Assignment 13a - Reading Reflection

Assignment 13a

Reading Reflection

For this reading, I chose to read the biography Steve Jobs by Walter Isaacson. I chose this one because Steve Jobs is the founder of Apple, a company and brand which is found everywhere in today’s society and I wanted to learn more about the brain behind the creation.

While reading, one of the most surprising things I found out about was the fact that Steve Jobs experimented with psychedelic drugs such as LSD which would later on help him with his creations. He said it helped him develop his focus and visualize certain designs and aesthetics.

One thing that I admire about Steve is his ability to really focus in on his ideas and do anything in his will to achieve what he visualized. Such focus requires immense dedication, determination and brain power and he was able to harness it and make something incredible out of it. However, I did not admire was certain aspects of his personality. The biography describes it as temperamental and controlling and that he would verbally assault people. Although this was Steve Jobs’ attempt to be perfect. It came at the expense of coming across as disrespectful. Steve Jobs did encounter failure when he dropped out of college. He believed it was not worth his time and effort to continue his education, however, he dropped out with a plan to create a product with his friend. I doubt he would’ve done the same had he not had a plan behind him.

One of the main competencies I noticed about Steve Jobs was his strive to be perfect all the time. Everything he did or attempted to do had to be perfect. He was determined on having everything be at the highest standard and he would get angry if it was anything less than that. The fact that he was so determined and focused on creating such perfect products is a value that entrepreneurs should all have. The fact that it was a part of his personality made it even deeper for him. It was something that stuck with him forever.

Something about the biography which confused me was how Steve Jobs was fired from Apple by the board of directors but then, years later, was able to regain power at the top by making the board of directors resign. All this was thanks to Apple’s acquisition of the NeXT computer. Steve was able to come back and gain the position of CEO.

If I were to ask two questions to Steve Jobs I would first ask, whether he feels that focusing on the past, present or future is most important? I’d ask this because I feel that seeing his perspective on where one should be thinking is interesting and would really show what he values the most. It would also show what he uses as inspiration and how he implies those thoughts into his products.

Another question I would ask would be what he thought his greatest mistake or regret was. This would allow me to see where Steve Jobs think he went wrong and what he would’ve done differently. Coming from a perfectionist, he would probably have had several instances where he thought he could’ve done something much better.

Steve Jobs prized hard work. After reading this, his high level of perfectionism made him an extremely hard worker. His only focus was to achieve what he believed to be perfection. Through his determination and dedication to his ideas and with all the hard work was the only way he would achieve what he was looking for. I believe he is entirely right about this. Hard work will always pay off in the end.