"I have not failed. I've just found 10,000 ways that won't work."
~ Thomas Alva Edison
When I am faced with a challenge that seems overwhelming and just too big, I get really irritated when someone tells me something like “Failure just means you haven't succeeded yet” or they offer the pithy “Hang in there!”. The people who offer these motivational quotes tend to always say the same thing. It doesn't matter if you stubbed your toe, are worried that you won't be able to find a new job or if you are diagnosed with a terminal disease. But, when you are fighting against the temptation to just give up, those sorts of quotes aren't very helpful. I think it is better to accept how scary failure is, look at people who have looked it straight in the eye and lived to tell the tell and see what can be learned from their experience.
The funny thing is that I don't think I am alone in feeling defeated by even small failures. Not only is it so very hard to keep trying despite no real sign that you are getting even close to success; many of us, (myself included) sometimes don't even attempt to accomplish things that seem out of reach because we are paralyzed by the fear of falling on our faces.
When you take a look at the people who have achieved amazing successes, the one thing they all have in common is that they didn't let failure get in their way. They had a vision they believed in and, even when everyone else counted them out, they kept on trying to reach their goal. One of the most inspirational stories about someone who failed about as badly as a person could and still was able to turn it into a worldwide success is Steve Jobs, the CEO and co-founder of Apple.
When you look at Steve Jobs, most of the time you just see a man who is a legend in the computer world. If you took a closer look, you would see someone who had persevered through huge challenges to get to where he is.
Since Apple recently announced that Jobs is again in bad health and is taking a leave of absence from his position as CEO in order to focus on recovering, I thought it was appropriate to talk about how he accomplished this feat and to take a look at what lessons we can learn from him. Of course, we won't all be able to make a fortune, but if it helps, Jobs only gets paid $1 a year for his work for Apple.
Here is a timeline of the birth, death and re-birth of Steve Job's vision:
- 1984 – Apple created the famous “1984” advertisement and aired it during the Super Bowl. Soon thereafter, the Macintosh computer hit the market and was a huge success. With the company's entry into large business, Jobs hired John Sculley (former CEO of Pepsi) to lead Apple as CEO, while he stayed on as head of the Macintosh division.
- 1985 – After an intense internal power struggle within the company and an industry wide slump that caused many employees to be laid off, Sculley fired Steve Jobs from the company he helped create.
- 1986-1996 – Jobs spent his time away from Apple buying a small company called Pixar and he founded yet another computer company called NeXT.
- 1996 – Apple announced that they were buying NeXT for the low, low price of $429 million. When the deal was finalized near the end of 1996, Jobs was able to come back to his company. The company was failing and was reported to be on the brink of bankruptcy. With the hope of turning things around, the directors of Apple fired the current CEO and appointed Jobs as an interim CEO.
- 1997 – Apple partners with Microsoft for a 5 year contract agreeing to release an updated Mac version of Microsoft Office in exchange for a $150 million investment in Apple by Microsoft. Jobs said that in order to see Apple become healthy again, they had to let go of the idea that in order for Apple to win, Microsoft had to lose. This was a very smart cease-fire.
- 1998 – Apple releases the iMac, and people line up to buy this very well designed system. The story goes that Steve Jobs called all of the employees into a meeting and told them that the problem with their product was that it wasn't sexy. So, they tried to design a computer that was smart and sexy. The idea paid off and this was the first year since 1995 that the company made a profit.
- 1999 – Apple releases the Apple laptop, the iBook. Their profits increase 94%
This was the first time the technology world got a glimpse of what Apple was able to create. With the success of their newest computers, investors were feeling confident about Apple's stability. The biggest lesson we can learn from this period of Apple's comeback is that sometimes you have to be willing to make tough decisions and give a little in order to regroup. Their decision to partner with Microsoft, their long time rival, couldn't have been easy, but it allowed the company to get the infusion of cash necessary to move forward.
What do you think about Apple's story? I would love to hear your thought in the comments.
The story of Steve Job's struggle to bring his company back from the brink isn't over yet. Check back for Part 2 – Becoming the Technology Company of the Millennium.
By Melissa Kennedy-Melissa is a 9 year blog veteran and a freelance writer for RealEstateJobSiteBlog, along with helping others find the job of their dreams, she enjoys computer geekery, raising a teenager, supporting her local library, writing about herself in the third person and working on her next novel.
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