It is not without some anger and fear that I closed the book. Yes, Steve Jobs and Apple have revolutionized the industry, earned money like no other company has ever done in the history of humanity 'And this with a black sun in charge! So I guess the battery chefaillons - small heads - the petty tyrants who will feel strengthened in their position, but among them, few are geniuses, and even if they would, it remains inexcusable and intolerable.
"Steak" of more than 600 pages, very well documented, with writing and translation in my opinion rather well done, this book makes us live the saga of Steve jobs as if we were in a movie. It is also very likely that a film, a bit like The Social Network, will soon come out! This very rich biography crosses many sources and offers solid information.
A journey through the history of personal computing: the genesis of the films CGI, and Saga Apple.
The book takes us into the history of personal computing, an exciting story for a quarantine like me, having been rocked by the emergence of computers like the Apple Macintosh and other Commodore.
It reveals the importance of the ecosystem in which there is a potential innovator. Indeed, Steve Jobs was born and educated in Silicon Valley, surrounded by engineers around its neighborhood; and this is where it happened, this is where the possibility of transforming silicon into gold emerged!
We also discover the extraordinary industrial saga Apple: the start of the Apple I and Apple II; the internal battle between teams of Lisa and Macintosh; the ousting of Steve Jobs and NeXT parenthesis; then he returned and years of state of grace when Apple goes with the iMac; Apple Stores; iPod; iPhone; iPad '
And in parallel, we (re) discovered the wonderful success of Pixar, which Steve Jobs is one of the great craftsmen.
A life worthy of a novel ...
Behind the scenes, Steve Jobs's life has a certain romantic dimension adopted shortly after his birth, he has a complicated family life, first denying his paternity, then it will be late reunion with her daughter, but also her biological sister .
We also learn his love affair with Joan Baez, 14 years his senior.
We are fascinated by this strange relationship and rivalry met with Bill Gates, partner of the first hour, since there is a bit of Microsoft in the Apple II ... Steve Jobs and Bill Gates will ever cross, insult, hate themselves, but ultimately respect each other.
A surreal moment recounted in the book Bill Gates visits Steve Jobs at his home after his retirement from Apple for a final discussion. It enters through the kitchen door is open (Jobs refuses to have bodyguards). One of the children of Steve Jobs is there; he did not even turn around; it points a finger at his father's room. Bill Gates enters and sits at the foot of the bed of Steve Jobs, to discuss and change the world
Steve Jobs: a fascinating tyrant
Upon his return to Apple, we get to feel the climate, but also the incredible state of grace of Steve Jobs, who managed the extraordinary feat of spending Motorola microprocessors to Intel, that Apple engineers have made in less six months. And lately, integration in the iPhone 4 and iPad chips designated internally by Apple to replace Intel microprocessors.
... An extraordinary feat, which shows how Jobs and his teams were able to control the entire production chain in an integrated manner, with a brilliance that no other company today can match.
This biography brings indeed a romantic look, but certain truths and facts described are difficult to read.
Certainly, Jobs created a wonderful company and revolutionize four major industry sectors, such as IT, telephony, music, and film.
But we can not remain indifferent to the terrible descriptions of Engineering personality, its human aspects - or rather inhuman - absolutely unsustainable. I imagine the difficulty for Walter Isaacson, as interviews he could do, hear, say and write the truth without judging ... Jobs wanted this biography is achieved (he proposed to Isaacson) and did not want to read it again. So, actually, there is no censorship. We learn how he abandoned his daughter, we discover the daily humiliations he was subjected to his family, his staff; we perceive his selfishness, his total inability to empathize, his dubious hygiene in his youth, his power handling, permanent bad faith, its destructive power of others' and the list could be longer.
Yes, Jobs is a genius uncommon, as mankind has known a few. But alas, his human qualities, even if I confine myself to those which he has shown in working life are absolutely deplorable. As he said himself at the end of his life: "they [people who read the book] will say I'm an asshole."
What lessons for innovation and creativity?
So what can we learn from this book in innovation and creativity? It is clear that something has worked very well at Apple. Innovate repeatedly for so many years is not a coincidence. So if we forget the negative aspects of the character, what lessons can we draw? Which precepts remember Steve Jobs?
- Believe in your dreams, imagine that we can change the world, listen to his heart and intuition; do what you love, for which one feels that one is done within oneself ...
- Know how to work the best, decompartmentalize universe, thought patterns. The extraordinary meeting between Steve Jobs (the hippie lover of Zen culture, walking barefoot and only eating apples for weeks) and Steve Wozniak (a nice nerd) is a magnificent example of extremely productive decompartmentalisation.
- Make the connection between art and technology (as Apple has managed to do by applying the codes of Zen culture to the computers).
- Never leave mediocrity settle into the daily life of its teams (without falling into the excesses of Jobs, for which there were zero to one side and the good of the other).
- Reject the concessions and fight for his ideal, even being put out, or to put his board out !!!
- Rely on the world's best providers and advisors, cross expertise 'This is for example by spending a fortune on decorating his NeXT office that Jobs is the hand he files patents for steps its glass staircase, which will serve him later as part of its Apple Stores.
- Become the best in all areas' So when Steve Jobs wearing a sweater rode for over 20 years, this is not just any sweater is a garment designed by his friend Issey Miyake . Thus, when it comes to Apple, it returns the entire Board of Directors and creates a new one, consisting of the largest industrial and American visionaries in all areas: Eric Schmidt (Google CEO) Larry Ellison (CEO of Oracle ), or the CEO of GAP, Avon 'And Al Gore; men he has chosen,
entrepreneurs who, by his own admission, have advised, have enriched his thinking and actions he put in place at Apple.
- Know how to make quick turns.
- Simplify everything as soon as possible.
- Have a real tactical sense, legal, and financial.
- Sell also the emotional facet of technology, not just technology; marketer with a passion, guts ...
- And finally, look beautiful in its unifying and harmonious dimension, beyond the design ...
Conclusion
To conclude my remarks and astonishment, I would say that innovation way Apple is extremely inspiring. The precepts that are delivered we are certainly a path that luxury should integrate to renew itself; I think in particular of fine jewelry, watches, haute couture or luxury brands in cosmetics and automotive.
To a lesser extent, consumer industries can also draw from lessons: they certainly have the duty to integrate the beautiful, good and true in their products - taking into account the production constraints - to seduce sustainably their consumers.
The main stumbling block which ran this business, in my opinion, due to the personality of Steve Jobs: a tyrant methods of rare violence, unable to work his teams in joy and good humor, devoid of respect to them. Steve Wozniak speaks very well: this is the main criticism he addresses him, the point of disagreement between the two men ... He really thought that Steve Jobs could have achieved all this without making all the unfortunate people around him .
I remain convinced that the future will be built with companies that will succeed in renewing beautiful codes, good and true in their offers, based on aligned management methods, like the values they want to convey. A willingness to find meaning through consumption, to be more and more actor to belong to a brand community, will certainly revolutionize the types of management tomorrow and focus teams and aligned with inspiring leaders. Creativity and innovation will do better.
Article from the In-The book delycorp letter. Number 5 January 2012
