"Professional Managers"

There is absolutely NOTHING worse than people who actually WANT to manage other people.  

The bigger the company gets, the more these types of people start showing up. They typically are NOT BUILDERS and they seem to spend more time in meetings, managing up, and sending emails that nobody reads. They don't make build anything... they just... "manage." They share biiiiiiiiiiig visions and spend most their time talking about the vision, presenting the vision, and hiring large teams to execute the vision... but the vision never happens because the vision requires a lot of work and not just a bunch of delegation. The bigger the vision the more work is required. And a lot of work requires people to actually be motivated and inspired to do the work... Very few people are inspired by people who just delegate all day long. People are inspired by leaders who work really, really hard.

Signed Business Card by Steve Jobs Sells for 181K

Extremely rare, perfectly graded Steve Jobs-signed Apple Computer business card from circa 1983 (via rrauction.com):

Highly coveted circa 1983 Apple Computer business card of Steve Jobs, which is signed neatly in black ink, “steve jobs.” The off-white card, ​​3.5 x 2, features the iconic 'rainbow' version of the Apple 'byte' logo and reads: “Steven Jobs, Chairman Board of Directors,” with the company's address and contact information listed below: “10260 Bandley Drive, Cupertino, California 95014, (408) 996-1010.” In fine condition, with a faint stain on the front from an old tape stain on the back. Encapsulated and graded by PSA/DNA as "GEM MT 10."

Prior to this sale, RR Auction has offered a total of 10 Steve Jobs business cards, with just one dating to circa 1983. This offered Apple Computer business card represents our second from that elusive time frame, but it is made exponentially rarer by the presence of Jobs’s bold, neatly placed signature. Less than five Jobs-signed Apple Computer business cards—from any period—have successfully passed PSA/DNA authentication.

Taste Matters

"Use data to reinforce decisions. But don’t let data or people tell you what is or isn’t cool. No one actually knows. Make stuff you’re proud of. Stuff that you think is cool. Your taste is entirely unique. Let your taste steer your decisions. You’d be surprised how many people will begin trusting you once you begin making stuff you are proud of."

Archives: An Insanely Great Shoe

📁 don.earth archives: an insanely great shoe

10th Anniversary of Steve Job's Death

On the 10th anniversary of Steve Jobs’s death, Sir Jony Ive reflects on their collaborations and friendship:

Steve’s last words to me were that he would miss talking together. I was sitting on the floor next to his bed, my back against the wall.

After he died, I walked out into the garden. I remember the sound of the latch on the wooden door as I gently pulled it closed.

In the garden, I sat and thought how talking often gets in the way of listening and thinking. Perhaps that is why so much of our time together was spent quietly.

I miss Steve desperately and I will always miss not talking with him.

Read full article via Wall Street Journal  – also an insanely beautiful film on apple.com remembering Steve.

Steve Jobs' 2005 Stanford Commencement Speech

Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose. You are already naked.

The Picasso Way

In 1945, Pablo Picasso created "The Bull," a series of 11 lithographs that took a month to create. In the early stages, you can see the bull is very realistic – details show the bull with a snout and hooves, but with each successive print, the details disappear and the bull's form is deconstructed and simplified. The last image is completely abstract and contains only a curved stick figure that still resembles a bull.

Picasso's goal was to "find the spirit of the beast."

In one of Apple's internal training, the 11 lithographs are shown to employees as an example of how the company communicates and builds products. The idea is that a great work of art is created by eliminating non-essential details and striving for simplicity – find the essence of what you are creating. Design helps you express and communicate this essence. 

In a class at the company’s internal training program, an Apple University instructor compared the 11 lithographs of Picasso’s “The Bull” to the way Apple builds its smartphones and other devices. The idea: Apple designers strive for simplicity just as Picasso eliminated details to create a great work of art. Simplicity has always been at the core of Apple and you can see this iterative approach when you look at the history of their product design.