27A - Reading Reflection No. 3
I decided to read about Steve Jobs and his journey with Apple. I have always had a strong preference for Apple products, so learning more about Jobs was a no brainer for me.
I was most surprised by the fact that Jobs dropped out of college. I've often heard the notion that many of society's most successful and influential figures do not complete their college degrees. However, Jobs always struck me as someone with a college degree, so this caught me off guard.
While reading about his life, I found myself most admiring his sheer sense of determination and faith in himself. No matter the hardship he experienced, he knew that he would be able to overcome it. Once he realized what he wanted to do with Apple, he decided to see it through as best as he could at the time. I really admire his sense of passion and dedication to what he believes in.
I least admired his arrogance and lack of care when interacting with others. I believe that everyone has an obligation to be decent to others, no matter how successful or how intelligent they may be.
Steve Jobs certainly encountered his fair share of adversity. After building Apple up from its humble origins, he was ousted from his own company. Despite this crushing developing, he decided to work on other ventures in the meantime and eventually returned to Apple. Instead of giving up and calling it quits after facing obstacles, he simply shifted course and continued to work very hard at achieving what he desired.
Throughout the course of this book, it was abundantly clear to me that Jobs was a visionary with a huge sense of drive and ability to innovate. While he had his fair share of imperfections, his ability to strive for his goals and innovate with Apple was truly invaluable.
I found his approach to his cancer diagnosis to be quite confusing. I don't understand why a man with so many resources, so much information at his fingertips, and so much power would deliberately choose alternative medicine with no proven effectiveness at treating his disease.
If I could, I'd ask him:
How were you able to continue your work while facing so much personal upheaval during periods of your life?
What would you say is the most important thing an entrepreneur should do in order to succeed?
I think his idea of hard work was self-sacrifice - complete faith and dedication to a project you believe in. I don't share this opinion, as I believe people should work to live, rather than live to work.
I was most surprised by the fact that Jobs dropped out of college. I've often heard the notion that many of society's most successful and influential figures do not complete their college degrees. However, Jobs always struck me as someone with a college degree, so this caught me off guard.
While reading about his life, I found myself most admiring his sheer sense of determination and faith in himself. No matter the hardship he experienced, he knew that he would be able to overcome it. Once he realized what he wanted to do with Apple, he decided to see it through as best as he could at the time. I really admire his sense of passion and dedication to what he believes in.
I least admired his arrogance and lack of care when interacting with others. I believe that everyone has an obligation to be decent to others, no matter how successful or how intelligent they may be.
Steve Jobs certainly encountered his fair share of adversity. After building Apple up from its humble origins, he was ousted from his own company. Despite this crushing developing, he decided to work on other ventures in the meantime and eventually returned to Apple. Instead of giving up and calling it quits after facing obstacles, he simply shifted course and continued to work very hard at achieving what he desired.
Throughout the course of this book, it was abundantly clear to me that Jobs was a visionary with a huge sense of drive and ability to innovate. While he had his fair share of imperfections, his ability to strive for his goals and innovate with Apple was truly invaluable.
I found his approach to his cancer diagnosis to be quite confusing. I don't understand why a man with so many resources, so much information at his fingertips, and so much power would deliberately choose alternative medicine with no proven effectiveness at treating his disease.
If I could, I'd ask him:
How were you able to continue your work while facing so much personal upheaval during periods of your life?
What would you say is the most important thing an entrepreneur should do in order to succeed?
I think his idea of hard work was self-sacrifice - complete faith and dedication to a project you believe in. I don't share this opinion, as I believe people should work to live, rather than live to work.
Hey Nick! I appreciate this post because you've made clear what you liked and disliked about Jobs and his approach to entrepreneurship. It's no fun reading book reports where the writer either entirely agrees or disagrees with the subject/author of the book.
ReplyDeleteI remember seeing an article about how a Google recruiter called an Apple employee and Jobs asked them to stop. The Google recruiter was fired, and Jobs replied to the email notification with a smiley face. Seems like this instance falls in line with the arrogance you described!