Inside Steve's Brain
Author: Leander Kahney
An insider's guide to the unique leadership style of Steve Jobs, the driving force behind the success of Apple and Pixar
Steve Jobs is technology's most famous CEO, the man who revolutionized computers in the 1970s and 80s (with the Apple II and the Mac), animated movies in the 1990s (with Pixar), and digital music in the 2000s (with the iPod and iTunes). He's also one of the most controversial CEOs in history, allegedly throwing epic tantrums, firing staff in elevators, and taking credit for other people's achievements.
So what's the real story? According to Leander Kahney, who has covered Jobs since the early 1990s as a reporter, editor, and book author, he's a fascinating bundle of contradictions.
He's an elitist who thinks most people are bozos—but he makes gadgets so easy to use, a bozo can master them.
He's a mercurial obsessive with a filthy temper—but he forges deep partnerships with creative geniuses like Steve Wozniak, Jonathan Ive, and John Lasseter.
He's a Buddhist and antimaterialist—but he produces mass-market products in Asian factories, and he promotes them with absolute mastery of the crassest medium, advertising.
In short, Jobs has embraced the personality traits that some consider flaws—narcissism, perfectionism, total faith in his intuition—to lead Apple and Pixar to triumph against steep odds. And in the process, he has become a self-made billionaire.
After interviewing more Apple insiders than any previous author, Kahney has distilled the principles that guide Jobs as he launches killer products, attracts fanatically loyal customers, and manages some of the world's most powerful brands.
Publishers Weekly
Throughout his storied Silicon Valley career, Apple CEO and Pixar Studios founder Steve Jobs has been labeled, among other things, an egomaniac, a Zen Buddhist, a business mastermind, a sociopath and a music mogul. Blogger, author and Wired News editor Kahney, who has chronicled Apple in previous books (The Cult of Mac), attempts to plumb the depths of Jobs's prodigious mind in this engrossing biography. The author devotes much time to the sensational aspects of Jobs' life, including his demeaning and ferocious interactions with employees, his relentless high-mindedness and fanatical attention to detail, clearly demonstrating how his tyrannical and perfectionist impulses have have shaped the award-winning designs and consumer-friendly products that have made Apple a juggernaut. Though it doesn't penetrate the Mac man's psyche too deeply, and sections on tangential figures like Apple design guru Jonathan Ive and Apple Store visionary Ron Johnson can meander, those searching for a telling portrait of Jobs's management style and its impact on Apple will not be left wanting.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Table of Contents:
Introduction 1
1 Focus: How Saying "No" Saved Apple 15
2 Despotism: Apple's One-Man Focus Group 45
3 Perfectionism: Product Design and the Pursuit of Excellence 68
4 Elitism: Hire Only A Players, Fire the Bozos 107
5 Passion: Putting a Ding in the Universe 150
6 Inventive Spirit: Where Does the Innovation Come From? 174
7 Case Study: How It All Came Together with the iPod 221
8 Total Control: The Whole Widget 240
Acknowledgments 269
Notes 271
Index 285
Book about: The Science of Sherlock Holmes or Id Rather Teach Peace
It's Not How Good You Are, It's How Good You Want to Be
Author: Paul Arden
Its Not How Good You Are, Its How Good You Want to Be is a handbook of how to succeed in the world a pocket bible for the talented and timid to help make the unthinkable and the impossible possible. The worlds top advertising guru, Paul Arden, offers up his wisdom on issues as diverse as problem solving, responding to a brief, communicating, playing your cards right, making mistakes and creativity, all endeavours that can be applied to aspects of modern life. This book provides a unique insight into the world of advertising and is a quirky compilation of quotes, facts, pictures, wit and wisdom, packed into easy-to-digest, bite-sized spreads. If you want to succeed in life or business, this is a must.
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