Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish.
06 Oct 2011 by Peter Barrett
Generous is about imagining a different way of living, about innovating, trying new things, believing that things can be better, simpler, more beautiful. In many ways, Steve Jobs epitomised this Generous spirit. So we asked Generous member, Peter Barrett, to blog about his death here:
‘Stay hungry. Stay foolish.” This was the quote I heard on Radio 4 this morning when I first learned of the sad and shocking news of the passing away of Steve Jobs. Apparently, the quote was from a back page advert on the last edition of a magazine to which Jobs subscribed. But these were words that resonated with him throughout his career and influenced the way he worked, the products he made and the risks he took.
If Steve Jobs was a stick of rock he would have the word ‘innovation’ right through the middle. He has genuinely and consistently disrupted the technology and media industries – although he would be the first to admit that it was because he had a great team of very talented people around him. Which is true, but (dare I say it?) kind of misses the point. Great teams need great leaders.
What everyone wanted to know, of course, is how he did it (as if there was a logical answer):
“You can’t connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backwards. So you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future. You have to trust in something — your gut, destiny, life, karma, whatever. This approach has never let me down, and it has made all the difference in my life.” [Stanford commencement speech, June 2005]
This approach led to some amazing insights, years ahead of their time. Check out this quote from that well known business magazine, Playboy, where he effectively forecasts the rise of the Internet in the mid-eighties:
“The most compelling reason for most people to buy a computer for the home will be to link it to a nationwide communications network. We’re just in the beginning stages of what will be a truly remarkable breakthrough for most people––as remarkable as the telephone.” [Playboy, Feb. 1, 1985]
But he did have guiding principles – a real focus on what is critically important and keeping things simple:
“That’s been one of my mantras — focus and simplicity. Simple can be harder than complex: You have to work hard to get your thinking clean to make it simple. But it’s worth it in the end because once you get there, you can move mountains.” [BusinessWeek, May 25, 1998, in a profile that also included the following gem: “Steve clearly has done an incredible job,” says former Apple Chief Financial Officer Joseph Graziano. “But the $64,000 question is: Will Apple ever resume growth?”]
“And it comes from saying no to 1,000 things to make sure we don’t get on the wrong track or try to do too much. We’re always thinking about new markets we could enter, but it’s only by saying no that you can concentrate on the things that are really important. [BusinessWeek, Oct. 12, 2004]
Of course, fundamental to success was Jobs’ focus on good design – form and function – which is the hallmark of Apple’s product portfolio:
“When you’re a carpenter making a beautiful chest of drawers, you’re not going to use a piece of plywood on the back, even though it faces the wall and nobody will ever see it. You’ll know it’s there, so you’re going to use a beautiful piece of wood on the back. For you to sleep well at night, the aesthetic, the quality, has to be carried all the way through.” [Playboy, Feb. 1, 1985]
So what advice would Steve Jobs give to us?
“Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life. Don’t be trapped by dogma — which is living with the results of other people’s thinking. Don’t let the noise of others’ opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary.” [Stanford commencement speech, June 2005
Although that’s a profound statement I think I prefer his comment over 20 years earlier:“It’s more fun to be a pirate than to join the navy.” [1982, quoted in Odyssey: Pepsi to Apple, 1987]
Steve Jobs. Innovator. Visionary. Genius. Rest in peace.
Image credit: MattsMacintosh
http://www.generous.org.uk/blogs/286-stay-hungry-stay-foolish
