Apple wasn't built in a day

One of the things that struck me when I was reading Walter Isaacson’s biography of Steve Jobs was how slowly things seemed to move in the book.

I think when many of us peer into the window of success we often think that its sculptors had everything figured out and were executing flawlessly during their ascent to greatness.

Reading about Steve’s life is the first time (and reading his sister’s Eulogy is the second) that I have felt Steve Jobs viscerally on a human level. For some reason, when I pictured him crying to Jerry Wozniak in the foyer of his home the night Woz Jr. announced his decision to stay with HP, something struck me.

I saw a fragile man, a man who maybe wasn’t sure of Apple’s future without the best engineering talent. In that dimly lit living room where I pictured Steve sobbing, probably sitting indian style and barefoot on Jerry Wozniak’s living room floor, I saw a tiny sliver of Steve Jobs that I had never seen before. Steve Jobs was vulnerable, and ultimately, he was human, just like the rest of us.

Humans fail. Steve Jobs, Mark Zuckerberg, Bill Gates and countless others all have, and will continue to fail. But to me, what makes someone remarkable is their ability to persevere and the passion that enables them.

So if you glean nothing else from Jobs’ biography, then remember this: Apple wasn’t built in a day. Keep working hard.