“First of all, you are not Steve Jobs,” Doug Hardy writes for Forbes. “As the tsunami of well-deserved hagiography surges through the business press, entrepreneurs can be forgiven the temptation to discover the trick or method that will turn them into world-changing geniuses.”
“Copying the outward appearances of Steve Jobs, his behaviors and quirks, rather than internalizing his principles, is the temptation of every wannabe business revolutionary,” Hardy writes. “Also, expecting similar business results just by aping his particular tastes won’t make you magic or power your stock price. Ask Microsoft.”
Making the most of Jobs’ lessons is a matter of unraveling what made him great from what made great copy, and so here are a few distinctions:
• Temperamental is not the same as demanding
• Pretty is not the same as beautiful
• Choosing the best ideas is not the same as having the best ideas
• Persistence is not the same as stubbornness
• Presenting brilliantly is not the same as having something brilliant to present
• Being successful is not the same as never failing
• Don’t be Steve
Hardy writes, “Studying Steve Jobs’ personality and achievements, the word ‘inimitable’ comes to mind, and in that word might be the most important lesson. The way to succeed like Jobs is to reflect on how he worked and how he lived and why he succeeded. He was an original, and the surest way to fail is to imitate him.”
Read more in the full article, including explanations of the bullet points above, here.
[Thanks to MacDailyNews Reader “Ellis D.” for the heads up.]