Steve Jobs didn’t build any of his companies over night. They took months, years, sweat and tears. There were goals set and then reset time and time again. But one thing Steve Jobs was able to do was stay focused. It was his relentless focus on the company objectives that set his companies a part from the competition and helped him create revolutionary products. In the 20 minute piece posted below, Steve and the original NeXT employees are seen at a company retreat while they focus and plot their future growth. A very insightful piece for anyone starting a company or looking to start a company.
Interesting enough I came across a related post by the talented David Perel, co-founder of the obox design. In his post, Laser Focus, he discusses how he and his brother, Marc, had lost their focus at the beginning of 2012. The idea of dollar signs verses building great products got the best of them. And I must admit I completely understand how that can happen. But David and Marc came back to the same kind of realization that Steve Jobs did. That true success comes from the love and passion of building the quality products rather than just turning a quick buck. It is that love and passion that will turn into that financial success. As David says “Businesses aren’t sprints, they’re marathons”.
Anyone can create something quickly but this isn’t sustainable in the long term. Products built on passion and have every detail scrutinized over are the ones that users continually come back to and allow you as a business owner to grow your business on. I’ve seen this “quick turnover just for a buck” mentality in the Advertising world for years. Designers who at one time were passionate about their craft are now burnt out from doing poorly conceived flyers and coupon ads. Even consumers are burnt out on these types of ads. That’s why they’ve been labeled junk mail.
As designers and developers, we need to bring the passion and love back into our work. Create work, products, solutions that are labours of love and focused on a future of growth and sustainability as both obox, Steve Jobs and countless others have done. This will help lead to better fulfillment in your career, life and for your users. We must find the love that got us into our respective disciplines before we can find our own financial successes.
