existence. Jobss life was a driven one, defying the status quo to follow
his passion to create amazing products, and he will be remembered for that.
Jobss story has definitely made an impact on my life in a variety of ways. First, Jobs embodies every
aspect of the American dream. He grew from nothing, had a vision, and followed his passion until he
reached the top. Though I have no background in medicine, I hope to learn as much as I can, as quickly
as I can, and reach the top of my field.
Secondly, Jobs and I have something in common were both lifelong learners. We strive every day to
learn something new, not to get a degree or rapidly produce a product, but because we are genuinely
interested in learning. When he dropped out, Reed was very understanding.

He had a very inquiring mind that was enormously attractive, He refused to accept
automatically received truths, and he wanted to examine everything himself.
All of these traits are qualities that I possess, while I do not have the luxury of dropping out and taking
whatever classes I desire, I have tried to widen the areas of knowledge that I am exposed to this
semester. I am enrolled in a Philosophy of Yoga course, as well as a capstone course where I am
teaching myself, and this business class. Expanding my soft assets has always been a goal of mine,
however to see the same trait in someone as iconic as Jobs has definitely been life changing.

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