Are you paying attention?
When he was just a boy, Steve Job’s father taught him a lesson that would shape who he was for the rest of his life – and to a larger extent, the entire world.
His father, a carpenter, taught him it was important to craft the backs of fences and cabinets….even though most people would never see them.
He loved doing things the right way.
When he grew up, Steve’s attention to detail was legendary.
He went through over 2000 shades of beige he was shown was good enough for the Apple II computer.
The floors in Apple stores had to come from a quarry outside Florence.
He insisted that the circuit board inside the Mac HAD to look good – even though 99% of users would never see them!
So what was the result of this obsessive attention to detail?
When Steve Jobs returned to Apple in 1997, the company was on the brink of bankruptcy. They let go of 3,000 employees and were said to be 90 days away from closing.
By the time of his passing, Apple had generated $108.2 billion in trailing-12-month (TTM) revenue, and sold 72.3 million iPhones over the prior four quarters.
Now, you don’t have to be quite as obsessive as Steve Jobs was. But it does teach a lesson:
When it comes to pursuing greatness, the devil is in the details.
In the latest Playbook audio, “Focus On The Details” we discuss the FIVE ways to become a more detail-oriented person:
- Knowing more than you need to
- How to practice critical thinking
- Organizing your day for maximum efficiency
- Understanding – and sticking to – your role
- Effective record-keeping
