Cliff Michaels's Blog, page 6

Remembering Steve Jobs – The Crazy One

He was a dreamer, a misfit, and one of the crazy ones. Perhaps “The Crazy One.” He built one of the most endurable brands in history. He created not one, but multiple revolutions in technology, music, entertainment, and entrepreneurial thinking. He even master-minded one of the most popular advertising campaigns ever seen: Think Different: the original Apple commercial paying tribute to The Crazy Ones. It featured 17 iconic figures (Albert Einstein, Bob Dylan, Martin Luther King, Jr., Richard Branson, John Lennon, Buckminster Fuller, Thomas Edison, Muhammad Ali, Ted Turner, Maria Callas, Mahatma Gandhi, Amelia Earhart, Alfred Hitchcock, Martha Graham, Jim Henson, Frank Lloyd Wright, Pablo Picasso).

On October 5, 2011, we lost Apple visionary, Steve Jobs. He leaves behind an entrepreneurial spirit we may not see again for generations. His biography (Steve Jobs) by Walter Isaacson reveals the full  saga of a complex soul that seemed to vacillate, at least occasionally, between genius and madness. In Isaacson’s words, we discover a “deeply emotional, sometimes mean, even anti-social human being .. who lived in his own “altered reality.” But we also marvel at a creative mind who had intolerance for mediocrity and a passion for what’s possible.

It’s hard to hear the phrase “think different” and not picture the Apple logo. So when I heard Steve Jobs had passed away, I thought about one of  favorite stories in The 4 Essentials of Entrepreneurial Thinking. It’s from Essential 1, Life Skill 6 …

Practice with Purpose (from The 4 Essentials)

… Most of us know the story of garage start up Apple Computers and co-Founder Steve Jobs. We also know the legacy comparisons to Microsoft Founder Bill Gates. Volumes have been written about both computer giants so I can offer little more to their biographies. But there’s a lesson I picked up watching a 2010 Apple commercial comparing PC to Mac. Like The Crazy Ones, it opened my mind to a new definition for entrepreneurial thinking and what we might remember most about Jobs.

In a cheeky ad campaign, Apple enjoys poking fun at the many versions of Microsoft’s operating systems and history of problems. It’s not as if Apple never had to make improvements, but since the PC is known to crash more, the audience gets the joke. The commercial is smart marketing, but I came away with a totally different take than the one Apple intended. I came away with a core principle I’m certain Jobs intended. Most of you know the commercial. It goes like this:

A young, hip-looking kid in jeans stands next to an older-looking guy wearing a suit and eyeglasses. The hip one is symbolic of Jobs and Mac-lovers, the other of Gates and PC-lovers.

Kid Mac: “Hello, I’m a Mac.”

PC Gates (smiling): “And I’m a PC. Hey Mac, did you hear the good news? Windows 7 is out and it’s not gonna have any of the problems that my last

operating system had. Trust me.”

Kid Mac (suspiciously): “I feel like I’ve heard this before, PC.”

For the next 60 seconds, we see PC Gates in progressively outdated leisure suits, insisting each new version of the Microsoft operating software won’t have

problems of previous versions …

PC Gates: “Windows Vista is here and it won’t have any of the problems

Windows XP had, or any of the problems Windows ’98 had, or any of the problems Windows ’95 had.”

By the time the commercial is over, we’ve flashed back 20 years and PC Gates is now wearing an ’80s Miami-Vice-Don-Johnson-wannabe outfit with flip-lens sunglasses. And then comes the final line …

PC Gates: (winking) “… It’s not gonna have any of the problems Windows 2 had. This time it’s gonna be different. Trust me.”

What I gleaned from this little history lesson wasn’t that Mac was better than PC, or Apple better than Microsoft, or Jobs better than Gates. I’ve used both PC and Mac. There are pros and cons to both. My epiphany was that Gates and Jobs never stopped innovating. Microsoft was still working out the kinks on Windows 7.0 when I wrote this. The next version won’t have any problems of the previous one — trust me. Nonetheless, Gates owned the software industry for decades in spite of glitch after glitch. Why? Persistent and passionate innovation.

Similarly, Jobs took us through not one, but multiple revolutions. How? He was never satisfied with the first incarnations of his home computer: Apple Lisa, Apple II, or Macintosh. He always wanted his next iteration to be “insanely great.” Jobs then rocked our music world by developing i-Tunes and turning the music industry upside down. And wasn’t that first i-Pod® good enough? Don’t be silly. By the time you read this, new versions of iPads and iPhones will be in stores. “Get rid of the crappy stuff,” said Jobs. Focus on SOMETHING GREAT!

Sadly, Steve Jobs passed away too young. We won’t see the likes of him for some time (but I hope we do). Fortunately, his core lesson lives on … “Think different … Don’t be trapped by dogma and other people’s thinking … Have the courage to follow your heart and intuition … They somehow already know what you truly want to become.”

When we look at this complex man, we come to terms with a singular fact … Jobs was one of the Crazy Ones. He is revered as a genius not because of his perfection but his imperfections. He never stopped asking, “What if — how can I make it better?” We classify him as modern-day Mozart because he innovated with passion and practiced with purpose. For any of us to harness these principles, we can’t wonder if our latest effort is good enough. That’s easy. It’s good enough for today. If the goal is “insanely great,” then the genius question is “What’s next …?”

Thank you, Steve. (R.I.P.)

Remembering Steve Jobs – The Crazy One

He was a dreamer and a misfit who built one of the most endurable brands in history. He took us through revolutions in computers, music, and entertainment. He even master-minded one of the most popular advertising campaigns in history: Think Different: The Crazy Ones (featuring 17 iconic figures from Albert Einstein, Thomas Edison, Pablo Picasso, Bob Dylan and John Lennon to Richard Branson, Muhammad Ali, Ted Turner, Mahatma Gandhi, Amelia Earhart and Martin Luther King, Jr.).

And on October 5, 2011, we lost Steve Jobs. He left behind an entrepreneurial spirit we may not see for a long time. His biography (Steve Jobs by Walter Isaacson) reveals the saga of a complex soul who vacillated between genius and madness. In Isaacson’s words, we discover a “deeply emotional, sometimes mean, anti-social human being … who lived in his own altered reality.” But we also discovered a creative mind with a passion for what’s possible and no space for mediocrity.

When he passed away, I thought about one of the essays I wrote in The 4 Essentials of Entrepreneurial Thinking. I had a little fun comparing Gates to Jobs and Mozart to Tiger Woods in order to dispel the myth of born genius, born entrepreneur, and take on a bit of Malcolm Gladwell’s Outlier Theory that suggests 10,000 hours or 10 years of practice are secrets to success (yes and no in my book).

Most of us know the stories of Apple founder Steve Jobs and Microsoft founder Bill Gates. Volumes have been written about both juggernauts so I can offer little to their biographies. But there’s a unique lesson I picked up watching a 2010 Apple commercial comparing PC to Mac. In its cheeky ad campaign, Apple pokes fun at the ongoing glitches of Microsoft’s operating system. Apple had similar bugs throughout its storied past, but since Microsoft’s PC is known to crash more than Apple products, the audience gets the joke. The commercial is clever but I came away with a totally different take than the one intended. It starts with a hip-looking kid i jeans (Jobs), standing next to a geeky, older guy in a suit and glasses (Gates). The next 60 seconds goes something like this …

Kid Mac: “Hello, I’m a Mac.”

PC Gates: “And I’m a PC. Hey Mac, did you hear the good news? Windows 7 is out and it’s not gonna have any of the problems that my last operating system had. Trust me.”

Kid Mac: (suspiciously): “I feel like I’ve heard this before, PC.” For the remainder of the commercial, we see PC Gates in decade-old leisure suits, insisting each new version of Microsoft’s operating software won’t have the previous problems.

PC Gates: “Windows Vista won’t have any problems Windows XP had, or any problems Windows ’98 had, or any problems Windows ’95 had … or any problems Windows 2 had. This time it’s gonna be different. Trust me (winking).”

What I gleaned from this time-capsule wasn’t that Mac was better than PC, Apple better than Microsoft, or Jobs better than Gates. My epiphany was that neither guy ever stopped innovating. Microsoft was still working out the kinks on Windows 7.0 when I wrote this. By the time you read this, the latest versions of iPads and iPhones will be in stores for at least 12 months anyway (trust me, wink-wink).

So as we remember Steve Jobs, we have to ask, “Was he a genius or just crazy enough to be obsessed with a passion for excellence?” After all, Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak was the original tech guy but could never have created Apple Computers the multi-billion dollar empire without a crazy sidekick. Jobs was the visionary and marketing guy who told us everything was “insanely great!” For Jobs, crazy was as much about form and beauty as function. And for that reason, he was more of a poet and artist than Gates even though both were crazy enough to think they could change the world.

Fortunately, Jobs left behind some of that crazy poetry, mantras that almost every artist and entrepreneurs alike know…

“Think different … Don’t be trapped by dogma and other people’s thinking … Have the courage to follow your heart and intuition … They somehow already know what you truly want to become.”

With all his foibles, we admire Jobs not because of his perfection, but his imperfections. He told us to never stop asking, “What if ?” To that end, we classify him as modern-day Mozart who played with passion and practiced with purpose.

For any of us to harness the essential legacy of Steve Jobs, we can’t wonder rest on our laurels. If the goal is “insanely great,” then the crazy question is “What’s next?”

Thank you, Steve. (R.I.P.)

The post Remembering Steve Jobs – The Crazy One appeared first on Cliff Michaels Academy.

Unleash Your Entrepreneurial Soul

From classroom to boardroom and battle field to playing field, we’re all entrepreneurs. Be it an artist, athlete, or CEO, we have much to learn from pioneers who boldly go where others only dream. This includes the intern in the mail room or barista in a coffee shop. By definition, entrepreneurs lie awake at night with a driving force that says, “There’s a better way.”

At the core is imagination, a search for innovation, and a mission to improve the human experience. These aren’t principles reserved for business owners. Innovators are the dreamers and passion weavers within companies and communities; no less deserving of the moniker “ENTREPRENEUR.” In fact, they are essential to visionaries and pioneering founders. Without the crazy and passionate souls who serve as equal-parts friend, mentor, and thought-provoker, the great ones would never be boat rockers!

There are no self-made or born entrepreneurs. Those cliches are tired phrases we should dismiss from the entrepreneurial myth. Everyone had a leg up and support system, even those who came from poverty and worked alone. Somewhere along the line, we all studied the principles of others. Strangers became our finest teachers. We did the work required.

In my career, I’ve built companies in technology, consulting, and education. I was hardly a born-entrepreneur. Just a misfit who wanted to be a soccer player. But injuries got the best of me in high school. At 18, it was time to find my calling. I had no formal mentors coming from divorced parents and a home-alone environment; so I hung out in bookstores and libraries, hoping the answers were a page turn away in success books and magazines. Not quite. Fun stories to be sure. But no hands-on experience.

In high school, I always wanted to be a journalist. Just before my freshman year in college however, I opted for a career in real estate, thinking it was more practical. Those books and late night informercials made it sound so easy. What I really had to do was hit the streets. Thousands of doors to knock on. Thousands of offers. Thousands of rejections. Thousands of questions. Thousands of thank-you notes. Many lessons and mentors along the way. If by “making millions in your spare time” they meant 18-hour days, sleepless nights, and countless failures, well, then sure, it was easy. 10 years and 10,000 hours later, as author of Outliers, Malcolm Gladwell would say, things came a bit easier.

When I ended up writing my own book on success principles, The 4 Essentials of Entrepreneurial Thinking, it finally hit me. From party planner to business globetrotter, successful people use the same question quiver to jump-start ideas regardless of age, vocation, education, or socio-economic status.

Be it a surfer, Silicon Valley engineer, or international girl of mystery, the SECRET QUESTIONS are:

What if ? Why not ? When can we start ? Who do we know that’s been down this road ? What worked? What didn’t? What lessons were learned ?

The best follow-up question to these “what ifs” and “why nots” is “What’s the best use of my time and effort?” I’m convinced the most successful entrepreneur masters this question, then decides to hyper-focus on unique abilities. From there, it’s passion, practice, purpose, and persistence.

And a true entrepreneur never asks, “Will I have to work overtime?”

The answer is, “You bet … and you’re gonna love it!”

Cliff Michaels’ Giving Back Mission

Most of us are blessed with access to plenty of food, shoes, shelter, education, medicine, and clean water. Over a billion people don’t have such luxuries. Kids are at risk. 1 in 7 are hungry. Millions are physically and emotionally challenged. There are communities without schools and schools without books. Disaster relief is essential on all corners of the globe (Earthquakes, Tsunamis, Hurricanes). There’s much work to be done in terms of health care and disease control (Malaria, Cancer, AIDS).

When You Buy, We Give

Through the years, I’ve supported a variety of causes and consulted many non-profits. To make a difference, I also launched a Giving Back Mission in 2012 when The 4 Essentials of Entrepreneurial Thinking debuted #1 on Amazon and hit #3 on the NY Times Bestseller List. With each book and e-course sold, over 10,000 free books & courses went to students and schools in need with a portion of proceeds also going to global causes. That mission continues today (1 for 1).

As the Talmud says, “If not now, when?” So let’s volunteer, mentor youth, or donate time, money, and resources. Give away books you don’t read or shoes and clothes you don’t wear. Sponsor a child or family in need. Rally friends to walk, sing, or dance on someone’s behalf. And as Gandhi said, “Be the change you wish to see in the world.”

Together, we make a difference.

Cliff Michaels