Reading Reflection No. 1

Steve Jobs by Walter Isaacson 

What surprised you the most?

Reading the book, about every page surprised me in some way. Most of my preconceived notions about Steve Jobs were proven wrong and it also showed just how exaggerated some parts of the movie are. I think some of the most surprising parts of the book include how he came up with the name apple. I always thought there is no way he is talking about the fruit when indeed he is. When he had to give it a name, he was walking through an apple orchard and deemed the name “apple” appropriate. I believe that it is a shock to all that this apparent tough, successful CEO cried, cried a lot. For some reason I just do not link business man with crier.

What about Steve Jobs do I most admire?

This one is easy, and may seem repetitive.  One of the most successful companies ever is Apple. He turned Apple from a thousand dollar company to a multibillion one in just three years. He has made everyone change their initial thinking when they hear the word “apple” from the fruit to the technology. Almost all of Apple’s success can be credited to Jobs because he was always determined to be in charge and took full responsibility regarding anything and everything about the company.

What about Steve Jobs do I least admire?

I believe I can account for about every Apple fan when I say that I do not admire his reputation. Everyone thought and still thinks of Jobs as a grumpy, angry and just flat out not nice person.  When you own a successful company, your reputation plays a major role in the feedback and even reputation of the company as a whole.  I believe that Jobs solely was responsible for the negative reputation that he holds.

Did Steve Jobs encounter adversity and failure?

I believe one of Jobs biggest failures and successes was the success of Apple. Failure in the sense that it took him away from his family and he regrets not spending time with them, even the way he treated them was poor and when he realized this it was almost too late to try and fix. He also experienced years of horrible illnesses, but those never got in the way of his company. He was always determined to push through and a lot of that motivation stemmed from making Apple even more of a success.

What competencies did you notice that Steve Jobs exhibited?

His motivation as a whole was one of his best qualities whether it was motiving himself to make greater and greater products, motivating average people to being as big of a success story as himself, or motivation his employees to execute his vision.

Identify at least one part of the reading that was confusing.

Walter Isaacson does such a great job throughout the entire book maintaining attention and telling a well-written story. The part I find most “confusing” was Job’s view of Android and how that whole scenario led to him believing it was a stolen idea. This part just consciously made me have to focus more.

If you were able to ask two questions to the entrepreneur what would you ask and why?

I would ask Job’s how he kept his motivation high in the beginning and why he always wanted to be in charge of everything.  It is so easy for an entrepreneur to get the success they want and hand it off to employees or others, but throughout his entire time he maintained a major role throughout the whole company.  I would also ask him what he saw the future of Apple to be? I am curious to know what his vision for the company was before he died and if he had any other secret projects that he was working on that were kept under wraps.

The entrepreneur’s opinion of hard work?

I think Steve Job’s epitomized hard work.  It is failing, conquering, and coming back even stronger. It is crying over work and proving to people just how good of a product you have created and why they need it. It is taking full responsibility for any mishaps and always taking charge of their work. I would completely agree with his opinion of hard work because I desire to have his drive.