Discernment Discernment is the ability to judge well and take decisions on said decisions, and boy, was Steve Jobs a great example of DISCERNMENT. He and Mike Markkula ( one of the orignal investors of Apple Co.) knew that contrary to the popular saying people do judge a book by a cover and that people form their opinions about a company and its products based on the way its presented and packaged. Hence, Steve Jobs paid immense attention to the BOX of The Macintosh and forced the designers to come up with new innovative ideas. . He obsessed over the design of the boxes in which the iPods and iPhones were kept, and insisted on adding a handle when the candy-colored new iMacs were introduced, adding a needless expense in order to make the product a bit more friendlier. …show more content…
During his absence, with John Sculley in power, the focus shifted to maximization of profit, and product design suffered. Steve Jobs theorized that is was one of the reasons companies decline. “My passion has been to build an enduring company where people… make great products… the products, not the profits, were the motivation. It’s a subtle difference, but it ends up meaning everything”. Elegance Steve Jobs strove to deliver the elegant ideal. “People are busy”, he would say “they have other things to do than think about how to integrate their computers and devices.” And so, he took responsibility for the entire user experience, owning what he called “the whole widget”. Hardware, software and peripheral devices had to be seamlessly integrated. The leadership lesson here is to create products and service which reflect a passion for delivering delightful user experiences from beginning to end. CONCLUSION At the end I would just like to say that Steve Jobs was not a one in a million, billion, or even a trillion kind of a person, rather he was a ONCE IN A LIFETIME
Steve Jobs is a world-renowned entrepreneur who revolutionized the technology industry. He is best known as Apple’s co-founder (“Obituary: Steve Jobs”, 2011). Jobs’ numerous innovations not only changed the world, but they also developed the personal computer industry. The Apple co-founder never seized to amaze his audience with his endless unique innovations. Throughout his career, Jobs contributed to the technology industry with devices such as the Macintosh, iPod, iPhone, iPad, iMac and MacBook (O'Reilly, 2011). His death on October 5, 2011 marked the end of an innovative streak (O'Reilly, 2011).
The two companies have revolutionized the concept of being innovative and novel. The creations of Apple and Samsung have penetrated our minds with products that make our daily tasks simpler. People don’t need to pick up a paper from a local cafe to catch up on world news. Families don’t need to rely on postal service in order to communicate to their loved ones overseas. Students don’t always feel the need to ask questions, because now all the answers lie right in the palms of their hands. For generations Apple and Samsung have been creating products that our society demands.
He did not care about employees’ feelings; he only listened to their ideas and organization performance (Inside Apple, n.d). According to Inside Apple (n.d), “Steve was a demanding perfectionist with an aggressive and demanding personality. He demanded excellence from his staff delivered blunt criticisms.” Many people accused Steve as cruel to those work under him (Inside Apple, n.d). According to Inside Apple (n.d), “his personality was an important factor to the success of Apple. He acted as if normal rules didn’t apply to him, the passion, intensity, and emotionalism that he brought to work all poured out into the products he made. All of his imperfections and perfections collaborated to make Apple what it is.” Despite of his cruel personality, Steve jobs motivated his employees to innovate and create new ideas (Inside Apple, n.d). According to Inside Apple (n.d), “Steve Jobs fit in the transactional leadership description. He directed efforts of others through tasks and structures. Steve influenced his employees for strong desire of work, shared his passion with the staff, and provided vision. Steve Jobs was driven by his desire to create great products that he would enjoy using himself rather than products that would just bring profit to Apple.” Steve Jobs was successful in gaining customer loyalty. He created great services to his customers (Shephyken, n.d). According to Shephyken(n.d), “they have created a system,
It was Steve Jobs who made Apple leave the garage and make leaps and bounds in the world of technology. Steve Wozniak made the first prototype, but it was Jobs who “saw the potential” in his computer and persuaded Wozniak to sell it (Peterson 106). Even though that first computer saw very little success, Jobs knew that Apple had potential and so released the Apple II. From the beginning Jobs knew what the consumers wanted, and where computers were going to take the world; he had a vision of the opportunities in technology and saw that Apple needed to move in a different direction. In 1984, one year before he left, Jobs finished the Macintosh computer system. He was pushed from his original computer design project, “the Lisa”, and then raced to release the Mac first, but the Lisa was released to the public first. Although the Lisa came out first, the Mac “[became] synonymous with Apple, mark[ing] a…revolution in…personal computing,” (Peterson 106).
Steve Jobs is one of the most looked at entrepreneurs over of his time. He helped revolutionize the world with his in inventions. There are many things the world does not know about Steve. I hope to inform you on somethings you don’t know about Steve Jobs. Like how he grows up and what motivated him to be the best. Something you will find out you never thought of before and I hope that your surprised about all the information I give you.
At the heart of Apple rests the philosophy of creating great products that are not only easy to use but also simplify the day to day operations of the user to a great extent. Innovation has always been central to Apple’s functioning and has historically
Apple’s business strategy under Steve Jobs was well executed. Apple was very cautious about the release of its mobile and tablets. Therefore, Jobs allowed long development cycles that encouraged anticipation and displayed new innovations with each release. A report showed that Steve Jobs strategy was to develop and sell brand new, innovative products of which blended art and technology to provide simple and streamlined user experience. This business strategy made Apple a booming company for smartphones initiating the launch of the first iPhone in 2007 (Apple Business Strategy Under Steve Jobs, n.d.).
The lives of Steve Jobs and Mark Zuckerberg have influenced American society immensely through their ways of innovation, generosity, and creativeness towards all the tasks they have embarked on. Many people look over Mark Zuckerberg and all he has done, but everybody knows all the accomplishments of Steve Jobs. Although Jobs is no longer with us, his improvements to technology and innovation are still around today helping society function in not only the business world. But also the entertainment world right along with Zuckerberg, who continues to contribute to society with improvements to Facebook and his major charity contributions.
Apple, however, wasted no time in pioneering the next technological advancement. The new project was the Macintosh computer. Following the revolutionary Apple II, the Macintosh sought to change how users interacted with computers. The Macintosh was innovative in that it included new concepts such as Xerox PARC’s graphical user interface and Douglas Englebart’s mouse (Snell). Once again, Apple had simplified computing for the average person and increased accessibility to all. The Macintosh was rightly branded as “the computer for the rest of us,” amplifying its simplicity and application in personal life (O 'Reilly). The Macintosh would become “the most influential computer in the industry’s history” and even Steve Jobs was quoted at the time, describing it as “the future of Apple Computers”
Steve Jobs, born February 24, 1955 in San Francisco, California, and deceased October 5, 2011. Regarded as an influential, innovative world leader, and visionary of our time, and the Wall Street Journal named him “Person of the Decade,” and in 2007, Fortune Magazine listed Jobs as the most powerful businessperson out of the top twenty-five. President Barack Obama (2011) stated at the time Steve Jobs passed, “The World has lost a visionary. And there may be no greater tribute to Steve’s success than the fact that much of the world learned of his passing on a device that he invented.” Steve Jobs was the co-founder and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Apple, Inc., and founder and CEO when the Walt Disney Company acquired Pixar. Steve Jobs remained on the Board of Directors at Pixar, and was one of Pixar’s largest shareholders. Jobs did not think the way the rest of us think, which is why Apple is the way it is today.
As Isaacson recalls in his biography on Jobs’ life, the first thing that Jobs did at Apple was cut out the convoluted product lines, instead shifting the focus on “four great products” (3). Already, Jobs’ tendency towards conscientiousness showed in his leadership style. Rather than leading an Apple that produced countless variations of the computer, Jobs saw the importance of efficiency. Just as a conscientious person desires to accomplish a task as well as possible, Jobs’ leadership style forced Apple to commit to making only four computers the best possible products. The next test of Jobs’ leadership style would be the creation of the iPod in 2001, the product that would redefine the music consumption market. Interestingly, Gladwell’s exposé of Steve Job’s leadership process likens Jobs to a “tweaker” rather than an inventor, citing the iPod as one such example (5). Rather than creating a brand new product, Jobs was committed to creating the perfect product for music playback. During Jobs’ time at Apple, he would often refine existing ideas until it fit his vision rather than creating something new. One famous quote attributed to Steve Jobs is “I’ll know it when I see it” (Gladwell 6). By constantly pushing his engineers and designers until they created a product that fit his vision, much to the chagrin of those working for him, Steve Jobs was able to release products that would revolutionize their markets, just as the iPod did. This penchant for perfection stems from Jobs’ tendency towards neuroticism. Although neuroticism is often regarded by many as a negative factor to successful leadership, I argue that neuroticism was key to Jobs’ leadership style. In Jobs’ case, the appearance of neuroticism through a drive for perfection created a leadership style that allowed Jobs to lead his company in creating
The purpose of writing this essay is to give an idea how these two respected CEOs of multinational companies has changed the world. Technology is booming nowadays, even the minor things that we can do manually are done using technology. Steve Jobs, the co-founder of Apple computer and Bill Gates, the co-founder of Microsoft, has changed the world. These two leaders are best known for their innovations which has taken our world to the next level. Steve and Bill has got something in common. Surprisingly, both of these CEO had never graduated from college, but they are known to be the world most successful leaders and they both work in the same kind of company (Lashinsky, 2013). Nevertheless, their leadership styles differs (Peralta,2011). The way they treat the employees at the workplace is in contrast.
Instead of asking customers what features they thought they might like to have in a mobile phone, Steve Jobs was the market researcher for Apple. His innovative thought process and realizing he was creating a product that people would want, allowed him to ask himself every morning what he wanted in the current device in design (Gobble, 2012). Arriving at the Apple office he would pass along his idea and the engineers were then expected to incorporate the idea into the device. Instead of creating brand new products, Jobs and Apple excelled at taking half conceived ideas and rebuilding them into products that are done properly and in a way the consumer wants (Gobble,
Steve Jobs is one of the significant inventors who changed the world and the individuals’ lifestyle. He was born in California in 1955 (CNBC Titans-Steve Jobs, 2011). He found out his passion in electronics, in California, because it was at the center of the country's growing tech industry (CNBC Titans-Steve Jobs, 2011). Moreover, his adopted father was a high school dropout and was passionate about mechanics; which was another reason for Jobs’ passion in electronics (Isaacson, 2011). In addition, he enrolled at Reed College, but he dropped out of the university because he considers university a waste of time (CNBC Titans-Steve Jobs, 2011). Although Steve didn’t continue his higher education, he changed the media world significantly, especially
Slightly more than four years ago, the world was given the saddening and earth shattering news that Apple CEO, Steve Jobs, had died. It’s fair to say the man went long before his time – but in that four-year span of time, his legacy and relationships have been thrust into the spotlight. And, for better or worse, those relationships are on display in the latest Steve Jobs bio-pic, simply titled – Steve Jobs.