Questions Elliott pp. xi- 54.

1. How does the author perceive Jobs as a person? What traits did he show?

The author has many ways of perceiving Steve as a person, but they were all consistent with
each other. He saw Jobs as a great man, who had a passion for thinking outside the box and
delivering the best product. He was a man who was strong in his convictions and wanted things
to be done the way he thought it should be done. He was someone who expected a great deal
from himself and his peers. Sometimes he was hardnosed and stubborn to listen to the opinions
of others. But he was also a man who took the failure personally and learned from those
mistakes.

The traits that were described are just as many, but they were a mix of many words, so I
combined them into two traits that really stood out. The first trait that Jobs had was his passion,
fiery attitude. He was very passionate about what he was doing. Jobs believed with all his might
that he was changing the world with the products at Apple. He would immerse himself as much
as he could into the whole process of the product. His attitude was fueled by his passion. He
wanted his products to be created a certain way, and when product engineers and designers
would tell him “no”, he would not hear it. His next set of traits is that he is a visionary trailblazer.
Jobs had visions of better products and user-friendly products of the future. For example, having
only one button for the iPhone, or having a fan-less computer. These ideas and vision for a better
future made Jobs who he was. A man with a fiery attitude that fueled his passions to be a
trailblazer whose visions were thought to be crazy.

2. Jobs’ passion wasn’t just to create great products. What other visions did he have? How
did they translate into products?

Being the ultimate consumer himself, Jobs wanted the best for the customers. He was
thinking about what he could do in order to create a product that appealed to the masses, and
would send out a culture shock. His biggest pride at a point in time was the Lisa project. The
desktop computer released by Apple. Which also had a mouse to help with commands, again
 making things simpler for the consumer. He was so immersed into that project it was almost
a danger to himself and the team working on it. The books mentioned how Steve loved
music, so that passion led to his idea of creating the iPod and iTunes to enhance consumer
satisfactions when it came to music. Jobs was always thinking about the consumers. So much
he had this strict way of going about things. Everything product project that was being
created needed to be very detailed. He would sometimes wake up in the middle of the night
with an eureka moment on what changes needed to be done immediately. This passion and
instinct to create new and improved technology was what made Steve and Apple’s products
so successful.

3. What was Jobs’ vision for a product in terms of ease of use? Discuss his direction on the
iPhone.

As I said in the previous question, Jobs was the ultimate consumer. He was always thinking
of ways to make life easier with technology. The mouse for the desktop computer, the iPod and
iTunes for music. Everything he did was to make things easier for the customer. He constantly
thought about every aspect of the customer experience. How something would feel, the visual
appeal, size, you name a part of the experience, and Steve thought of a way to enhance it. Jobs
did not want the consumer to like the product, he wanted them to love it. This fueled his passions
even further. He did not like technology that was offered so he used his creativity ability and his
passion for better to create state of the art technology. He wanted things to be simple, just like
Henry Ford, one of Steve’s idols, did with the Model A. (Elliot, pp 22). Steve loved the idea of a
mobile device, but hated how it was bulky and was hard to use and handle. His idea for the
iPhone was to have one button. With that idea, it was a constant battle of the engineers saying it
is not possible, and Steve in turn telling them to make it work. And as Elliot says in the book,
“The original iPhone only had one control button” (Elliot, 23).

4. Discuss the poster “Why Join the Navy When You can be a Pirate” in terms of Jobs’
project management direction. Did he believe in the traditional group approach?
 Job’s felt that as Apple grew, it would become a cookie cutter type of organization. That was
far against the type of person Steve was. He wanted to be unconventional in his ways. He also
did not want his project teams to become bland. I believe Jobs was symbolizing the Navy as
bland. Everyone who joins is the same, and does not get the opportunity to think for themselves.
However, a pirate is someone who goes against the traditional ways of the world. Steve did not
believe in traditional groups. He thought small groups who thought as pirates on one singular
project was the method of doing things. Being a pirate to Steve was the impression of thinking
outside the box, and again, going about his business unconventionally (Elliott, pp 39-44).

References
Elliot, J & Simon, W. (2011). The Steve Jobs Way (pp. xi-54). Philadelphia, PA: Vanguard Press