Introduction#
The other day, I listened to episode #398 Steve Jobs In His Own Words of the Founders podcast. This episode is a great summary of the book Make Something Wonderful. So in this post, I’ve summarized the core insights from Steve Jobs’s philosophy on work, life, and creativity, combined with some of his most impactful quotes.
Use Mortality as a Driving Force#
A central and recurring theme is the awareness of life’s brevity as a tool for clarity and motivation. Jobs believed that remembering you will die is the best way to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose. This frees you to follow your heart and intuition.
“Think of your life as a rainbow arcing across the horizon of this world. You appear, have a chance to blaze in the sky and then you disappear… To know my arc will fall makes me want to blaze while I’m in the sky.”
“Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life.”
Product Creation is an Act of Love and Care#
Jobs viewed making products not just as a commercial activity, but as a profound expression of appreciation for humanity. The goal wasn’t just to make a tool, but to imbue it with care, love, and a “spirit.” This contrasted sharply with his disdain for “third-rate products” that lacked taste and humanity.
“One of the ways that I believe people express their appreciation to the rest of humanity is to make something wonderful and put it out there… in the act of making something with a great deal of care and love, something’s transmitted there.”
See the World Not as It Is, but as It Ought to Be#
Jobs’s gift was not just seeing what was there, but seeing what wasn’t there and what had to be there. He wasn’t constrained by current reality; he imagined a better one and then set out to create it. This is the essence of his “reality distortion field” and his belief in shaping the future.
“His mind was never a captive of reality. Quite the contrary, he imagined what reality lacked and set out to remedy it.”
The World is Malleable and You Can Change It#
A core part of his message was one of empowerment. He insisted that the world and the systems we live in were built by people no smarter than ourselves. This understanding is a license to not just accept the world as it is, but to improve it, change it, and influence it.
“Everything that makes up what we call life was made by people no smarter and no more capable than we are. That our world is not fixed, and so we can change it for the better.”
A Brand is a Core Value System, Not a Product Spec Sheet#
Drawing inspiration from companies like Nike, Jobs understood that great marketing isn’t about listing features (“speeds and feeds”). It’s about communicating a core set of values. For Apple, that value was that “people with passion can change the world for the better.”
“To me, marketing is about values… Apple at its core, its core value is that we believe that people with passion can change the world for the better. That is what we believe.”
Marry Technology with the Liberal Arts#
A foundational strategic insight, learned from his mentor Edwin Land (founder of Polaroid), was that true breakthroughs happen at the intersection of technology and the humanities. This is why he valued beautiful typography and simple, elegant design as much as processing power.
“His sense of the worlds that would emerge from marrying the arts and technology.”
Demand Excellence, Starting with Yourself#
Jobs held himself to a higher standard than he held anyone else. His “unbelievable rigor” was imposed first and most strenuously on himself. Only from that position could he demand the best from his team, creating an environment where excellence was expected.
“Their expectations will never be higher than my own. Never, never, never… You have to tell them straight. This isn’t good enough. I know you can do better. You need to do better. Now go and do better.”
Recruiting is the Most Important Thing You Do#
Jobs believed that quality starts with people and that finding “A-players” was half the battle. His management philosophy was to find people who shared the same core values and wanted to go to the same destination, then trust them to figure out the best way to get there.
“Recruiting is the most important thing that you do… finding the right people is half the battle.”
Continuously Learn from the Best and Put Something Back#
Jobs was a student of history, constantly looking to the “best things that humans have done” (from Walt Disney to Edwin Land and Bob Noyce) to inform his own work. He saw his work as a way to contribute back to the “pool of human experience” that he had drawn so much from.
“I am totally dependent on [my species, living and dead] for my life and well-being… and the ability to put something back into the pool of human experience is extremely neat.”
