steve jobs

Thursday

Oct062011

This image is originally from Tom Davenport. I found it via BrainPickings - my go-to stop for all things interesting.

I'm sitting in a hotel room typing this on my MacBook Pro. My computer bag is a few feet away and inside that bag there's an iPhone and an iPad. Steve Jobs changed the way we live.

To celebrate his incredible contributions, I thought I'd share my favorite quote from him. It's about creativity and it's from a 1996 Wired article.

“Creativity is just connecting things. When you ask creative people how they did something, they feel a little guilty because they didn’t really do it, they just saw something. It seemed obvious to them after a while. That’s because they were able to connect experiences they’ve had and synthesize new things. And the reason they were able to do that was that they’ve had more experiences or they have thought more about their experiences than other people.

“Unfortunately, that’s too rare a commodity. 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."

When I feel vulnerable about the possibility of failure, I try to remember this quote. I try to remember that vulnerability and connection are the heart of innovation. Maybe the greatest lesson on creativity that I've learned from the research is this: When failure is not an option, neither is innovation. Steve Jobs lived that truth.

And, if you haven't watched Jobs's Stanford University commencement speech, do it now! It's all about authenticity and courage.

Thursday, October 6, 2011

28 Comments • • category:

connection,

favorite quotes,

wholehearted

Reader Comments (28)

Brene,

I never thought of inspiration in that way. Simply be aware and then connect the dots. How simple yet profound.

It is not necessarily how many experiences you have had but whether or not you are aware of them to learn from them and grow.

I'll remember to connect the dots from now on.

~Allie

10.6.2011 |

Allie

Thank you for this Brene. You always know how to find the right words, without waves or big "ooplaha" to commemorate someone's life and legacies. Thank you.

10.6.2011 |

Helene

Thank you for this Brene. It's true that we creative types never know how to answer the question..."How'd you do that?" Mr. Jobs life experience, like many creative people, enhanced his genius beyond bounds.
b

10.6.2011 |

barbara

Thank you so much for sharing this. The commencement speech brought me to tears and both it and your work remind me of my favorite poem by Dawna Markova...
"I will not die an unlived life...I will not live in fear..."

10.6.2011 |

Stacey CS Taylor

this is a really nice piece summing up one really influential aspect of steve jobs. what a sad loss for us...and, not. i think his life will continue to ignite & inspire a tremendous amount of innovation, birth from failure, vulnerability & connections. thanks for sharing this brene.

10.6.2011 |

liz song

Thank you. What a great way to remember a great man. I am blessed to be the mother of a very creative boy this little nugget of thought will help me remember that the best I can do by him is give him diverse experiences to connect the dots on his own.

10.6.2011 |

EmJay

Connecting things ... isn't that what life is really about? Lovely post.

10.6.2011 |

Elizabeth Harper

Thanks for the post Brene. It seems Mr. Jobs offered more than creative wisdom and innovation. He knew how to live each day. The clip was a great 15 minutes to kick off a fantastic day. Today I will live like it might be my last and have faith the dots will connect if I am fortunate enough to look backwards.

10.6.2011 |

Michelle Andres

great post!

10.6.2011 |

julie

I certainly agree with you that Steve Jobs was a creative genius and a very inspiring man. I am not sure his impact is felt by everyone in the way you described. There are many people in this country that can not afford to own a macbook pro, an iphone, and an ipad. There are many parents that are consistently frustrated by the style in which apple introduces their products making one object after another obsolete in a very short time period which starts teens on the never ending i need a new... cycle. Also, sadly as convenient as many of these new technological devices are for those people that can afford them, they also seem to be contributing to people becoming more disconnected from actual face to face interactions and communication. Mr. Jobs passing is indeed sad but some of what his innovations have brought with them I find a bit sad as well.
~Jan

10.6.2011 |

Jan

What a wonderful speech that Steve Jobs delivered! I have learned that life is really all about following your heart, or as Joseph Campbell says "Follow your bliss." It always leads to the best for you and for the world. I love this speech. It is so authentic and what a wonderful gift for him to give to that graduating class and now, to the world through the video. Thank you so much for your post and the link.

10.6.2011 |

nohalfmeasures

Thank you Jan for pointing out the social justice elements to this topic. Brene having all the newest gadgets would be an issue for me if she did not also point out in many posts/talks/writings that she is privileged and blessed to have what she does have. It's recognizing the "privilege" that separates the unconscious from the conscious.

Steve Jobs gave us innovation. It's that contribution that is most important. Innovation, intuition and vulnerability all lead to genius. It's a great way to try to contribute to life. The product of these gifts change the world. We all sell our products Jan; we teach or nurse or pick up garbage...we contribute imperfectly all the time. There is peace if we try to be socially conscious. All of us here are imperfect with our products but we hope to make a difference as big as Steve Jobs or as small as my 4 year old nephew who sticks up and saves bugs or the underdogs on his soccer team.

The world is changed by Steve, but it is also changed by us. How great is that. We celebrate Steve's life in his death and Brene's life in her contributions and in your life Jan for making us think bigger...it's good to be alive today!

10.6.2011 |

Fin

Well said Fin. My apologies to Brene. In my comment I was not careful enough in my choice of words. I still have strong feelings regarding the social justice elements of this topic but in no way did I mean to insult Brene. She has worked hard to achieve what she has and certainly has the right to purchase whatever gadgets she desires. You are so right that this world is a better place when we all contribute our best.

~Jan

10.6.2011 |

Jan

Thanks for posting this link. I had not listened to this before but was very moved by his sage advice. When you strip away all of the money and fame, he seems to me to be a man who was the type of creative and idealistic soul we all aspired to be when we graduated from college (even though he never did). I actually almost went to Reed College LOL (I heard it is commonly referred to as Weed College)! I really appreciate you sharing this.

10.6.2011 |

richie

What struck me was that you were writing and asking about "gut" and intuition in yesterday's post. This IS what he was all about as well as what his legacy will carry. Your uncanny and thoughtful intuition was spot on.

Thank you.

10.6.2011 |

Heather Van Uxem Lewis

Hi--that image was actually created by Jonathan Mak, a 19 year old in Singapore. His blog entry is here: http://jmak.tumblr.com/post/9377189056 An article about the attention the image has gotten is here: http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/10/06/us-apple-hongkong-icon-idUSTRE7952E620111006

10.6.2011 |

Vendrazi

I love this image of Apple with Steve Jobs profile. I was at work when I heard the news, I even thought that a fellow blogger was just joking about Mr Jobs dying. So, I tried Googling and it was true. It was just sad knowing that he's dead already. We'll be missing him but his wisdom remains with us. [goosebumps]

10.6.2011 |

Halley | Print Business Cards

Steve Jobs was different. I think we all knew that - and that's part of the overwhelming and shared sense of loss we see expressed now. We don't know exactly how he did what he did (although his words shared above give a hint of how he thought and saw things). There are so few wizards, so very few people who dream things into reality with the passion and fire that we saw in him. He would have done it for nothing (and did) - and we watched in amazement, and we loved the tangible evidence of that wizardry. It was pure magic, and we all mourn the passing of the magician...

10.7.2011 |

Sharon

Thanks for your insight and for sharing your perspective of his view on creativity. It is my hope that he mentored and shared his vision with enough people that they will keep it burning bright for more generations.

10.7.2011 |

John

Jan and Fin - thanks for providing a civil disagreement via the web. Those are incredibly hard to come by and I admire the way both of you handled that. :)

Brene - beautiful quote. Thanks for sharing.

10.7.2011 |

Mallory

Your presentation at the National Magnet Conference was just exceptional----a perfect way to close a wonderful conference. We all needed to hear that. Thank you for appreciating what we do and all that we give. I will never forget your words. Thank you.

10.7.2011 |

debbie kelp

The original source of the image is http://jmak.tumblr.com/post/9377189056

10.8.2011 |

LSF

Nice image,It is great respect that we value what he did to change the technology through apple.I salute you man and may you rest in peace.

10.11.2011 |

Drainage surveys

I want to thank you for your comments about creativity both here and in "The Gifts of Imperfection." That book has helped me tremendously in my journey for self-discovery and value, and I return to it often to glean new bits of insight as I need them. I wrote a post today on the topic of creativity - as it relates to my own experiences - and wanted to share it with you since you shared so much of your insight so openly in your work.

http://tenquilts.blogspot.com/2011/10/importance-of-creativity-and-why-i.html

10.13.2011 |

Kristen

I've always called this feeding my muse and he's right the broader your experiences are the more resources you have that are accessible to you.

Jan, I don't think you insulted anyone. It is interesting that as people celebrate how his life helped shape how instantly connectible we all are it's also left us feeling more disconnected than ever before.

10.15.2011 |

Anne

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What would you say at the first sight of seeing this picture? Will you ask if many shoes were abandon in a construction field? I think so in my first sight, too. But in fact, it was not a construction field. It was a fashion label boutique. Saying that you might know whose boutique it was because it was with such distinguished styles. Yes, it was Pierre Hardy’s boutique.
Pierre Hardy was born and raised in Paris. He studied dancing while majored in fine arts in Ecole Normale Supérieure. From 1983 to 1990, he taught in The Theater School, Rue Blanche. In 1985, he worked as an illustrator for magazines. From 1987 to 1990, he worked as designer in Christian Dior and Hermes. In Dior, he designed women shoes collections and men’s shoes in Hermes.
In 1999, he established his own fashion label and named it after his own name. At the same year, he released his first Women’s shoes collection for the spring and summer. In 2002, he started his men shoes’ line and bag collection. And last year he was employed as the Creative Director of fine Jewellery division while running his own label. So until now, the main designs of Pierre Hardy were shoes and handbags.
He recently released his collection for the coming 2011 season. For every season’s collection, Pierre would create an image as reflection of the collaboration with M/M Paris. Next is the image of 2011 summer.
Image of 2011 Summer

I really do not understand what the Images mean. Let’s look at his shoes for 2011 summer, we may know a little about the meanings.
Men’s Shoes

Women’s Shoes

The styles of these shoes are very special, no matter the shapes or the match of colors. The lines of the shoes do not seem to be very smooth but a little hard-shelled. That was Pierre Hardy’s styles. It seems to be constructing a building while designing a pair of shoes. The style was different and cool. Are you prepared to wear a pair of shoes like these?<a href="http://www.xclones.net/luxury-jimmy-clone-choo-shoes-clone-cb996.html">

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