Rereading the Steve Jobs Biography
Got the urge to reread the Steve Jobs biography after many years. Still moved by it.
Born Abandoned, A Life-Shaping Event
Looking back at my own life trajectory, two words, “poverty” and “inferiority”, have influenced me deeply. “Influence” means touching every part of life, right to the bone.
One striking point: the design concept behind the Apple products I use daily, like computers, phones (all those apps), tablets, and headphones, is related to Jobs’s experience of being abandoned at birth (though not the only factor). That experience made him extremely insecure, driven to control every aspect of life. So unlike the open nature of Windows and Android, Mac and iOS are closed systems with deeply integrated hardware and software. (Beyond his childhood abandonment, there’s also his perfectionism, especially the influence of his father, who taught him that even the unseen parts of products should be meticulously crafted.)
Don’t Pursue Perfection, Release on Time
As a product designer, I hate when development timelines aren’t under control. In this field, the boss often disrupts progress. They might “casually” set an unattainable deadline, change requirements frequently during development, or fuss about seemingly trivial details when the team is already scrambling. Jobs led the development at Apple, NeXT, and Pixar under tight timelines, enforced deadlines, and faced constant shifts and nitpicking. His teams delivered products each time, but honestly, none were perfectly on time. Maybe only career managers (a Christian term: “hirelings”) achieve perfect and punctual delivery. A true entrepreneur or “parent” of a product cares about the product growing strong and looking good. This urgency to make it better drives them to think and pursue relentlessly, regardless of time and place.
Employees, career managers (hirelings), founders/product “parents”—everyone has different perspectives and pursuits. Writing this, I realize I don’t need to transform into someone who “doesn’t pursue perfection, releases on time”; I need to change my stance, not become a “hireling.”
Motivation and Passion
The most important thing in making a great product or working a job is the underlying motivation and passion. Apple’s allure lies in Jobs’s passion infused in it. Whether Apple’s personal computers or the iPod music products. In contrast, Bill Gates and Microsoft lack this. Though they are still a commercial success. When you’re genuinely passionate about something, “the process becomes the reward.” You enjoy it, delight in it, and strive for excellence.
Pursue the Ultimate Experience, Don’t Just Be a Nice Guy
Jobs wasn’t exactly a nice guy. He had personality flaws, even moral ones, like honesty problems. In product design, he was arrogant, self-centered, and left a trail of failures. Hardly anyone found working with Jobs pleasant; he was capricious and inconsiderate of others’ feelings, often resorting to coercion, belittlement, and irony to change people’s thoughts and will (some tactics of his famous reality distortion field). But those who worked with him to the end would feel immense satisfaction—it was an ultimate, perfect piece of art.
This is precisely what I lack and find perplexing as a Christian. Among Christians, gentleness, humility, peace, valuing others above oneself, and sober judgment is common. Emphasizing principles, tackling issues, and standing one’s ground is rare. Of course, my perpetual “nice guy” role stems not just from the influence of Christian teachings (likely I misinterpreted them), but also from my own inferiority and people-pleasing nature.
Personal Value, Desires, and Returning to Faith
A few weeks ago, I read the biography of missionary Sam Pollard, ‘Loving China with Life,’ and as a Christian, I was deeply moved and inspired. Rereading Jobs’s biography, of course, fires me up as a designer. What designer wouldn’t want to create products that influence others, change the world? Or be part of such designs? In past work with Liulishuo, I did make my own contributions, but that’s in the past. Jobs reignited that spark.
However, I need to view personal ambitions under the lens of Christian faith. God is the Creator, the greatest designer. God made humans in His image to rule over all things. He delights in us using the gifts and abilities He gives us to create, glorifying Him in the process. This is unquestionable. Yet human pride often leads us away from God, trying to take God’s glory and place ourselves on equal footing with Him (like in the Tower of Babel incident).