13A – Reading Reflection No. 1

Steve Jobs by Walter Isaacson


1) About Steve Jobs:

• What surprised you the most?
• I was surprised by his charisma. For some reason, I always had thought of him as an inventor who was quiet and composed. I was wrong on these things as he was a crazy sales/ marking guru who had a personality quite unique from anyone I have ever studied.
• What about the entrepreneur did you most admire?
• I admire Jobs' ability to get the most out of others. Although he pushed them hard and was often mean, he pushed people to do things they didn't believe were possible. He created an atmosphere where impossible wasn't a reality and his employees could do anything. 
• What about the entrepreneur did you least admire?
• Although he did many amazing things in his life, I dislike the way he treated his family. He abandoned his first daughter Lisa and was distant from his other daughters. He put himself wholly into his work which cost him the time to put into his family.   
• Did the entrepreneur encounter adversity and failure? If so, what did they do about it?
• Jobs' started Apple and was fired from it. The people he had hired and worked with since the beginning pushed him out of the company. To make that worse, the company took a turn for the worst following his departure due to "bozo executives" as he described them. He started the tech company Next which turned out to be heading to the verge of bankruptcy. When Apple bought Next and Jobs' returned to Apple, his successes as we know them soon followed.

2) What competencies did you notice that the entrepreneur exhibited? 
Jobs' had the ability to focus intently on one thing will blocking everything else out. He had the ability to shape reality into his own, believe things to be true that were not by simply refusing to accept them. Those around them called this his "reality distortion field." He convinced people to do what was "impossible" because he believed that is was possible. People around him were sucked into this field and eventually did the things they previously thought were impossible to do. Steve Jobs controlled his world to the point that even reality, as his mind perceived it, bent to his wishes. It is quite remarkable.

3) Identify at least one part of the reading that was confusing to you.
I was never confused when reading this book. The reason for this is that Isaacson is an amazing author and compiled a work of art that was amazingly detailed yet flowed perfectly. He described Steve's mind throughout the book. I feel like I almost understand the person Jobs' was simply by reading this book. This is fascinating to me.

4) If you were able to ask two questions to the entrepreneur, what would you ask? Why?
First, I would ask Jobs' about his "reality distortion field" to see if it was intentional or not. He may have done this naturally or maybe he could believe new realities while still observing the true realities in play. 
Second, I would ask him why he chose to believe that he didn't have cancer and that it was no big deal for 9 months after it was discovered. I don't understand how he did this. Was is his "reality distortion field," was it the lack of care, or was it his feeling of invincibility? It seems that a sensitive man with a family wouldn't do what he did, yet he did.

5) For fun: what do you think the entrepreneur's opinion was of hard work? Do you share that opinion?
Repeatedly in this book, Jobs' is quoted as saying he only accepts "A-team workers." He exposed those that weren't the best of the best and didn't want them in his company, Apple. Hard work was expected all the time, often working nights and weekends to make sure a product would be perfect and ready on time. Steve Jobs expected the best out of every employee and that they would work with everything they had to bring forth each product. If you didn't, he would replace you. I value hard work too, yet not as crazily as he did. He was on a different planet, however, on this, we share the same opinion.