Tedded - Business Book Review

I looked at many succesful CEOs in the business world. There is a shared characteristic that they all possess, communication.

“A key, perhaps, to leadership … is the effective communication of a story.” - Howard Gardner

How do we master an ability to communicate?

Firstly, I’ll look at those who are “the masters” of communiation.

And I will look at how they did it.

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I thought of many great and successful businessmen who are great communicators. However, there is a person that stands out. He is ahead of others in terms of communication especially public communication.

Steve Jobs

It is not necessary to write too much on what a great communicator he is. I browsed through many sites in search of the ingredients or the elements of his communication power.

I read:

1. An article by Carmine Gallo in BusinessWeek (here). The author wrote that Steve Jobs 1) Sell the benefits 2) Practice 3) Keep it Visual 4) Exude Passion, Energy, and Enthusiasm 5) “And one more thing” (how he adds the drama in the ending)

2. An article by the same Carmine Gallo in BusinessWeek one year later (here). Gallo added that Steve Jobs 1) Build Tension 2) Stick to One Theme Per Slide 3) Add Pizzaz to Your Delivery 4) Practice 5) Be Honest and Show Enthusiasm. They are basically similar to the previous article.

3. An article in a blog called “Communication Nation” by Dave Gray (here). He stated that Steve Jobs 1) Prepare carefully 2) Create Drama 3) Use Pictures 4) Make It Personal 5) Have Fun

4. An article by Guy Kawasaki in his blog (here). He summarised into 10 points mainly about Minimalism, Visual, Guests, “But wait, there’s more” Moment, Human Touch, etc.

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It is easy to detect the pattern from everyone’s view that he’s enthusiastic, energetic, passionate, dramatic, and make it visual. He connects. He understands the audiences. He knows how to make them (us) feel excited. He puts massive energy into the room.

So, what should we do? Should we be more enthusiastic in everything we speak out? Should we use more pictures in our presentation?

The answer is yes; we should do what Steve Jobs does in order to communicate to other people better. However, we might not have the opportunity of Steve Jobs everyday. I’ll tell you a simple (very simple) concept from a book and I’ll connect Steve Jobs to the concept. The book is Made To Stick by Chip and Dan Heath.

I have my book review method based on the idea of this book and I will show how an ability to communicate of Steve Jobs is made to stick. The book outlines the characteristics that make ideas sticky which are SUCCES (Simple, Unexpected, Concrete, Credible, Emotion, and Stories)

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Simple

Presentations of Steve Jobs are always simple. He always started with a “theme” of the presentation. The 2008 Macworld is themed “There’s something in the air.” and that simple concept is linked with the product he presented.

This video from youtube.com is the first introduction of iMac in 1998. He clearly spoke out that iMac is for the number one use that customers were telling them what they want the computer for. Which is to “get on the Internet, simply and fast.” And that’s what “i” stood for, Internet. He later listed out other advantages of iMac but the core is simple, the computer that connects, simply and fast. Keep everything minimum.

Unexpected

The famous “one more thing” Steve Jobs love to say is one of the tools he used to drive the “unexpectedness”. Actually, it is not hundred per cent “unexpected”. It is rather that people “expect” to see the “unexpected”. The “unexpectedness” is created through long hours of practice and practice and practice.

This video is the first introduction of iPhone in 2007. Steve Jobs knew that most customers knew what was coming. However, he built tension. he made twists. He diverted customers psychologically. From the video, he tricked audiences that he was going to introduce three products, and iPod, a phone, an an internet communication device. He then built up the atmosphere of the place and hinted until the audience found out (mostly unexpectedly) and he said “Are you getting it? These are not three separated devices, this is one device. And we are calling it, iPhone”. Twist the plot.

Concrete

We all know that Steve Jobs’ presentations are highly visual. You can always see it. He showed you how to use the product. He maximised the image and visual of his products. All of us do not have that priviledge. However, from a different aspect, he can communicate in a wonderfully concrete way like the video below.

The first iPod introduction in 2001, Steve Jobs started a music industry revolution with

“1,000 songs in your pocket”

The phrase “1,000 songs in your pocket” is not only simple, but also highly concrete. People understand it right away. People know what they will get. People know what he is talking about. Make audiences understand.

Credible

Matter of fact, when Steve Jobs says anything, you should better believe that he is telling the truth. Credibility is earned by trust. Credibility is also gathered by references but Steve Jobs could not just say “Bill Gates told me that…”.

This is the video of the first iPod nano in 2005. He showed audiences that previously the original iPod and iPod mini could be in your pocket. He then pointed to the little pocket on the sides of your jeans and said that he did not know what it is for. He then cheekily said “Well, now we know, because this…” and he picked iPod nano out of that little pocket. “Is the new iPod… nano”. He demonstrated that this thing is really thin. Don’t just say it, show it.

Emotion

Steve Jobs always presented with enthusiasm and energy. The reason is that he “understands” people. He knows the audience. He exactly knows what the audience “want”. He speaks to the heart of people. He tells them what they want to hear. He connects. However, from the video below. I want to show the opposite.

The introduction of Macintosh in 1984! He did not speak much. He let Macintosh communicate! Only a man who was a genius in communication could make a computer communicate for him, well, 24 years ago. And look at the standing ovation at the end of the video. Tell me that those people were not emotional! Understand your audience.

Stories

“It is now 1984. It appears IBM… wants it ALL. Apple is perceived to be the only hope to offer IBM a run for its money. Dealers initially welcoming IBM with open arms, now fear an IBM dominated and control future. They increasingly and desperately turning back to Apple as the only force that can ensure their future freedom.”

“IBM wants it all and it is aiming its gun on its last obstacles to industry control, Apple.”

This video is more like a war cry than a corporate keynote speech. He used this speech, this story, to lay out the theme “1984″ the year he launched Macintosh. He used this story to create the sense of ownership and freedom of customers. He made customer feel that the product was not just a personal computer. It was a revolution and a symbol of freedom. Don’t talk facts, tell stories.

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Although I picked each video for each element, each video has ALL the elements. His presentation or public communication is always simple, unexpected, concrete, credible, and with emotion and stories.

“I want to put a ding in the universe.”

“Inside Steve’s Brain” by Leander Kahney is one of a very few books on Steve Jobs, the founder of Apple. The author wrote about the life of Steve Jobs and his role in Apple and how he started a company, got boot out of the company, got in again, and changed the world’s lifestyle.

Content

1. Focus: How Saying “No” Saved Apple

2. Despotism: Apple’s One-Man Focus Group

3. Perfectionism: Product Design and the Pursuit of Excellence

4. Elitism: Hire Only A Players, Fire the Bozos

5. Passion: Putting a Ding in the Universe

6. Inventive Spirit: Where Does the Innovation Come From?

7. Case Study: How It All Came Together with the iPod

8. Total Control: The Whole Widget

This book is apparently not the typical business book but let’s compare it with the ideal business book; a book that is “easy to understand, distinct, practical, credible, insightful, and provides great reading experience.”

Ease of Understanding: 7/10: Being a news editor for WIRED, Leander Kahney made it very easy to understand the life of Steve Jobs and Apple. However, the bad point of this book is that stories are repetitive. The story of “Apple II” is in most chapters as well as stories of iMac, iPod, etc. By trying to tie those stories with characteristics of Steve Jobs (as in the title of each chapter), stories of different products and people are scattered all over the book.

Distinction: 5/10: The business biography of successful businessmen is anything but new. However, there are very few options of the stories of Steve Jobs.

Practicality: 4/10: This book is not practical in a sense that not everyone can be Steve Jobs. The author also did not give us ideas that readers could apply to our lives. The “Lessons from Steve” at the end of each chapter are just what Steve Jobs did and succeed; they are not what you can and should do.

Credibility: 6/10: The title of the book “Inside Steve’s Brain” is misleading. The book is obviously not written by Steve Jobs himself. Analyses, interpretations, thoughts, and assumptions by the author are sound but they are still unconvincing. It is doubtedful and inevident that how accurate they actually resonate Steve’s thoughts.

Insightful: 8/10: This is the best aspect of this book; the author had a long list of researches, interviews, findings on Steve Jobs and Apple. It might be an overstatement but you can find interesting facts or interviews in almost every page of the book. That is truly remarkable and Steve Jobs himself might not be able to put together these pieces of information like Leander Kahney.

Reading Experience: 6/10: Well, this book is not like listening to Steve Jobs in Macworld. It was more like having a conversation with a vivid and passionate Steve Jobs and Apple fan who kept saying “Apple is a magic, the rest are rubbish.”

Overall: 6/10: If you want to know more about Steve Jobs or you love your Apple products; buy “Inside Steve’s Brain”. There is no other recent option.

Today, I am reading the same book, Inside Steve’s Brain by Leander Kahney

There was a line about Steve Jobs who is fond of the quote of Picasso

“good artists copy, great artists steal.”

And Steve Jobs add: “And we have always been shameless about stealing great ideas.”

The chapter is about innovation and Steve Jobs once said “Creativity is about connecting things,”

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I thought of my favourite book, Winning, by my favourite business figure, Jack Welch. Although the context is slightly different; Welch wrote that it is nonsense to say that best practices are not sustainable because they are easy to copy. He wroted that winning companies do two things.

They imitate and improve.

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The two anecdotes are not particularly identical but one thing we already know is that Jack Welch and Steve Jobs; despite numerous differences, describing them with the word “ego” is beyond understatement.

So the question is how do these two great egotistical innovators declared that they steal or imitate and improve shamelessly and sensibly?

Jim Collins, in Good to Great, described Level 5 leader (the leader that can bring a good company to be a great company if employed with other characteristics) as a leader with will and humility…

We can hardly describe Jobs and Welch as “humble” but another thing that Collins describe is that Level 5 leader is filled with “ego”.

However, they channel “ego” to the company, not to themselves.

In other words, if customers adore an Apple’s product and felt the product is original, Apple wins regardless of what people thought of Jobs.

if G.E. brought a new business model from another company and develop it to another level, G.E. wins regardless of what people thought of Welch.

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On the other hand, there are people who are afraid to steal or imitate and improve because

1. They channel “ego” to themselves, not the company. They are afraid to be labeled “stealer” at the expense of the future of the company

2. They have no “ego” or self-confidence or whatsoever believing that they cannot improve beyond the original and reside in their mediocrity, forever.

Therefore, we might say that stealing or imitating and improving are NOT the characteristics of weak leaders. Quite the opposite, we could hardly find other leaders who are as strong as the two mentioned.

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Are you ready to steal?