Innovation was in Steve Jobs' DNA

The world lost a remarkable genius with stupendous vision and passion on October 5 when Steve Jobs died. He was a gifted marketer, a technology guru, and an inspiring role model.
Like Bill Gates, Jobs made a dent in everyone’s life. He changed the way we listen to music with the iPod, introduced better concepts of personal computers, touch-screen smart phones, sophisticated tablets, and brought us into a new age of animated movies.
But Jobs left us more than software and an IT revolution. He passed on a valuable heritage: innovator’s DNA.
“The Innovator’s DNA” is a book written by Harvard business professor Clayton M Christensen, and part of it is about Jobs’ personality, lifestyle and everything else that made him stand out.
Among the key components:
_ Questioning – Jobs was curious about the computer’s cooling fan and sought a better way. That’s why Apple II was the first “quiet computer”.
_ Observing – At the Palo Alto Research Centre, Jobs spotted value in Xerox’s control screen and communications system that Xerox itself had overlooked. The knowledge proved fundamental in the development of the Mac.
_ Networking – Jobs realised that it’s not just what you do and what you know but also who you know. Humans are designed to socialise. They achieve less when they’re on their own.
After Jobs first left Apple in 1985 he met graphic designers Ed Catmull and Alvey Ray Smith of Industrial Light and Magic, who were working on special effects for “Star Wars” creator George Lucas. Jobs saw the potential and hired them away to launch Pixar, the animation studio that went on to make “Toy Story”.
_ Discovering – If not for Jobs’ persistence and attention to detail, your Mac might be wrapped in hard steel or some other lame cover. Jobs went to a department store in search of an alternative material. The plastic coat of a Cuisinart blender would do nicely.
_ Experimenting – Jobs always wanted to experience what he’d not yet experienced. If Jobs hadn’t dropped into a calligraphy class at college, Apple wouldn’t have all those beautifully scripted fonts.
Yes, Jobs was a college dropout, but the lack of a degree didn’t slow his innovation and keenness for marketing. And it didn’t stop him from inspiring other people to do the unachievable and reach their goals.
“Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life,” he told graduating students at Stanford University in 2005.
“You can’t connect the dots looking forward – you can only connect them looking backwards.”
Looking backwards – into Jobs’ life – certainly helps us move forward.