Read the biography and auto biography of succesful
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I enjoy reading biographies and autobiographies of people and most of them are highly inspirational. But nothing has ever compared to the biography Steve Jobs by Walter Issacson.
Before talking abut this book, I would like to take a step back and simply bow down to one of the greatest and most resilient and focussed of minds, unlike any other scientist or innovator, who revolutionised in more ways than one the computing world, then the music world, and then the mobile phone space... Steve Jobs, my salutations to you! And as for the book, it is astounding in every sense of the word. Walter Isaacson had an easy and a difficult task handed to him at the same time when he was given this opportunity (which many would have killed for) to write a biopic about Steve Jobs. Easy because there would hardly be few such CEOs who have seen the peaks of the mountains and the depths of the valleys in such short space of time and had this undying spirit to fight back whenever the chips were down... such an adventurous tale to tell. Difficult because how do you start to define and project Jobs, such a complex character whom you can love and hate at the same time, whom you can respect for his work and loathe for his mannerisms, whom you can draw inspiration from and whom you would still never completely want to be. Walter Isaacson, in my view, has done a brilliant job to portray this immense personality so beautifully that while reading the book I felt I was on a journey with Jobs, living through his initial Apple days, his subsequent departure, his move to NeXT, his purchase of Pixar, his return to Apple, his battle with cancer... everything seemed to unfold in front of me, the release of Toy Story, the launch of iPod, iPhone and then iPad, his rivalry and then camaraderie with Bill Gates... every eccentric behaviour of his made me either smile or cringe, when he tries to teach the glass manufacturing process to the CEO of Corning (a glass manufacturer!), his obsession with building the perfect stores for Apple Stores and then the perfect institution with Apple University, his ruthless behaviour towards those he considered were not 'A category' players.
Walter Isaacson highlights the achievements of Jobs with enough back-stories behind each so that we start to appreciate the smallest details of each of his products better, but does not stop himself from bringing to the surface the obsession of Jobs that at times bordered on the realms of insanity and craziness which made him so difficult to work with.
So does this book just let you know more about one of the great icons to have walked amongst us? No. The book leaves you with a better understanding about what true artistry is all about. While comparing Steve Jobs with the likes of Picasso or Da Vinci would be bold, the obsession and ambition to create similar great stuff was what made Jobs tick. The desire to contribute and revolutionise his areas of expertise is what drove him. And when matched with good business acumen, what you get is one of the greatest brands in corporate culture --> Apple. On a personal note, the book Steve Jobs has left me with a deep sense of feeling of contributing immensely to my own area of work. The man Steve Jobs, whose legacy will never be forgotten, has shown me that it can be done. RIP, Steve Jobs.
The Third Metric to Success By Arianna Huffington. Losing My Virginity By Richard Branson. The Snowball: Warren Buffett & The Business of Life. Hard Drive: Bill Gates & The Making of Microsoft.