“Stay hungry. Stay foolish” – Jobs’ 2005 commencement address at Stanford
The above quote that Steve Jobs
ended his 2005 Stanford U commencement address with, (and could well have
served as his motto if he had one), comes as an admonition and final sentence
in “The Whole Earth Catalogue” a book that in a NY Times 10/06/11 obituary Jobs
said “had influenced him greatly as a young man”, adds a final touch of mystery
to the enigmatic life that ended yesterday. In the coming days, as the world
pays its deep respects to his memory, accolades like “iconic”, “visionary” and
“genius” will be heaped on him; he will be compared to Edison, Ford,
Rockefeller and Walton, all rolled into one.
When it comes to lexicon, there is
no doubt that Jobs was every word and every lofty idea that embody them. Do
these terms describe him? More frankly: Who is the Steven Jobs who passed away
yesterday?
The Fables of Successful Enterprise
Begin with the romantic stories,
likely to be mythical, of how supermen come to the world of ordinary men.
Months after Steve’s birth his short family life ends with his mother giving
him up for adoption, because her father wouldn’t abide having a Syrian for a
son-in-law. In the annals of enterprise, drastic early life experiences such as
a divorce, adoption, abandonment (or in Gates’ case a latchkey childhood)
always mark the tipping point separating mortal from immortal. Circumstances
like extreme penury or, in Jobs case his family’s lack of means to send him to
college, help reinforce the romantic narrative of outsiders rising,
phoenix-like, from nothingness to rarefied heights reserved exclusively for the
anointed.
Recent articles have regaled
readers with probably apocryphal tales of Jobs retrieving empty soda cans and
turning them in for cash; and walking 7 miles across the Reed College campus
(Portland, OR) in order to save on fare so he could partake of low cost meals at
a Krishna temple. One who can get admitted to Reed cannot be that mendicant.
The height of all this icon-buffing, of course, are stories of dropping out of
college (he left after a semester) “in order not to deplete my parents’
savings” that if true, catapults its object of devotion into the realms of
iconic dropouts who not only left school because they found it a waste of time,
but out of love for their struggling parents. A common enough story in the
Third World, it is something so rare and edifying and coveted that another drop
out (Gates) could only perhaps fantasize about. Those stories can only enhance
the image of a spare, disciplined and concerned upbringing, fitting right in
with the classical narratives of success so dear to historians of enterprise.
The Truth Value of Hard Facts
In a class by themselves are the
fables that inspire awe and bestow on their tellers the status of
“entrepreneurs par excellence”. There is the “Tale of the Garage” where things
as novel and as earthshaking as digital personal computers see the first light
of day in a place as decrepit and dingy as where the family car is towed at
night. Only the fact that this event did not happen centuries ago keeps a
manger full of braying horses and donkeys from being used as the backdrop to
such a historical event. Instead it
turns out that most stories about incubating ventures in garages are a load of
c_ _p; the most likely places, in declining order of frequency are: the kitchen
table (for convenient access to the coffeepot); followed by the tool shack for
easier reach of tools and parts; and last at the local library most incubators
are likely to be mental than physical at least at the onset. It is possible
that Jobs briefly stored his PC parts in his family garage, but he also rented
an office in town.
Next come “The Bootstrap”
narratives, where the hero always manages to come up with the key insight, the
dramatic solution to the problem that had bugged all before that fateful
moment. In Jobs’ case, this consisted in stories of how the first personal
computer was put together in trial and error experiments using parts and ideas
learned in countless sessions with fellow members of the Homebrew Computer
Club, an association of electronic hobbyists based in Menlo Park. The reality
about the first PC is far from that; a few years previously, the Altos, the
first working PC was invented in, of all places, Albuquerque, New Mexico and
kits came into the hands of and were assembled by Jobs and his putative partner
Steve Wozniack. With Apple’s startup capital placed at all of $ 1,300, their
tinkering could not have been of a kind sufficient to radically redesign an
existing and working personal computer. So much, then, for the appellation
“father of the personal computer” that has been attached to Jobs’ name.
Even more dramatic exaggerations
are tales of how Apple II (in its advanced models) revolutionized the personal
computer with its incorporation (“adaptation”) of the GUI (graphic user
interface) and mouse, two of the most crucial innovations that along with
Visicalc, accelerated the use of personal computers. Again, unfortunately both
were invented somewhere else, in Palo Alto’s XEROX Parc, then a leading
technology company in Silicon Valley and in the Northeast, where it was
originally based. Jobs himself acknowledged this in an interview, remarking how
“apocalyptic” an experience it was to watch the Altos PC being controlled by a
mouse from commands displayed in a graphical medium and not by typing
statements or codes the way IBM PC and other computers did. So much again, for
“bold pioneering”.
In fact Jobs was neither an
expert in computer technology (Wozniack was the hardware guy) nor in its
programming; for some reason he failed to foresee the possibilities in what would
later on become the world wide web – now a much bigger field than personal
computing itself and which could prove to be its ultimate Nemesis. This
technology was created by Tim Berners Lee, who worked as a programmer at NEXT.
Jobs’ unique talent was not in technology development but in envisioning its
social interface and application. This proves that there are few payoffs in
high technology per se; what is prized and truly creates value is technology
that addresses a need, in the PC’s case, needs without customers or that
present ones fail to see. In creating the IPhone, IPod and IPad Jobs deserved
to be called a true visionary.
Stunning Success, but at what price?
All the foregoing stellar
accomplishments, even when corrected, would have been more than enough to fill
in ten lifetimes for an ordinary man; but as Steve Jobs was not an ordinary
man, it is only fair to also look at their antitheses, exceptional not being
synonymous with perfect.
The most telling of Jobs’ known
failings was his aloofness, his brash, almost tyrannical style especially in
the early years. Whereas outsiders to his world were led to believe that he was
“charismatic, altruistic and genial” when dealing with others, in the company
of his closest friends and associates he was far from such especially early on.
In private he was perfunctory, formal and even cold especially about personal
things, except when he was inquiring about the status of projects or matters
related to work in general. He was suave and even charming with customers, but
those who observed, felt and experienced his stern lashings knew that Jobs’
primary concerns were functional, sometimes to the point of being harsh if
expectations were not met.
Jobs’ demands from his associates and subordinates
were so total that Apple’s culture was for a while sublimated to it; many have
pointed out how his successor Tim Cook
has taken on Jobs’ appearance and mannerisms, a sign of how loyalty to a
man can take on blind emulation. Personality cults are commonplace among CEOs,
but egoistic values can be devastating during successions, and while Jobs did
not seem to indulge it, he did not discourage it either.
As if that was not bad enough,
this lack of warmth extended even to his relationships with close kin, to the
point of meeting a sister only late in adulthood, who wrote a novel that
portrayed him in an unflattering light. About his immediate family made up of a
wife and three children (and a child from a former sweetheart) little is known;
Jobs himself was aware of how remote he was to his children. Many successful
men are driven to the extremes of limiting family interactions or keeping such
affairs private.
In this regard, Jobs was a stereotype, but one can question its wisdom when used to rebuff his 80 year old biological father’s request, expressed in calls and emails, for a brief chance to meet him before it was all over. Perhaps he felt uncomfortable with digging up the painful memories of his abandonment; perhaps he wanted to avoid legal issues that could ensue, something which his old man disavowed the slightest interest in, saying: “All I wanted was to have a cup of coffee with my son”. Today that one chance in a trillion is gone forever because of Steve’s hard stonewalling. Such is the lot of people who are too rational – they give up the few opportunities to be happy with those who are close to them.
In this regard, Jobs was a stereotype, but one can question its wisdom when used to rebuff his 80 year old biological father’s request, expressed in calls and emails, for a brief chance to meet him before it was all over. Perhaps he felt uncomfortable with digging up the painful memories of his abandonment; perhaps he wanted to avoid legal issues that could ensue, something which his old man disavowed the slightest interest in, saying: “All I wanted was to have a cup of coffee with my son”. Today that one chance in a trillion is gone forever because of Steve’s hard stonewalling. Such is the lot of people who are too rational – they give up the few opportunities to be happy with those who are close to them.
Why a Rational Life Means Bearing with Unhappiness
A clue to this enigma is seen in
his interior life: except for a youthful dalliance with Buddhism Jobs has never
affiliated with any formal worship or faith. Spare in his lifestyle, he was not
a materialist, let alone a hedonist. At the same time he was never big on
philanthropy, once setting up a humanitarian foundation only to disband and
divert its funds to acquire PIXAR. At a pledging session held for wealthy
businessmen, he was among those who did not commit to donate, and Apple today
is a rare American company that has no formal corporate giving program or
philanthropic endeavors. If it has, it is nominal.
Stay hungry. Stay foolish. What could Steve Jobs have had in mind
when he cited this quote in his 2005 commencement address? It means simply
this: that total devotion to one’s calling means keeping away (staying hungry)
from the pleasures of material success, family, personal relations and even
faith. In this he was a cold, unsentimental and rational being, finding the
greatest meaning in achievement. At the same time he felt that accolades or
ties ultimately amounted to nothing, fleeting as they are in life, and counting
for nothing after death. This is why he believed that quests for fame or
relationships are ultimately foolish.
One will never be able to know exactly
what thoughts played inside Jobs’ head as he lived his final days, but if
Freud’s insights on un-reconciled death are of any use, one can deduce that he
probably was in great sorrow, despite it being said that he died peacefully.
This is why to the end he resisted exchanging a few words with his expectant
father; the rational side of him knew that there was no use.
Copyrights by V. Ricasio, NYC 2011
Thank for capturing the Steve Jobs that I know. The same man who stiffed the partner who helped him earn a $5,000 bonus reaped only $350 from the guy he helped. This was an amoral (and sometimes immoral) individual who is the darling of the technological world, yet could not change a light bulb because of his lack of technological know-how. Everything I have come to know about Jobs drives me to the conclusion that he is the quintessential disciple of Jean Paul Sartre. For those who want to know Jobs, there is no better place to look than the manner of his death.
ReplyDeleteThank you for decorating the echo of my thoughts with the music of your presentation.
What a great piece, Vic. Upon reading your thoughts and after reviewing Job’s other public reflections, I’ve come to the conclusion that he did not believe in life after death. To him everything ground to a stop when he dies. That is why he thinks “Stay hungry. Stay foolish.”
ReplyDeleteSteve Jobs is Steve Jobs, but wy ruined a party. He serves as an inspiration to those who have nothing. His harse experiences in a formative age, made him what he is, but overall, he did inspire and change the world to a better place. One more thing, after reading this article he sounds like a Republican to me, I wonder what is his political affiliation. Nevertheless, I tipped my hat for this man.
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