Steve Jobs

Principles are our summary of their public statements.

• Start with Customer Experience and Work Backwards

  Steve Jobs rejected the habit of building technology first and figuring out how to sell it later. Because users rarely know what is possible until they see it, focus groups alone cannot design breakthrough products. Leaders must define the ideal user experience first and engineer backwards to the technology.

  Supporting quotes

  • “You can't just ask customers what they want and then try to give that to them. By the time you get it built, they'll want something new.”

  2 more supporting quotes are in the member records.

  A question to consider

  In your business, are you defining the ideal customer experience before deciding which technical features to build?

• Focus by Saying No to a Thousand Things

  For Jobs, true focus meant saying no to hundreds of plausible ideas and market expansions so the team would not become overextended. Pursuing too many priorities dilutes excellence and leads companies off track. Disciplined rejection allows an organization to pour all its energy into the few products that truly matter.

  Supporting quotes

  • “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.”

  1 more supporting quote is in the member records.

  A question to consider

  In your business, which decent opportunities should you say no to right now so your team can concentrate on its single most important priority?

• Design Is How It Works Through Deep Understanding

  Jobs viewed design not as surface styling, but as the fundamental way a product functions. Achieving great design requires living with a problem and thoroughly digesting every layer of complexity. Only by peeling back those layers can a team arrive at solutions that feel effortlessly simple and intuitive.

  3 more supporting quotes are in the member records.

  A question to consider

  In your business, are you merely polishing the visual surface or simplifying how the product fundamentally works?

  Source Wikiquote: Steve Jobs  (opens in a new tab)

• Marry Technology with the Liberal Arts

  Jobs insisted that engineering prowess alone is insufficient to build products that make people's hearts sing. Creativity emerges from connecting diverse human experiences across arts, humanities, and science. Standing at the intersection of technology and the liberal arts yields products with enduring emotional resonance.

  Supporting quotes

  • “It is in Apple's DNA that technology alone is not enough - it's technology married with liberal arts, married with the humanities, that yields us the results that make our heart sing.”

  2 more supporting quotes are in the member records.

  A question to consider

  In your business, how are you integrating insights from human behavior and the arts into your technical product roadmap?

• Cultivate a Rebellious Culture to Change the World

  Jobs championed the agile spirit of a small band of pirates over slow corporate bureaucracy. By challenging talented people with the chance to change the world and reminding them that existing rules were made by ordinary humans, he unlocked extraordinary ambition. Bold missions attract people capable of redefining entire industries.

  Supporting quotes

  • “Do you want to spend the rest of your life selling sugared water or do you want a chance to change the world?”

    “It's more fun to be a pirate than to join the Navy.”

  1 more supporting quote is in the member records.

  A question to consider

  In your business, does your culture operate like a cautious bureaucracy or a nimble team bold enough to reshape the industry?

• Adapt to Customer Demands

  Strategy

  Be willing to change the product format if a customer offers a significant order, even if it wasn't part of the original plan.

  3 more supporting quotes are in the member records.

  Source Make Something Wonderful: Steve Jobs in his own words (free web edition), 2023  (opens in a new tab)

• Design as a Competitive Advantage

  Creativity

  Invest in high-quality industrial design early because it costs the same to manufacture a beautiful object as a junk one, but the impact is far greater.

  3 more supporting quotes are in the member records.

  Source Make Something Wonderful: Steve Jobs in his own words (free web edition), 2023  (opens in a new tab)

• Focus on the Core Mission

  Focus

  Trying to pay bills with side products can be a distraction; it is often better to fund the primary creative goal directly.

  Source Make Something Wonderful: Steve Jobs in his own words (free web edition), 2023  (opens in a new tab)

• Embrace Adversity for Growth

  Resilience

  Difficult periods and lack of resources teach essential lessons in hunger, ethics, and generosity that define long-term character.

  Source Make Something Wonderful: Steve Jobs in his own words (free web edition), 2023  (opens in a new tab)

• Value Long-Term Reciprocity

  Negotiation

  Business relationships often balance out over time through mutual help rather than constant commercial transactions.

  Source Make Something Wonderful: Steve Jobs in his own words (free web edition), 2023  (opens in a new tab)

• Collect diverse experiences

  Creativity

  Creativity comes from connecting unrelated dots, so one must actively seek experiences outside their primary field.

  3 more supporting quotes are in the member records.

  Source Make Something Wonderful: Steve Jobs in his own words (free web edition), 2023  (opens in a new tab)

• Prioritize product excellence over profit

  Strategy

  Profit should be viewed as a means to continue making great products, not as the primary goal that dictates product decisions.

  Source Make Something Wonderful: Steve Jobs in his own words (free web edition), 2023  (opens in a new tab)

• Prioritize Values Over Glory

  Leadership

  A company fails when leadership prioritizes personal wealth and glory over the core mission of making great products for people.

  3 more supporting quotes are in the member records.

  Source Wikiquote: Steve Jobs  (opens in a new tab)

• Don't settle for mediocre work

  Career

  True satisfaction comes from doing great work, and the only way to achieve that is to keep looking until you find what you love.

  3 more supporting quotes are in the member records.

  Source Wikiquote: Steve Jobs  (opens in a new tab)

• Diverse Learning Shapes Product Design

  Product

  Seemingly impractical skills, like calligraphy, can later become essential differentiators in product design and user experience.

  Source Wikipedia: Steve Jobs  (opens in a new tab)

• Persistence in Persuasion

  Leadership

  When facing a fast-thinking leader who shoots down ideas, one should wait and present counterarguments repeatedly until a consensus or a compromise is reached.

  Source Wikipedia: Steve Jobs  (opens in a new tab)

• Design for emotional connection

  Product

  Products should include design elements that create a personal connection with the user, such as a handle or a breathing light effect.

  Source Wikipedia: Steve Jobs  (opens in a new tab)