Steve Jobs, MODS, Gyaan & Free Book
MODS (Mobile Developer Summit) happened in Bangalore last week. No, I am not posting something that should go into my mobile news blog here, by mistake.
There was a contest in MODS - To pay tribute to Steve Jobs and pick up a free copy of his biography. I do not know how many people had participated but I was one of the 5 who were picked up to speak & get the biography. So, someone who has not owned a single Apple product (including the iPod) in life spoke about Steve Jobs & picked up the book :-)
Here it is:
Hello Everyone,
To a lot of us, Steve Jobs was “God”. And all of us want to emulate him. See, Steve Jobs personified 2 things – being a Genius and being a Jerk. A lot of us sub-consciously realize that we cannot become a Genius so we automatically become Jerks!
Jokes apart, over countless interviews, keynotes, tributes & videos of the great man I have come across, I have distilled 3 lessons for myself. This is what I will share today with you, as a tribute to him. These are all common-sense lessons but as with all common-sense related things, very very uncommon. If I can follow these at least in some areas of my life, I would die a happy man. Without further ado, here are the lessons:
#1 Of being an ‘A-level’ player:
In one of his interviews, Steve Jobs says, not so verbatim but along these lines: “In a regular domain, say being a taxi driver or a cook, the difference between the best guy and the average guy might be in the order of two to one or three to one. However, in the field of technology, the difference between the best guy and a the average guy is fifty to one, huge dynamic range. It is like the difference that exists between the best & average poets or artists. Artists & Engineers are just people who pursue different paths but headed to the same goal which is to express something. Therefore, in my domain, it really pays to go after the best people in the world.”
The learning for me here is to try to become someone who Jobs will hire! That is, be an A level player in what I do & be an artist. How do I become an A level player? That leads to the second lesson.
#2 Being true to the man in the mirror:
His father once told him – “You’ve got to make the back of the fence that nobody will see just as good-looking as the front of the fence. Even though nobody will see it, you will know.” The lesson for me here is: I need not be out there building the greatest company on earth, not even the greatest product. Even if I do a simple thing of writing an email, preparing this speech or doing a chore, for me to sleep well at night, I better do it with all the care & quality. That will make me an A-level player. Now, how do I give this attention to the smallest of things? That is the third lesson.
#3 Intuition & the Power of Now:
Some of the books he cherished were in the realm of spirituality. This is one area of his life that probably needs more study. I believe all the focus & determination he got was through the countless hours of meditation he did facing the wall. Which is why he said, “Don’t let the noise of others’ opinions drown out your own inner voice.”
His biography says that he learnt about intuition in India – If only we can start practising that, people here, in this room and our children & co-workers, may be, over a period of time, one of us will turn out to be Steve Jobs!
Thank you, ladies & gentlemen. It was a pleasure to speak here.
