Assignment 13 - Reading Reflection No. 1

I read:

Steve Jobs by Walter Isaacson

What surprised you the most?

When reading the book, I was most surprised about his unstable mental state and resulting drug use. Most people do not generally associate drug use and dropping out of college with financial success, so it was interested to read about someone who was so successful that broke almost every stigma that we associate with attaining financial wealth.

What about the entrepreneur did you admire?

 I completely admire his perseverance. Even when fired from Apple, he never stopped being an entrepreneur and wanting to innovate technology. It just goes to show what can happen if you never give up on your ideas. It can be extremely difficult to push through when you feel like nobody believes in you.

What about the entrepreneur did you least admire?

I do find issue with his lack of work/family balance. Family is a very important aspect of life, and I don't believe you should make your family suffer or have to choose between work or family in order to be successful. Specifically, he would not claim his child as legitimate for many years. 

Did the entrepreneur encounter adversity and failure? If so, what did they do about it?

Steve encountered failure time and time again throughout the book. He was even at one point fired from Apple. However, in this time he focused on other projects and in turn became even more successful. This eventually led him back to working with Apple, and he did so until he passed away.

What competencies did you notice that the entrepreneur exhibited?

He was extremely focused on his goals and had huge amounts of perseverance, more than most other people. He was constantly innovating and wanting Apple to be on the forefront of technology, from adding color screens to creating new font types. 

Identify at lease one part of the reading that was confusing to you?

Nothing about the structure of the book or something such as that confused me. However, I was confused and baffled about how people successfully worked with him. He definitely had vision and was ultimately successful, but his personality seems to have clashed with many in the process.

If you were able to ask two questions to the entrepreneur, what would you ask? Why?

I would ask:

• Does he have any regrets about how he handled his family life?
• How would his vision of Apple today differ if he were still running the business?

Family is very important to me, and my dad passed away when I was very young. I can't imagine how I would feel without having all those pleasant memories of him from before he passed and the only reason I have those is because he did put family first. Also, I think that he was more innovative than most other people in the company. Due to this, I think it would be interesting to see how he would change Apple's image or products today.

For fun: What do you think the entrepreneur's opinion was of hard work? Do you share that opinion?

I believe he put a lot of value on hard work and never giving up on your dream. I also believe that. Although it can be very difficult at times, you will never see results of anything if you give up.