All about Steve Jobs - Essay Example

Report for Creator Name of Student: Name of Course: Name of Instructor: Date of Submission: Executive Summary Creativity is the ability of an individual to come up with unique and ingenious ideas on how to go about doing something. On the other hand, innovation is the successful implementation of creative ideas. This report will give a deep insight into Steve Jobs, who is one of the most creative and innovative entrepreneurs in the business world. The report will show how Steve Jobs’ creativity and innovation enhanced Apple’s competitiveness. This report will give the background of Steve Jobs, the major stages in his career, his most profound contributions, that what can be attributed to his creative genius, link proctor to the creativity and innovation process of Steve Jobs, and discuss the teachings from the creator which can be applied in individual lives. Table of Contents Executive Summary 2 Table of Contents 3 1.0 Introduction 4 2.0 Background of Steve Jobs 4 3.0 Major Stages in Steve Job’s Career 5 4.0 Steve Jobs’ Most Profound Contributions 8 6. 0 What is attributable to Steve Jobs’ Creative Genius 9 7.0 Creative and Innovative Process Used By Steve Jobs according to Proctor 10 8.0 Lessons from Steve Jobs Creativity and Innovation 12 9.0 Conclusion 13 References 14 Report for Creator 1.0 Introduction Creativity and innovation are closely related. Creativity is the ability to come up with unique ways of doing something. Creativity may be manifested in the uniqueness and originality of a process or product. On the other hand, innovation is the successful implementation of creative ideas. In the modern business world, the success of an organization is highly dependent on the creativity and innovation of an organization (Beaver & Prince, 2002). Steve Jobs is one of the famous creators in the business world. Under his leadership, Apple was able to counter the challenges in the global market by use of innovation strategies. The relationship between Apple and Steve Jobs is very close. The importance of the legendary creator to the company manifested itself in the fluctuations of the share prices of Apple on the stock exchange. This report will give the background of Steve Jobs, the major stages in his career, his most profound contributions, that what can be attributed to his creative genius, link proctor to the creativity and innovation process of Steve Jobs, and discuss the teachings from the creator which can be applied in individual lives. 2.0 Background of Steve Jobs Steven Paul was born on the 24th day of February in 1995 in California (Lam, 2011). He was born to two college students Joanee Schible and Abdulfattah Jandali who gave him up for adoption shortly after his birth. He was adopted by Paul and Clara Jobs who were middle class were a middle class family. It was after adoption that Steven Paul was name Steven Paul Jobs which was later shortened to Steve Jobs. In 1960, Steve Job’s family moved to a Suburb in Santa Clara commonly known by the name Silicon Valley (All About Steve Jobs, 2014). Steve Jobs was an intelligent student though he had little interest in school until the teacher bribed him so as to learn. The bribing pad off and Job performed exceptionally well that it was proposed that he skip grades. As a child, Steve Jobs and his father repaired electronics at home. His father introduced him to heathkits which had manuals on how to assemble electronics (Lam, 2011). Additionally, the technology environment of the Silicon Valley conditioned Steve Jobs interests in electronics. His education at Homestead High led to Steve’s greatest developments in electronics when he enrolled in the electronics class. Later on, Steve met Stephen Wozniak (Woz) with whom they would later venture into a computer company (All About Steve Jobs, 2014). Steve Job’s life after went the career way and was riddled with many ups and downs to an extent of getting fired from his own company. It is at this time that Steve’s innovation and creativity and his outstanding leadership transformed Apple into a major brand name in the world. 3.0 Major Stages in Steve Job’s Career After graduating from high school, Steve Jobs went to Reed University but stayed there for only one semester. Prior to this, Steve Jobs and Stephen Wozniak had been illegally making and selling blue boxes which enabled people to calls for free. Between 1972 and1973, Steve Jobs did odd jobs in addition to staying in Reeds; attending classes in the university even way after he had quit school (Lam, 2011). In 1974, Steve returned to California and secured himself a job at Atari. When he was at Atari, Steve Jobs with the help of Stephen Wozniak designed a circuit as part of a special project that his boss Nolan Bushnell had come up with. At that time, Stephen Wozniak was working at HP. It was in 1975 when Stephen Wozniak was showing off his 2 printed circuit boards that had been designed to drive an output to a TV that the idea of designing a personal computer came to Steve Jobs. In 1976, Wozniak and Jobs partnered and started Apple (All About Steve Jobs, 2014). The initial capital was raised by selling off their personal belongings. This is the first point in which Steve Jobs’ creativity and innovation impacted heavily on the technology world. He was able creatively combine the wits of Stephen Wozniak with his to build a company. during their first year in operation, Apple 1 had been sold out to 150 customers. However, Steve made his first major blunder in Apple when he delivered 50 circuit boards instead of computers in Apple’s first order (Lam, 2011). Apple II was an improvement of Apple I. Its design in 1976 made it possible for the automatic loading of the operating system into the computer as opposed to the previous model. This was a great move towards innovation in the computer and electronic industry. The next major event in Steve Jobs career was when Apple became a corporation in 1977 (Lam, 2011). This occurred when Mike Markkula agreed to become an investor in the company. The deal to incorporate Mike into the organization was sealed on 3rd January 1977 at Mike’s residence. Steve Jobs’ woes at Apple started when he got irritated by Mike as employee number 1 although Steve Jobs viewed himself as the one who deserved that position. Mike also laments that Steve’s body odor was stinking the office. Jobs also hired Regis McKenna to redesign Apple’s logo. By then, the friendship of Woz and Jobs was at a level low. Steve Jobs pioneered the innovation of computers manufactured by Apple and Apple III, Lisa and Mackintosh were some of the products designed (All About Steve Jobs, 2014. Apple offered its shares to the public in 1980. Steve Jobs emphasized on the need for the integration of key design elements in all Apple’s products. Another key stage in Steve Jobs career is his fight with IBM. He was confident that IBM would never beat Apple in its own game. Additionally, Jobs was involved in several interactions with Bill Gates and Microsoft. The Mackintosh was one product that brought around with it’s a fair share of criticism and controversy to the ability of Steve Jobs to lead Apple (All About Steve Jobs, 2014). He was accused of presenting the product to the market without any market research in addition to overestimating the sales of the Mac (Lam, 2011). Steve Jobs is stripped off the leadership role in the Lisa and Mac teams in 1985. Steve Jobs resigned the same year citing lack of confidence in Apple’s management. He also sells most of his stock at the company. Later in 1985, Steve Jobs started another company NeXT whose first project was to design a workstation for use in higher education facilities. In 1987, Ross Perot invests $20million in NeXT for 16% stake in the company (Lam, 2011). In 1995, Apple loses out on the case against Microsoft. A year later, Apple buys NeXT computers and offers Jobs $1.5 million worth shares at Apple. Apple intent to buy NeXT was driven by its need to get a new operating system so as to maintain its competitiveness in the market. From 1997 to 2004, Steve Jobs focus on rebuilding Apple. In 1997, he became the interim CEO to the company. He replaces the board of directors with the ones he had at NeXT. Steve pioneered the ‘Think Different’ campaign which is a slogan aimed at restoring the image of the company and brands in the market. The power macs G3, iMac DVs, Power Mac G4 Cube, Power Mac G5 are some of the important products which restored the confidence of the public in Apple. The major input of Steve Jobs in the with respect to creativity and innovation comes in 2003 with the unveiling of the iTunes which gives Apple users access to digital music (All About Steve Jobs, 2014). The Life suite and the iPod Mini follow in 2004. The period from 2005 to 2011 saw Apple emerge out as a giant in the computing and communication technologies manufacture. Apple releases the suite iWork, the iPod shuffle and the Mac Mini in 1995. Mac OS x 10.4 Tiger is also released in the same year marking a new phase of Operating systems ate Apple. Steve also introduces Motorola ROCKR which was an iTunes compatible mobile phone and also the iPod Nano. The 1st two Intel processes Macs were released in 2006, marking a shift from IBM and Motorola processors. This soon makes Mac a popular computing solution in the world and the release of the Mac Pro increases the market’s interest on Apple’s products (All About Steve Jobs, 2014). The release of the iPhone in 2007, the MacBook Air in 2008, Apple Apps in 2009, the iPad in 2010, the iPad 2 in 2011 and the iCloud in 2011 were major steps in Steve Jobs’ career. His last public appearance was at the Cupertino City Council in 2011 where he unveils the ‘spaceship’ campus plans by Apple. Steve Jobs died in 5th October 2011 after battling with pancreatic cancer since 2003. 4.0 Steve Jobs’ Most Profound Contributions Steve’s most profound contributions to the technology world can be analyzed in three phases. The first phase was from 1974 to 1985. The first contribution was when Steve and Woz formed Apple and started making Apple computers from a garage. Steve uses his creativity and innovation to see the business idea behind Woz’s design. His next profound contribution was when he managed to secure a deal with Mike Markkula who invest in Apple and makes it a corporation in 1977 (All About Steve Jobs, 2014). He also leads Apple to become a mass marketer and producer of personal computers, the first company of its kind in the market. Steve emphasized on the need for great design and unique experiences in Apple products and his Lisa and Mackintosh projects with Apple also made a great contribution to the computing world. The nest phase of Steve’s contribution to innovation and creativity is the period from 1986 to 1996. The main contribution which Steve makes in this Period is the design of NeXT’s operating system. The operating system had the ability to revolutionize the computing world with many features added on to it (All About Steve Jobs, 2014). This operating system was the main reason as to why Apple bough NeXT later on. His partnership with IBM saw the running of NeXT OS in IBM computers. Steve also oversees the design and release of workstations. The last phase and the most eminent phase of Steve Jobs contribution ran from 1997 to 2004. Steve had been absorbed back to Apple and was geared up towards rebuilding Apple back to its old day fame. Steve Jobs emphasized the need for creativity and innovation in Apple’s processes. With the slogan ‘think different’, Apple was able to beat the harsh market factors which were making other companies pull out of the market by releasing great products in the market. iTunes, iPods, iPhone, MacBook, iPad and iCloud are the main products which have catapulted Apple to market glory (All About Steve Jobs, 2014). From the discussion above, it can be acknowledged that Steve Jobs has made profound contributions to the computing world through creativity and innovation. 6. 0 What is attributable to Steve Jobs’ Creative Genius Steve Jobs’ creative genius can be attributed to 7 main elements. The first element is doing what one love (Gallo, 2011). Steve Jobs loved electronics very much. As a result of this, everything he did with regard to electronic was based in his deep interest. Steve Jobs was also very fond of Apple hence he invested all he had into making Apple the best in the market. The second principle in Steve Jobs’ success was his desire to make a major impact in the world (Gallo & Mangan, 2013). His main objective with Steve Wozniak was to place a computer in the hand on every person and this was possible years later going by the number of people who own personal computers. The third principle upheld by Steve was creativity (Gallo, 2011). He understood creativity as the act of connecting things. He always kick started his brain so as to come up with the most creative and innovative products and processes. The fourth principle is to sell dreams to the customers and not products. In this, Steve was focused on giving Apple customers a good experience as opposed to offering them products. The fifth principle upheld by Steve Jobs was to say no to 1000 things and always stick to what he deem right for Apple or whatever else he was working in (Deutsch & Roberts, 2011). The sixth principle upheld by Steve Jobs was to always create insanely super experiences for Apple users. The functions, design, user experience and support services such as Apple App store gives Apple users great experiences. The last principle in Steve’s success was to master and comprehend the message (Gallo & Mangan, 2013). Steve Jobs ranks among the best corporate storytellers of all time; always being present to introduce new product and explain Apple to the public. 7.0 Creative and Innovative Process Used By Steve Jobs according to Proctor The creative and innovation process used by Steve Jobs can be lined to the theory of creative problem solving and the divergent & creative thinking theories as outlined by Prof. Proctor. According to Prof. Proctor, creative problem solving follows a definite number of steps. The first step is objective finding which defines the problem area which deserves attention (Proctor, 2014). On this point, it can be acknowledged that Steve Jobs defined the need for personal computers and great communication, entertainment and computing devices as the problem area. Next, the theory stipulates that one gathers information related to the problem area. Steve Jobs invested substantial amount of time to study the market, what other players were dong before coming up with innovative product ideas. Next the problem solver should find the problem (Mitchell & Kowalik, 1999). This step involves defining the problem correctly. Before embarking on any mass production, Steve Jobs analyzed the problem again so as to come up with the best idea such as the revision of Lisa’s and Mac’s product design. Next, the model stipulates that the problem solver finds ideas on how to solve the problem, find possible solutions and acceptance finding (Proctor, 2014). Linking this with Steve Jobs, it can be acknowledged that he reviewed ideas on how to solve the problems identified such as the use of intel processors on Apple’s computing devices to innovate computing devices and the development of iTunes and iPod to serve entertainment needs. Steve Jobs implemented the creative ideas correctly, constantly building up on the existing products so as to achieve success. On the other hand, Steve Jobs used the divergent and convergent thinking theory in innovation. The divergent theory stipulates that innovators come up with various ideas/ products from a single creative idea (William, 2008). On this point, it is worth noting that Steve Jobs was a divergent innovator. In his idea of great entertainment to customers, he oversaw the development of the iPod. The memory space of the iPod was reviewed progressively in various released after the initial release. Next, he saw the opportunity of providing his customers with digital music hence the development of the iTunes. From there, Steve Jobs diverged into other products under the ‘i’ prefix such as the iPhone, iPad and iCloud. This is divergent innovation. On the other hand, Steve Jobs used the convergent innovation theory (Proctor, 2014). The theory stipulates that innovation narrows down to specific ideas/ product over innovation time (Wienbergen, Muller, Seidel & Becker 2011). Steve Jobs had great ideas about providing customers with personal computers. He oversaw the development of various workstations meant for various markets. However, towards his death, he had focused on the development of laptops. The Apple MacBook is one of the greatest laptop brands in the global market. Its development depicts convergent innovation at work. 8.0 Lessons from Steve Jobs Creativity and Innovation From the study on Steve Jobs, I will integrate the seven principles which influenced his success into my life. First, I will do what I love. According to Jobs, it is advised that one goes into something; be it a job or anything else because he or she loves doing what is involved in it. I love business and will therefore engage myself in entrepreneurship ventures. Secondly, I will strive to make an impact on the global world, hence making an impact to the immediate society. Thirdly, I kick start ones brain so as to come up with the most creative and innovative ideas. This is important in getting the right idea to invest in and the most appropriate way of instigating growth. Fourthly, I will do all it takes to sell dreams to my customers and not products. This will ensure that I am able to make impacts on the customers’ lives. Fifthly, I will stay focused to what I want in life. This will necessitate me to say no to many things that contradict my focus. Sixthly, I will strive to create great experiences to their customers so as to make significant impacts in their lives. This will make them relate to my brands. Lastly, I will master the message in anything I offer in the market. This will enable me to defend the product with passion in the public domain. 9.0 Conclusion Concluding, it can acknowledge from this report that creativity and innovation are key aspects which enhance the competitiveness of a business organizations. It has been seen that the competitiveness of Apple in the market is based on its ability to innovate continuously. Its wide product range which is associated with great user experiences illustrates the importance which it has placed on innovation and creativity. For a business organization to be creative and innovative, it must be headed by a creative and innovative leader. Steve Jobs is one of the greatest creators in the computing and consumer electronics industry. Steve Jobs’ creativity and innovation was integrated into the business processes of Apple and his input can be manifested in the company’s innovative products. This report has given an insight into the background of Steve Jobs, major stages in his career, his most profound contributions, what can be attributed to his creative genius, his innovative process sand lessons learnt from him. From the report, it can be acknowledged that Steve Jobs was an ideal creator in the computing, entertainment and mobile communications industry. References All About Steve Jobs (2014). Long Bio, All About Steve Jobs, Retrieved on 2nd April 2014 from http://allaboutstevejobs.com/bio/longbio/longbio_01.php Beaver, G., & Prince, C., (2002). Innovation, entrepreneurship and competitive advantage in the entrepreneurial venture, Journal of Small Business and Enterprise Development, 9(1); 28 – 37 Deutsch, G., & Roberts, D., (2011). Steve Jobs: 7 Secrets to His Success, ABC News, Retrieved on 2nd April 2014 from http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/steve-jobs-secrets-success/story?id=14692969 Gallo, C., (2011). Steve Jobs and the Seven Rules of Success, Entrepreneur, Retrieved on 2nd April from 2014 from http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/220515 Gallo, C., & Mangan, S., (2013). The Innovation Secrets of Steve Jobs, Bolinda Audio Lam, B., (2011). The Life of Steve Jobs, Gizmodo, Retrieved on 2nd April from 2014 from http://gizmodo.com/5301470/the-life-of-steve-jobs---so-far/all Mitchell, W., & Kowalik, T.,(1999). Creative Problem Solving 3rd edition, Claris works Proctor, (2014). Chapter 3. Theories of Creativity and the Creative Problem Solving Process, 1-22 William, W., (2008). Divergent Thinking Vs. Convergent Thinking - A GT Anomaly, Education, 111(2); 208-213 Wienbergen, F., Muller, O., Seidel, S., & Becker, J., (2011). Leaving the Beaten Tracks in Creative Work - A Design Theory for Systems that Support Convergent and Divergent Thinking, Journal of the Association for Information Systems, 12(11); 714- 719 Read More