Ok, so there are a lot of things about Steve that are great, but here are a few quotes that really resonate with me (all from the WSJ):
“We weren’t going to go out and do market research.”
It’s just liberating to know that you don’t have to focus group everything–or even listen to your audience! Sometimes you just know what to do–your instinct just hollers at you loud and clear. At that point you’d just better do what it says. I often think that it’s our instincts that really make us who we are–our judgement–and we have to hold on to that like gold.
“A lot of people in our industry haven’t had very diverse experiences. So they don’t have enough dots to connect, and they end up with very linear solutions without a broad perspective on the problem. The broader one’s understanding of the human experience, the better design we will have.”
Amen, brother. Diversity of experience is the key to creative problem solving. Creativity or bust! It’s so refreshing to meet people who have had a wide variety of jobs.
“It’s more fun to be a pirate than to join the navy.”
No explanation necessary.
“Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work. And the only way to do great work is to love what you do. If you haven’t found it yet, keep looking. Don’t settle.”
This is probably my most favorite. Actually, there’s an ending here that’s not part of the quote. This is from a Standford commencement speech by the way. He ends by referencing the last issue of the Whole Earth catalog. On the back cover it said: “Stay hungry, Stay foolish.” Words to live by.