JOBS演讲.docx

JOBS演讲.docx

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JOBS演讲

Iamhonoredtobewithyoutodayatyourcommencementfromoneofthefinestuniversitiesintheworld.Inevergraduatedfromcollege.Truthbetold,thisistheclosestI'veevergottentoacollegegraduation.TodayIwanttotellyouthreestoriesfrommylife.That'sit.Nobigdeal.Justthreestories.

Thefirststoryisaboutconnectingthedots.

IdroppedoutofReedCollegeafterthefirst6months,butthenstayedaroundasadrop-inforanother18monthsorsobeforeIreallyquit.SowhydidIdropout?

ItstartedbeforeIwasborn.Mybiologicalmotherwasayoung,unwedcollegegraduatestudent,andshedecidedtoputmeupforadoption.ShefeltverystronglythatIshouldbeadoptedbycollegegraduates,soeverythingwasallsetformetobeadoptedatbirthbyalawyerandhiswife.ExceptthatwhenIpoppedouttheydecidedatthelastminutethattheyreallywantedagirl.Somyparents,whowereonawaitinglist,gotacallinthemiddleofthenightasking:

"Wehaveanunexpectedbabyboy;doyouwanthim?

"Theysaid:

"Ofcourse."Mybiologicalmotherlaterfoundoutthatmymotherhadnevergraduatedfromcollegeandthatmyfatherhadnevergraduatedfromhighschool.Sherefusedtosignthefinaladoptionpapers.SheonlyrelentedafewmonthslaterwhenmyparentspromisedthatIwouldsomedaygotocollege.

And17yearslaterIdidgotocollege.ButInaivelychoseacollegethatwasalmostasexpensiveasStanford,andallofmyworking-classparents’savingswerebeingspentonmycollegetuition.Aftersixmonths,Icouldn’tseethevalueinit.IhadnoideawhatIwantedtodowithmylifeandnoideahowcollegewasgoingtohelpmefigureitout.AndhereIwasspendingallofthemoneymyparentshadsavedtheirentirelife.SoIdecidedtodropoutandtrustthatitwouldallworkoutOK.Itwasprettyscaryatthetime,butlookingbackitwasoneofthebestdecisionsIevermade.TheminuteIdroppedoutIcouldstoptakingtherequiredclassesthatdidn’tinterestme,andbegindroppinginontheonesthatlookedinteresting.

Itwasn’tallromantic.Ididn’thaveadormroom,soIsleptonthefloorinfriends’rooms,Ireturnedcokebottlesforthe5?

depositstobuyfoodwith,andIwouldwalkthe7milesacrosstowneverySundaynighttogetonegoodmealaweekattheHareKrishnatemple.Ilovedit.AndmuchofwhatIstumbledintobyfollowingmycuriosityandintuitionturnedouttobepricelesslateron.Letmegiveyouoneexample:

ReedCollegeatthattimeofferedperhapsthebestcalligraphyinstructioninthecountry.Throughoutthecampuseveryposter,everylabeloneverydrawer,wasbeautifullyhandcalligraphed.BecauseIhaddroppedoutanddidn’thavetotakethenormalclasses,Idecidedtotakeacalligraphyclasstolearnhowtodothis.Ilearnedaboutserifandsanseriftypefaces,aboutvaryingtheamountofspacebetweendifferentlettercombinations,aboutwhatmakesgreattypographygreat.Itwasbeautiful,historical,artisticallysubtleinawaythatsciencecan’tcapture,andIfounditfascinating.

Noneofthishadevenahopeofanypracticalapplicationinmylife.Buttenyearslater,whenweweredesigningthefirstMacintoshcomputer,itallcamebacktome.AndwedesigneditallintotheMac.Itwasthefirstcomputerwithbeautifultypography.IfIhadneverdroppedinonthatsinglecourseincollege,theMacwouldhaveneverhadmultipletypefacesorproportionallyspacedfonts.AndsinceWindowsjustcopiedtheMac,itslikelythatnopersonalcomputerwouldhavethem.IfIhadneverdroppedout,Iwouldhaveneverdroppedinonthiscalligraphyclass,andpersonalcomputersmightnothavethewonderfultypographythattheydo.OfcourseitwasimpossibletoconnectthedotslookingforwardwhenIwasincollege.Butitwasvery,veryclearlookingbackwardstenyearslater.

Again,youcan’tconnectthedotslookingforward;youcanonlyconnectthemlookingbackwards.Soyouhavetotrustthatthedotswillsomehowconnectinyourfuture.Youhavetotrustinsomething-yourgut,destiny,life,karma,whatever.Thisapproachhasneverletmedown,andithasmadeallthedifferenceinmylife.

Mysecondstoryisaboutloveandloss.

Iwaslucky–IfoundwhatIlovedtodoearlyinlife.WozandIstartedAppleinmyparentsgaragewhenIwas20.Weworkedhard,andin10yearsApplehadgrownfromjustthetwoofusinagarageintoa$2billioncompanywithover4000employees.Wehadjustreleasedourfinestcreation-theMacintosh-ayearearlier,andIhadjustturned30.AndthenIgotfired.Howcanyougetfiredfromacompanyyoustarted?

Well,asApplegrewwehiredsomeonewhoIthoughtwasverytalentedtorunthecompanywithme,andforthefirstyearorsothingswentwell.Butthenourvisionsofthefuturebegantodivergeandeventuallywehadafallingout.Whenwedid,ourBoardofDirectorssidedwithhim.Soat30Iwasout.Andverypubliclyout.Whathadbeenthefocusofmyentireadultlifewasgone,anditwasdevastating.

Ireallydidn’tknowwhattodoforafewmonths.IfeltthatIhadletthepreviousgenerationofentrepreneursdown-thatIhaddroppedthebatonasitwasbeingpassedtome.ImetwithDavidPackardandBobNoyceandtriedtoapologizeforscrewingupsobadly.Iwasaverypublicfailure,andIeventhoughtaboutrunningawayfromthevalley.Butsomethingslowlybegantodawnonme–IstilllovedwhatIdid.TheturnofeventsatApplehadnotchangedthatonebit.Ihadbeenrejected,butIwasstillinlove.AndsoIdecidedtostartover.

Ididn’tseeitthen,butitturnedoutthatgettingfiredfromApplewasthebestthingthatcouldhaveeverhappenedtome.Theheavinessofbeingsuccessfulwasreplacedbythelightnessofbeingabeginneragain,lesssureabouteverything.Itfreedmetoenteroneofthemostcreativeperiodsofmylife.

Duringthenextfiveyears,IstartedacompanynamedNeXT,anothercompanynamedPixar,andfellinlovewithanamazingwomanwhowouldbecomemywife.Pixarwentontocreatetheworldsfirstcomputeranimatedfeaturefilm,ToyStory,andisnowthemostsuccessfulanimationstudiointheworld.Inaremarkableturnofevents,AppleboughtNeXT,IretunedtoApple,andthetechnologywedevelopedatNeXTisattheheartofApple’scurrentrenaissance.AndLaureneandIhaveawonderfulfamilytogether.

I’mprettysurenoneofthiswouldhavehappenedifIhadn’tbeenfiredfromApple.Itwasawfultastingmedicine,butIguessthepatientneededit.Sometimeslifehitsyouintheheadwithabrick.Don’tlosefaith.I’mconvincedthattheonlythingthatkeptmegoingwasthatIlovedwhatIdid.You’vegottofindwhatyoulove.Andthatisastrueforyourworkasitisforyourlovers.Yourworkisgoingtofillalargepartofyourlife,andtheonlywaytobetrulysatisfiedistodowhatyoubelieveisgreatwork.Andtheonlywaytodogreatworkistolovewhatyoudo.Ifyouhaven’tfoundityet,keeplooking.Don’tsettle.Aswithallmattersoftheheart,you’llknowwhenyoufindit.And,likeanygreatrelationship,itjustgetsbetterandbetterastheyearsrollon.Sokeeplookinguntilyoufindit.Don’tsettle.

Mythirdstoryisaboutdeath.

WhenIwas17,Ireadaquotethatwentsomethinglike:

"Ifyouliveeachdayasifitwasyourlast,somedayyou’llmostcertainlyberight."Itmadeanimpressiononme,andsincethen,forthepast33years,Ihavelookedinthemirroreverymorningandaskedmyself:

"Iftodaywerethelastdayofmylife,wouldIwanttodowhatIamabouttodotoday?

"Andwhenevertheanswerhasbeen"No"fortoomanydaysinarow,IknowIneedtochangesomething.

RememberingthatI’llbedeadsoonisthemostimportanttoolI’veeverencounteredtohelpmemakethebigchoicesinlife.Becausealmosteverything–allexternalexpectations,allpride,allfearofembarrassmentorfailure-thesethingsjustfallawayinthefaceofdeath,leavingonlywhatistrulyimportant.    RememberingthatyouaregoingtodieisthebestwayIknowtoavoidthetrapofthinkingyouhavesomethingtolose.Youarealreadynaked.Thereisnoreasonnottofollowyourheart.

AboutayearagoIwasdiagnosedwithcancer.Ihadascanat7:

30inthemorning,anditclearlyshowedatumoronmypancreas.Ididn’tevenknowwhatapancreaswas.Thedoctorstoldmethiswasalmostcertainlyatypeofcancerthatisincurable,andthatIshouldexpecttolivenolongerthanthreetosixmonths.Mydoctoradvisedmetogohomeandgetmyaffairsinorder,whichisdoctor’scodeforpreparetodie.Itmeanstotrytotellyourkidseverythingyouthoughtyou’dhavethenext10yearstotelltheminjustafewmonths.Itmeanstomakesureeverythingisbuttonedupsothatitwillbeaseasyaspossibleforyourfamily.Itmeanstosayyourgoodbyes.

Ilivedwiththatdiagnosisallday.LaterthateveningIhadabiopsy,wheretheystuckanendoscopedownmythroat,throughmystomachandintomyintestines,putaneedleintomypancreasandgotafewcellsfromthetumor.Iwassedated,butmywife,whowasthere,toldmethatwhentheyviewedthecellsunderamicroscopethedoctorsstartedcryingbecauseitturnedouttobeaveryrareformofpancreaticcancerthatiscurablewithsurgery.IhadthesurgeryandI’mfinenow.

ThiswastheclosestI’vebeentofacingdeath,andIhopeitstheclosestIgetforafewmoredecades.Havinglivedthroughit,Icannowsaythistoyouwithabitmorecertaintythanwhendeathwasausefulbutpurelyintellectualconcept:

Noonewantstodie.Evenpeoplewhowanttogotoheavendon’twanttodietogetthere.Andyetdeathisthedestinationweallshare.Noonehaseverescapedit.Andthatisasitshouldbe