Steve Jobs "Made the Impossible Simple"

Alexandra M. Euglow
Professor Fleury-Lawson
Business and Society
13 October 2011

Steve Jobs “Made the Impossible Simple”

Steve Jobs was an important man in today’s technology. First, let’s zoom in on his life and career. Steve Jobs’ biological mother gave him up for adoption and she wanted him to go to a family were the parents were both college graduates. Last minute, the intended parents declined because they really wanted a daughter and a generous husband and wife decided to adopt him. A little while later, his biological mother found out that the mother never graduated from college and the father never graduated from high school. His biological mother would not proceed with the final steps to the adoption. The adopting parents promised her that her son would graduate from college and she took their word. The big surprise, it turns out Steve Jobs never did graduate from college. Mr. Jobs could not find the point of college; he was simply tired of wasting all his parents’ savings on something that did not mean anything to him. He dropped out of his required classes and dropped in to the classes he found interesting, which greatly impacted his success today. Steve Jobs was CEO of Apple and Pixar Animations. He and one partner started Apple in a garage, 10 years later it was a two billion dollar company. When he was 30, he was fired and it was a very public failure on his behalf. Over the next five years, he created Next and Pixar Animations. The ironic thing is, Apple ended up buying Next and Steve Jobs then returned to working for Apple. Mr. Jobs had been diagnosed with Pancreas Cancer, when they found a tumor. The Doctors told him he had three to six months to live and he should start to “prepare to die.” After a couple of tests, he found out he had a very rare, but curable form of Cancer. He had the surgery and was able to continue his life. As you can see, Steve Jobs’ life and career were very much like a roller coaster, he was up and down and up and down, but he never gave up, not once.

There is quite a bit to learn about Steve Jobs’ management lessons. He always followed his instincts and did what he thought was best for him. Mr. Jobs’ created a very large and successful business. Even though the business was such a success, he never stopped working himself, he continued to work and be a part of the company every day. Steve Jobs never just sat back and watched others do his work for him. I think this is why his employees appreciated and respected him so much. He was a great manager because he worked just as hard if not harder than his employees. Retail has greatly benefited from his innovations. I mean everyone knows about Apple, whether it be the iPod, where you can add every song you can think of and listen to hundreds of songs with just one hand. The iPhone, which literally does everything, it is a phone, a computer and an iPod all in one, the iPad and so much more. Steve Jobs had the ability to “see what we needed four or five years ahead of time.” Steve Jobs’ management and innovations will forever impact our society.

Lastly, the lessons we learned from Steve Jobs are unforgettable. There were two large lessons that I learned from Steve Jobs. The first lesson was to “do what you love.” Steve Jobs made it clear that if you do what you love and you don’t give up on it, then you will be happy. Too many people believe that in order to be happy you must be rich, that is completely false. It is not the amount of money you make that will makes you happy, but if you truly love what you do. I have known since I was a little kid that I have wanted to be a teacher. Being a teacher will not earn me as much money as other careers, but I know that is what I want to do and I will love doing it, for the rest of my life. The second big lesson that Steve Jobs has taught me was to “live every day like it is your last.” I believe this is such an important lesson because you are never guaranteed tomorrow and if you live every day to the fullest, then tomorrow is not necessarily needed, but greatly wanted. Mr. Jobs is right, you must live every day like it is you last because then you will never waste your valuable time on something worthless. You will use your time on things and people that mean the world to you. All in all, Steve Jobs has had such a great impact on everyone’s life.