"Becoming Steve Jobs" - a book about the life and amazing career path

"I did not want to be a businessman"

The history of the first visit Steve Jobs in Apple Computer - is the story of a young dreamer in the very beginning of his career. Once Steve has played such an important role in the creation and organization of sales of Apple I, he was confronted with a difficult problem - the need to move your vision, intelligence, intuition and a fierce desire to control everyone and everything from his father's garage in a much larger scale "space" - corporate, financial and industrial world Silicon Valley. Perhaps, Steve was able to quickly learn all the necessary, but had not the slightest idea how to do it. Some young people seem to be made for corporate life - comes to mind Bill Gates. Steve was not so.

But he knew that if you want to do business more serious than the creation of the "coolest" toys in the garage along with your friends, you need to learn to play by adult rules. It was not easy. Several times he told me: "I did not want to be a businessman, did not want to be like any one of the people I know, do business." Steve was content critical way of a rebel, a visionary, flexible and rapid David fighting against Goliath heavy (whoever he was).

Cooperation with the "big people" (to use the terminology of those days Steve) was not just a problem for him. It threatened to clash. Yes, he wanted to play in their games, but by his own rules, damn it!

Steve did not once showed himself as a strong leader of a small group of like-minded people. Now he was faced with a daunting task: he had to figure out how to work under the direction of Scott and Markkula. These people were able to do that until he was on the shoulder to plan, initiate and support the growth of the company, allowing to develop, produce, distribute and sell computers. Wozniak did not consider the problem of transfer to third parties control over what's happening, because he was not interested in the development of business components. This "world class electrical engineer" felt at ease only in the workplace, where he was able to invent and as Vice President of Research and Development to discuss with Apple engineers comrades various structural cunning details.

Where painful transfer of control took Steve - and not only because of his teenage maximalism. On the one hand, he knew how important his unusual way of thinking to create breakthrough products and how his ego encourages people to follow his vision. On the other hand, it was evident that these qualities are not particularly fit the style of the "mature leadership" that is planted in the Apple Scotty.

In fact, Scotty offers the following system. If Apple could be represented as a family, then Scotty wanted to do the basic components of the household: the opening of bank accounts, mortgage payments and so on. Of course, since we are still talked about the company, he did a lot of things more complicated. Scotty, the engineer with extensive experience in National Semiconductor, was a typical techie - to the extent that always carried in the pockets of a special plastic case for pens and screwdrivers - and in addition, experienced manager. He came to Apple with the experience of hundreds of people management and control of complex processes for the production of chips. In most Apple he was responsible for complex management tasks required to create a high-tech company from scratch: rent office, production space and equipment; a reliable production, efficient sales team and quality control system; organization of engineering process control; configuration management information systems, as well as the formation of the financial management and HR-department in charge of recruitment. He strengthened relationships with key suppliers of components and software developers. Watching Scotty, Steve learned a lot.

The point, however, greatly complicated the fact that Apple has been a pioneer in the already new branch, which is very different from all the others. Computer is a system that combines three key technologies: semiconductors, software, and storage methods. All of them have been continuously improved. The company is not physically have the opportunity to create a single, unique product innovation, establish a mass production, and then to rest on their laurels and clip coupons. It could afford except that Polaroid and Xerox, and then only in the first decade of its activities. Since then, things have changed. As soon as the computer company was able to breathe life into the new system, as immediately have to start all over again and try to outdo itself yourself - before any other player in the market rapidly, like Prometheus, he did not create a new, more advanced version, "pilfer flame". This was repeated again and again, generation after generation. Eventually it became clear that the companies in the "frenzied race" is the only way - to begin work on a new product before the previous one will enter the market. Each of the three core technologies developed independently of the other in its own breakneck pace. The idea of ​​"missing out on the fly" and quickly put into action, becoming available to thousands of users.

Even the greatest leaders, confidently leading his company from one victory to another, have been forced to recognize that the rules established by them instantly out of date, not to keep up with reality. And Mike Scott was not a great leader. According to their skills and the type of person he was like, rather, to the COO. When he failed to achieve stability, he stiffened. And with such a partner, like Steve Jobs, could we talk about some stability ?!

Of course, despite his young age, Jobs was smart enough to realize that for the realization of his vision of the need to streamline and well-oiled mechanisms of management. However, in contrast to Scotty, rebel Jobs was literally in love with instability. His natural vision based on destabilization, undermining the foundations of the existing computer industry. Stability possessed by IBM, and Apple's, in Steve's view, was to show an anti-IBM.

Needless to say, the union between one man with a fondness for uncertainty, and others eager to stability, not to longevity. The first alarm bell rang in the first weeks after the arrival of Scotti at Apple. Scotty wanted to put numbers on personal badges of staff of the new office on Stevens Creek Boulevard. He decided that the WHO will "employee number 1". Steve immediately went up to him and rolled out a claim. Scotty had no choice but to go back down and give Jobs badge "Employee number 0".

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