Insanely Simple: The Obsession That Drives Apple's Success [Kindle Edition]

Ken Segall (Author)

Book Description

To Steve Jobs, Simplicity was a religion. It was also a weapon. Simplicity isn’t just a design principle at Apple—it’s a value that permeates every level of the organization. The obsession with Simplicity is what separates Apple from other technology companies. It’s what helped Apple recover from near death in 1997 to become the most valuable company on Earth in 2011. Thanks to Steve Jobs’s uncompromising ways, you can see Simplicity in everything Apple does: the way it’s structured, the way it innovates, and the way it speaks to its customers. It’s by crushing the forces of Complexity that the company remains on its stellar trajectory. As ad agency creative director, Ken Segall played a key role in Apple’s resurrection, helping to create such critical marketing campaigns as Think different. By naming the iMac, he also laid the foundation for naming waves of i-products to come. Segall has a unique perspective, given his years of experience creating campaigns for other iconic tech companies, including IBM, Intel, and Dell. It was the stark contrast of Apple’s ways that made Segall appreciate the power of Simplicity—and inspired him to help others benefit from it. In Insanely Simple, you’ll be a fly on the wall inside a conference room with Steve Jobs, and on the receiving end of his midnight phone calls. You’ll understand how his obsession with Simplicity helped Apple perform better and faster, sometimes saving millions in the process. You’ll also learn, for example, how to:
• Think Minimal: Distilling choices to a minimum brings clarity to a company and its customers—as Jobs proved when he replaced over twenty product models with a lineup of four.
• Think Small: Swearing allegiance to the concept of “small groups of smart people” raises both morale and productivity.
• Think Motion: Keeping project teams in constant motion focuses creative thinking on well-defined goals and minimizes distractions.
• Think Iconic: Using a simple, powerful image to symbolize the benefit of a product or idea creates a deeper impression in the minds of customers.
• Think War: Giving yourself an unfair advantage—using every weapon at your disposal—is the best way to ensure that your ideas survive unscathed.Segall brings Apple’s quest for Simplicity to life using fascinating (and previously untold) stories from behind the scenes. Through his insight and wit, you’ll discover how companies that leverage this power can stand out from competitors—and individuals who master it can become critical assets to their organizations.

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

Segall worked with Steve Jobs for 12 years, as creative director at Apple and NeXT Computer, and also spent time as agency global creative director at Dell, IBM, Intel, and BMW. As the man who came up with the iconic iMac name, which launched one of the most successful product lines in history, Segall played a pivotal role in reviving Apple from near death. His close working relationship with Jobs allows him to provide insight into how Jobs’ obsession with simplicity became the driving force that informs every decision the company makes to this day, from product design to advertising, even down to the packing boxes. Segall contrasts this Apple mind-set with those of companies like Dell, Intel, and Microsoft, where complexity and a dizzying array of product choices only serve to confuse and distract customers. His recounting of high-level meetings, ad campaigns, and product-naming sessions reveals much about how Jobs’ unyielding, brutally honest approach pushed aside rivals, teams of lawyers, and everyone else who said it couldn’t be done to remake Apple into one of the most admired and valuable companies in the world. --David Siegfried

Review

A blueprint for running a company the Steve Jobs way ... should be required reading for anyone interested in management and marketing The Times Punchy ... Segall gets inside Apple's branding and marketing to explain its directness and power -- Financial Times Required reading Observer

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• File Size: 403 KB
• Print Length: 256 pages
• Publisher: Portfolio; Reprint edition (April 26, 2012)
• Sold by: Penguin Publishing
• Language: English
• ASIN: B0064W5V5C
• Text-to-Speech: Enabled
• X-Ray: Enabled
• Lending: Not Enabled
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #32,387 Paid in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Paid in Kindle Store)
  • #15 in Books > Business & Investing > Industries & Professions > Computers & Technology
  • #21 in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Business & Investing > Management & Leadership > Systems & Planning
  • #28 in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Business & Investing > Biographies & Primers > Company Histories

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

68 of 79 people found the following review helpful

2.0 out of 5 stars Good Steve stories but too much filler material April 29, 2012

By John R Chang

Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase

This book needs a dose of its own medicine. The previously unpublished stories about Steve Jobs and Apple are real gems. But in much of the rest of the book, the author mostly invokes a silly narrative of battle between Simplicity and Complexity and falls back to insipid conclusions such as "Simplicity attracts" and "Simplicity has universal appeal". Well, of course. We don't need the author to persuade us of that.

The author compares Apple to companies like Dell and Intel, which have confusing product portfolios and marketing messages. But why do they? The author credits Steve's direct involvement in the creative process and lack of patience for big meetings and formal presentations. He explains that in a good working relationship, both sides are upfront and don't withhold problems from each other, and this creates the best results. Beyond that, there's not much more insight or deep ruminations about the nature of simplicity, which I would have appreciated. I know from experience [I worked at Apple during the second Steve era] that simplicity is rarely just a matter of wielding the Simple Stick, as the author seems to suggest. (Even when it is, it sure helps to be the CEO.)

I can imagine this book started out as a personal collection of Steve stories--for which I would have gladly given 5 stars. At some point, some publisher or marketing person probably decided that this book wouldn't appeal to the masses unless it were written as a management book, so as it stands, this book also tries to dispense business advice. A Steve quote (ironically, included in this book) comes to mind: "Get rid of the crappy stuff and focus on the good stuff."

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars "I would give my life for simplicity on the other side of complexity." Oliver Wendell Holmes June 16, 2012

By Robert Morris HALL OF FAMETOP 100 REVIEWERVINE™ VOICE

Format:Hardcover

As Hannibal Lector explains to Clarice Starling in The Silence of the Lambs, the Roman emperor and philosopher, Marcus Aurelius, endorsed the idea of focusing on the essence of a subject. The French later formulated the concept of the précis. Still later, Oliver Wendell Holmes observed, "I would not give a fig for simplicity on this side of complexity but I would give my life for simplicity on the other side of complexity." All this serves to create a context, a frame of reference, for Ken Segall's brilliant analysis of what drove Steve Jobs to create an insanely great company that continues to produce insanely great products.

As Segall explains, "Simplicity doesn't spring to life with the right combination of molecules, water, and sunlight. It needs a champion - someone who's willing to stand up for its principles and strong enough to resist the overtures of Simplicity's evil twin, Complexity. It needs someone who's willing to guide a process with both head and heart." These are among the passages, themes, and concepts that caught my eye throughout Segall's lively and eloquent narrative:

o Standards Aren't for Bending (Pages 15-16)
o Small Groups = Better [Collaborative] Relationships (35- 38)
o The Perils of Proliferation (52-54)
o Thinking Different vs. Thinking Crazy (74-77)
o Simplicity's Unfair Advantage (93-95)
o Never Underestimate the Power of a Word (123-125)
o Death by Formality (132-135)
o Technology with Feeling (138-140)
o Ignoring the Naysayers: Inventing the Apple Store (180-184)

I have read all of the books written about Steve Jobs and Apple and reviewed most of them. In my opinion, with the exception of Walter Isaacson's definitive biography, none provides a more thorough explanation of Jobs's values, standards, and motivations than does this one. As Segall suggests, Jobs's greatest achievement is that he "built a monument to Simplicity."

As Jobs invariably had the last word at the conclusion of conversations and meetings, it seems appropriate that he also have the last word now:

"Simplicity can be harder than complex. You have to work hard to get your thinking clean to make it simple. But it's worth it in the end, because once you get there, you can move mountains."

16 of 20 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars A Worthwhile Treatise on Simplicity April 26, 2012

By Shlok Vaidya VINE™ VOICE

Format:Hardcover

Ken's the guy behind the i. As in the iPad, iPod. He worked with Jobs at NeXT, then at Apple again. He knows the man, the company. (Note, he worked for an agency, not Apple itself.) As a history of Apple, it supplements. If you've read the Isaacson bio, there's not a lot of elucidation. There's a couple unique stories of personalities but its not really the premise. This is a deeper look from a design perspective.

The one thing this book struggles with is Ken's passion for advertising selling product: Does advertising sell stuff? Of course. Do amazing, well designed products that solve problems sell? Of course. Which comes first? After reading this, I'm not sure.

Anyway, with echoes of The War of Art: Break Through the Blocks and Win Your Inner Creative Battles, Segall gives complexity life as a creature of such evil that it deserves a swift but utter demise. Kill it, and you will be victorious.

Is that true? Kind of.

Complexity is creating a business and sustaining it. Simplicity is creating a product and selling it to people. Two very different things, two very different approaches that probably need to be balanced. Segall is careful to state that simplicity is not base. It is not easy. It is complex and messy and the result of slashing and cutting every thing you can while keeping something whole and real and worthwhile.

And that's stuff Ken gets at and wants you to think about. Which is why this book is useful.

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