I keep thinking there is something I want to write about Steve Jobs and then I look around and I see the airwaves, the papers, the Internet, flooded with conversation and commentary and I wonder what I could possibly say that hasn’t been said already, what I could add that would give a fresh perspective.
And so until now I haven’t. I’ve let everyone else speak. But this morning I remembered why I write. It is not necessarily the story itself but it is how it is told. And it is our own unique voices that make all the difference.
Steve Jobs’ voice was unique. His story engages us all. He did what so many of us want to do but are afraid to. He followed his heart and his intuition. He went against conventional thought. He let his passion direct his path, not where he thought there might be money. He demonstrated what can happen when you do that. He literally changed the world and from that the bonus was a financially abundant life. But Steve told the world he never did it for the money. That is so contradictory to the thought process that dominates today’s corporate culture. And yet it worked, and brilliantly!
You never hear people complaining about working for Apple. In fact, go into any Apple store and people are happily waiting to help you. That passion that Steve Jobs had for the product miraculously makes it all the way to the person sitting at the Genius Bar. Encouraging creativity, thinking out of the box, establishing an environment that people want to come work in, this is not the way of most business environments today. Yet Steve Jobs proved it can work and be profitable at the same time. That’s a concept that is as innovative as the iPhone was in 2007.
I commented on Facebook the other day that the world has lost a bright light in Steve Jobs. I’ll now add that because of the way he chose to live his life, that light will shine on into eternity. He changed the way we use technology. He made it fun and colorful and easy. He encouraged us all to follow our heart and our intuition. And he did more than talk the talk. He walked the walk. The only gift he was not blessed with was the length of time in which to do that.
I don’t know if my thoughts add any freshness or insight to what has already been said, but it doesn’t matter. I am listening to Steve Jobs today. I am not waiting for someone else to say it for me or assuming someone else will say it as well. If Steve had waited who knows what our world would like.
Beautiful post. I always appreciate hearing what impact someone personally felt and this showed so much in your thoughtful writing.
I like how we can build our own matras from the bits and pieces of others’ lives that touch us. I agree, many of us have a lot to learn about how Steve Jobs approached his work…and in a few of his footsteps I too will walk.