Customer Reviews

Inside Steve's Brain

5 star:		(12)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Note: The review that follows is of the Expanded Edition.

In my review of an earlier edition, I observed that, paradoxically, Steve Jobs continues to be one of the best known and yet least understood CEOs in recent business history. It is probably true that most of those who once worked or who now work at Apple Computer will learn more about Jobs as they read Leander Kahney's book and the subsequent Expanded Edition than they knew previously. For years, they and others shared the opinions expressed in this brief excerpt from the Introduction:

"Jobs is a control extraordinaire. He's also a perfectionist, an elitist, and a taskmaster to employees. By most accounts, Jobs is a borderline loony. He is portrayed as a basket case who fires people in elevators, manipulates partners, and takes credit for others' achievements. [Alan Deutschman, The Second Coming of Steve Jobs, Pages 59, 197, 239, 243, 254, 294-95 and Jeffrey S. Young, icon: Steve Jobs, The Greatest Second Act in the History of Business, Pages 212, 213, and 254]. Recent biographies paint an unflattering portrait of a sociopath motivated by the basest desires - to control, to abuse, to dominate. Most books about Jobs are depressing reads. They're dismissive, little more than catalogs of tantrums and abuse. No wonder he's called them `hatchet jobs.' Where's the genius?" All or at least some of this is may be true and yet....

He is a "control freak" and yet "throughout his career, Jobs has struck up a long string of productive partnerships - both personal and corporate. Jobs's success has depended on attracting great people to do great work for him. He's always chosen great collaborators [as well as] "forged (mostly) harmonious relationships with some of the world's top brands - Disney, Pepsi, and the big record labels." Kahney also points out that "through judicious use of both the carrot and the stick, Jobs has managed to retain and motivate lots of top-shelf talent...and then given them the freedom to be creative and shielded them from the growing bureaucracy at Apple." As Jobs sees it, "My job is to create a space for them, to clear out the rest of the organization and keep it at bay."

In this Expanded Edition, Kahney provides a new chapter devoted entirely to issues concerning Jobs's battle with pancreatic cancer. In a rare memo to the entire company, on August 1, 2004, he offered a number if reassurances, notably that the neuroendocrine or islet-cell tumor is curable by surgery if diagnosed in time, that the operation had already occurred, and that there was no need for follow-up radiation or chemotherapy treatments. All seemed to go well for the next two years and then, at Apple's Worldwide Developers Conference, Jobs appeared frail, indeed "emaciated" despite claims to the contrary by Apple spokespersons that his health was "robust." Only much later did he admit that his health-related issues were much more serious than previously indicated. What Kahney has to say about subsequent developments is best revealed within the narrative, in context, such as the increasingly more important role that Apple's COO, Tim Cook, has in the company, although Jobs continued as CEO.

During his research for the first edition of this book, Kahney was struck by Jobs's apparent preoccupation with death, indicated by how many times he mentioned it as the driving force in his life. In a commencement speech to the graduating class at Stanford in 2005, he observed, "Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose. You are already naked. There is no reason not to follow your heart." This perspective helps to explain why Jobs has always been so impatient, so demanding, and so contemptuous of anything and anyone that is not "insanely great."

Obviously, the Apple culture has been an extension of Jobs's personality and style. To me, his brain resembles a minefield, a lush garden filled with beautiful flowers and plants, a fireworks display, a demolition derby, a six-year old's birthday party, a torture chamber, a vast green meadow, a shooting gallery, and a state fair. When he was in good health and centrally involved, it was never dull. With Jobs, nothing ever is. Although there is other new material in this book, Chapter 9 (what is now the concluding chapter) will probably be of greatest interest to those who ask, "What will happen to Apple after Steve Jobs is no longer involved?" No matter what happens, it does seem certain that an Apple without him will be different and perhaps he would be disappointed if it weren't.

I'm fascinated with success stories, for some reason Steve Job's heroic journey has captivated me more than most. I mean the man has VISION, so sorely in absentia as regards contemporary leadership, and that might be understating things, lol. Say what you will about Mr. Jobs; THE MAN HAS VISION! and executes on same.

Mr. Kahney simply tells a great story and documents his POV nicely. That's it, this is a great story wonderfully told. I couldn't put it down.

As well, this fun ride isn't a bad business management, leadership tool either; each chapter having interesting summations of Mr. Job's and Apple's methodology as relates to company and product successes, while also detailing why some things did not work.

I highly recommend this book.

Steve Jobs is the one man band that revolutionized computers in the 1970s and 80s (with Apple II and Mac), animated movies in the 1990s (with Pixar), and digital music in the 2000s (with the iPod and ITunes). More than 100 million iPods were sold by November 2007, and it's on track for 300 million by the end of 2009. Sony's Walkman, the current biggest hit, sold 350 million in its 15-year reign. Ninety percent of all music players sold are an iPod, and the iTunes online store has sold 3 billion songs. The impact of these innovations is that Apple's market capitalization increased $150 billion since Steve's return, and he has been named "The Best Performing CEO" by Harvard Business Review (Jan-Feb, 2010) and 'CEO of the Decade' by Fortune Magazine (11/05/2009). "Inside Steve's Brain" is part biography and part leadership guide. It picks up with Jobs return to Apple in 1997.

Jobs was forced out of Apple in 1985; he had taken it public in 1980, but it had degenerated into nonstop squabbling - including Jobs vs. his self-selected CEO Scully (formerly at Pepsi). After leaving Apple, Jobs founded NeXT, with the purpose of selling advanced computers to schools and putting Apple out of business; he also bought a struggling computer graphics company from George Lucas, propped it up for a decade with $60 million of his own money, and renamed it 'Pixar.' By 1995 it had brought out the first fully computer-animated movie,'Toy Story,' in 1995 and wowed movie-goers. (Disney bought Pixar from Jobs in 2006 for $7.4 billion, making Jobs its largest stockholder.)

NeXT hardware failed to catch on - sold 50,000 units in 8 years, so Jobs concentrated on software for niche customers like the CIA. This software became the foundation for Mac OS X when he was invited back in 1996 as a consultant when Apple, led by Gil Amelio, bought the company as part of the deal for $427 million. Apple paid largely with stock so that 'Jobs would have skin in the game.' (Apple's market share had slid from 10% to 3%, Jobs wasn't certain it would survive, and quickly sold all but one of the shares.) The old Mac OS had turned into a bloated patchwork, with frequent crashes and lots of lost data. A rewrite name Copland was going nowhere. Jobs simplified the revised OS - eg. reducing the former 8 ways to access folders. The effort took 2.5 years by nearly 1,000 programmers, with Jobs heavily involved all the way - especially with the graphics.

Jobs began with a product review aimed a cutting its confusing number of products with little distinguishing them, replaced most of the board and all but one of top management, resolved a bitter patent lawsuit with Microsoft (dropped patent violation charges vs. Windows in return for Microsoft continuing to develop Office for Mac, investing $150 million in Apple, and Apple making Internet Explorer Apple's default browser), killed production by clone-makers, cut the number of suppliers (IBM + Motorola to just Motorola) while getting better deals, and dramatically cut the number of hardware and software products - focusing on a matrix of portables, desktops vs. consumers, professionals. (The latter also allowed dramatic inventory reductions.) Amelio had cut nearly 300 projects, Jobs took the remaining 50 down to 10 - this included dropping the hand-held Newton and printers. (Jobs had the foresight to skip PDAs, seeing that cell phones would take over that market.)

Nearly half of returned electronic products have been found to perform as intended - the problem was that consumers gave up trying to make them work after about 20 minutes. With Jobs, what was left in both hardware and software was as important as was left out - simplicity was his prime focus throughout.

'Inside Steve's Brain' continues in this vein in much less detail up to the present - overall allowing readers to understand the thinking process of this modern day Michelangelo. It also contains (vs. original) an added chapter on Jobs' illness and thoughts on Apple's future.

I recommend this book. It is half bigraphical, half managment and half historical documentary. The star is Steven Jobs...who's behavior is generally reprehensible.....but justfied by the result. The book doesn't judge, it recounts stories of Jobs's interactions upon his return to a broken company. While it is clear from chapter 1 that Jobs is the bad guy in the book, you kind of look for him to save Apple throught his totalitarian ways.

Well written, and never slow moving, the book is well worth the $24 I paid at the airport. My only regret is that I will have to purchase the revised and expanded version of this book as Jobs continues his wildly successful rip and tear through conventional thinking beyond the MP3 players and Cell Phones he did yesterday.

I enjoyed this book immensely. Not since Edwin Land made Polaroid what it was has there been a company so dominated by one individual. This book does an excellent job of showing the extent to which Steve Jobs IS Apple. Well written, an interesting read. Bought and read my copy from Amazon.ca and sent a copy from Amazon.com to my son.

This is a great book if you are in business or just admire Steve Jobs. It teaches you a lot. I really recommend it. For those of you though that think this is a Biography IT IS NOT. It is well written.

Ever wondered why Apple always seems two steps ahead of everyone else? Ever wondered why their products look and feel so good in your hands? Ever wondered why Pixar, since 1985's Toy Story, seems to crank out a hit a year-every year without a dud?

Then read this book.

"Great products are not made by democracies. Sometimes it takes an absolute tyrant."

This is a very interesting read about the way that Steve Jobs takes care of his products and his way of thinking. It's very well written and very interesting material.

I just finished reading this using the Kindle Software on my iPad. I was once a Mac user and went to PC in the early 90's. I serviced, trained and worked on PC for more than decade before finally switching back to Apple. It all started with my switch from Zune to iPod Touch.

Reading this book explains exactly what happened to me along the way. The design, the closed platform and trouble free operation of Apple products as well as the packaging and marketing are all very carefully planned at Apple. Apple is an American icon and truly a unique innovation company.

This is a great book about the company that Steve built and why it will be around and ahead of the competition long after Jobs leaves the company.

I enjoyed reading this one. It is definitely inspiring and informative. Go for it. You won't regret this purchase. If you are interested in reading about early Apple History, or how some of these products were designed, this is the book for you.