It still hurts today. I didn’t get a good night of sleep. I cannot really describe how I feel, but it’s like losing a father, a father figure. It’s weird because I didn’t know him personally, but the image I had of him was enough to put the lump in my throat and make me burst into tears by moment.
Steve was a great human being and a passionate man. If it was not for him, his attention to details (like great typography in his inventions), I would not be what I am today. I learned graphic design by myself on a Macintosh SE in the college library. Although my path has slightly changed over the years, I never stop being passionate about graphic design and went back to it first as web designer and later as an Interaction designer about 16 years ago.
My admiration to his genius, his achievements, the industries he has changed for ever and his entire legacy is incommensurable.
Thank You Steve.
- JiPé
Great things are not done by impulse, but by a series of small things brought together.
— Vincent van Gogh
Passion is impossible to hide.
—
Rob Walling - Passion as a Competitive Advantage
Passion translates into something incredible. It motivates co-workers, bosses, partners, investors and customers. People know when they’re in the presence of someone who really cares about their product/service.
If you don’t have passion for your product/service everyone will know. It’s obvious you aren’t that into it, and people will not take you seriously. Without passion it’s impossible to convince people to believe in your vision.
Passion translates into being insulted when people don’t care about things as much as you do and are willing to hack a crappy solution together. It’s an insult to you, your product and your craft.
I encourage you to show your passion for the one thing you care about most in your work. If doing so causes problems you’re in the wrong place. There is a home for people who are passionate about pretty much anything, you just need to find the partner/company/customer who is passionate about the same thing you are.
You are lucky I didn’t quote the all post ;)
Will inertia be your guide, or will you follow your passions?
Do what you love and the ones who love what you do will follow.
If you never have heard of this little story… then you should it. As life is all about the important things and our perspective on them.
The American investment banker was at the pier of a small coastal Mexican village when a small boat with just one fisherman docked.
Inside the small boat were several large yellow fin tuna. The American complimented the Mexican on the quality of his fish and asked how long it took to catch them.
The Mexican replied, “Only a little while.”
The American then asked, “Why didn’t you stay out longer and catch more fish?”
The Mexican said, “With this I have more than enough to support my family’s needs.”
The American then asked, “But what do you do with the rest of your time?”
The Mexican fisherman said, “I sleep late, fish a little, play with my children, take siesta with my wife, Maria, stroll into the village each evening where I sip wine and play guitar with my amigos, I have a full and busy life.”
The American scoffed, “I am a Harvard MBA and could help you. You should spend more time fishing; and with the proceeds, buy a bigger boat: With the proceeds from the bigger boat you could buy several boats. Eventually you would have a fleet of fishing boats. Instead of selling your catch to a middleman you would sell directly to the
processor; eventually opening your own cannery. You would control the product, processing and distribution. You would need to leave this small coastal fishing village and move to Mexico City, then Los Angeles and eventually New York where you will run your ever-expanding enterprise.”
The Mexican fisherman asked, “But, how long will this all take?”
To which the American replied, “15 to 20 years.”
“But what then?” asked the Mexican.
The American laughed and said that’s the best part. “When the time is right you would announce an IPO and sell your company stock to the public and become very rich, you would make millions.”
“Millions?…Then what?”
The American said, “Then you would retire. Move to a small coastal fishing village where you would sleep late, fish a little, play with your kids, take siesta with your wife, stroll to the village in the evenings where you could sip wine and play your guitar with your amigos.”
What you do is infinitely more important than how you do it.
—
Tim Ferriss- The 4-Hour Workweek
Efficiency is still important, but it is useless unless applied to the right things. Which 20% of sources are causing 80% of my problems and unhappiness? Which 20% of sources are resulting in 80% of my desired outcomes and happiness?
“Most companies equate success with growth; like waistlines in ancient times, size becomes an indication of prosperity. But Sagmeister believes that remaining small has been the key to retaining his integrity as a designer and making ideas happen. He explains, “The conventional wisdom in our business is that you have to grow and keep moving to survive. We never grew, always stayed tiny, and it serves us very well over the years, allowing us to pick and choose projects, and keeping our financial independence from our clients. We actually have a rather good track record, because we do select projects carefully. Most of our ideas don’t eat dust but glimpse the light of day because we find it much more helpful to spend some serious time and effort before we start working on a project, rather than suffer through it afterwards.””
Stefan Sagmeister - Life So Far
HeyAmberrae:
This reminds me of a recent conversation I had with a friend about internet start-ups and growth strategies. Most start-up tech companies correlate growth and how quickly they scale with success.
“LET’S GET AS MANY MILLION USERS AS POSSIBLE!!!” (insert sarcastic tone)
There’s a large emphasis on usage and the number of users. When did Facebook start sucking? When the entire world started using it. When did Twitter start sucking? When there was too much noise, too many people.
This is nothing new… as illustrated below in the technology adoption lifecycle graph
But what happens when we start focusing on less? What happens when the emphasis is on creating a quality experience for a niche audience? What happens when we take our time appealing to and getting to know a certain group of people? Might this allow us to create more unique and relevant advertising/brand experiences that add value to the audience rather than interrupt the experience? Might this help the idea spread? Might this help us make more money while also keeping our niche audience happy?
Who does this really well? Photojojo. Why? Because they focus on doing one thing and doing it really well. They find the best photo shiz anywhere. Plain. Simple. Amazing.
I will only add a single word to all this: Amen!
Keep your focus and do it well. Growth is essential only if you make it essential.
